Matadors Can't Tame Cougars

NORTHRIDGE -- After winning the first in commanding fashion, the Cougars overcame a tough second game to defeat the Cal State Northridge Matadors, 3-1 (30-21, 25-30, 30-20, 30-28) Friday at the Matadome. With the win, BYU improved to 16-8 overall and 11-6 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation while the Matadors fell to 14-11 and 7-10.

"We played really well in the first game," BYU coach Tom Peterson said. "Our serving was on and we passed. We relaxed in the second and they took advantage. There were too many ebbs and flows. The positive side is that we recovered and won the next two."

Victor Batista led the Cougars with 19 kills and a .680 (19-2-25) hitting percentage. Ivan Perez added 16 kills while Casey Patterson contributed 10.

"It was nice to see Rob (Neilson) and Victor connect tonight," Peterson said. "Victor hit very well tonight."

BYU's season-high 13 service aces were a big part of the victory. Patterson set a career high with four while Perez tied his career high with three. Rob Neilson and Casey Patterson added two apiece.

The 13 aces put the Cougar season total at 140, the second highest mark in BYU history since the beginning of rally scoring. The current record is 154, held by the 2003 squad.

As a team, the Cougars hit .277 (59-26-119), had 32 digs and 11.5 team blocks. BYU was strong defensively, limiting Northridge to a .239 (49-23-109) percentage. Nils Nielsen led the Matadors with 19 kills while Cary Hanson added 12.

The Cougars came out strong in the first game, serving and hitting well on their way to a 30-21 win. For the game, BYU hit .500 (17-3-28) and limited Northridge to a .226 (12-5-31) percentage.

It was like night and day between the first to the second for the Cougars as errors plagued them and their hitting percentage fell off to .148 (13-9-27). The Matadors took full advantage, hitting .391 (13-4-23) and winning, 30-25.

Game two was just a blip on the radar as BYU regained control, breezing through the third game, 30-20 to take the 2-1 advantage going into the fourth. The fourth game was more of a challenge as Northridge kept the score close throughout before the Cougars finished it off at 30-28.

BYU and the Matadors will complete the season series, Saturday at Northridge. Peterson said his team will need to come out fighting to be able to earn another victory.

"We've got to do it again," he added. "All of these are big-big matches for our seeding in the MPSF tournament. We've got to be tougher."

Saturday's match is set to begin at 7 p.m. in the Matadome.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                     Brigham Young University - Volleyball
   Brigham Young vs Cal State Northridge (Apr 01, 2005 at Northridge, Calif.)
    Brigham Young          |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  BURKE, Michael......  4|  7   2  14  .357|  0|  1   1|  0|  5| 0  6  0|  0|  11.0
 8  PEREZ, Ivan.........  4| 16   8  32  .250|  0|  3   2|  1|  2| 1  4  0|  0|  22.0
 9  PATTERSON, Casey....  4| 10   7  22  .136|  1|  4   4|  1|  4| 0  2  1|  0|  15.0
 14 NEILSON, Rob........  4|  0   0   1  .000| 52|  2   4|  0|  6| 0  5  0|  1|   4.5
 15 BATISTA, Victor.....  4| 19   2  25  .680|  0|  1   4|  0|  3| 0  4  1|  0|  22.0
 17 EVANS, Taylor.......  4|  6   7  24 -.042|  0|  2   4|  1|  6| 0  0  0|  1|   8.0
 7  ROWLEY, Brian.......  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  6| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 11 HOLMES, Russell.....  2|  1   0   1 1.000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 19 Sorensen, Trent.....  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 59  26 119  .277| 53| 13  19|  3| 32| 1 21  2|  2|  83.5
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 11.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  17  3  28  .500   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2  13  9  27  .148   Brigham Young....... (3) 30 25 30 30  16-8, 11-6
   3  12  4  24  .333   Cal State Northridge (1) 21 30 20 28  14-11, 7-10
   4  17 10  40  .175
    Cal State Northridge   |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  Kneubuhl, Isaac.....  4|  5   4  18  .056|  1|  0   2|  4|  2| 0  1  0|  0|   5.5
 2  Nielsen, Nils.......  4| 19   8  38  .289|  0|  1   6|  0|  5| 0  3  1|  0|  21.5
 3  Lischer, James......  4|  7   1  11  .545|  0|  0   0|  1|  0| 0  4  1|  0|   9.0
 4  Waite, Brian........  4|  6   3  13  .231|  0|  0   3|  0|  2| 0  7  2|  0|   9.5
 6  Conover, Jeff.......  4|  0   0   2  .000| 41|  2   0|  0|  5| 0  5  0|  1|   4.5
 8  Hanson, Cary........  4| 12   7  27  .185|  1|  0   3|  6|  5| 0  5  0|  0|  14.5
 10 Bellante, Matt......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 11 Pedraza, Sebastian..  4|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   0|  2|  7| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 13 Bluemling, Travis...  4|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   2|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 14 Levoe, Matt.........  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 49  23 109  .239| 46|  3  17| 13| 28| 0 25  4|  1|  64.5
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 12.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  12  5  31  .226   Site: Northridge, Calif. (Wells Fargo Court)
   2  13  4  23  .391   Date: Apr 01, 2005   Attend: 621   Time: 1:51
   3  12  9  27  .111   Referees: Marvin Hall, John Martin
   4  12  5  28  .250