PROVO -- In its first home match since Feb. 2, the fourth-ranked BYU men's volleyball team was swept by MPSF opponent No. 4 Pepperdine 29-31, 33-35, 30-32, Friday night at the Smith Fieldhouse. The loss drops the Cougars to 11-4, 9-4 MPSF, while the Waves, buoyed by four players with double-digit kills, improve to 14-4, 9-2.

"That was a really good volleyball match," said Carl McGown, BYU head coach. "The difference was, when the match was on the line, they made plays and we didn't. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose.

In game one, BYU took a 2-1 lead waged a sideout battle against the Waves, but the Cougars maintained a slight advantage. After a kill by Joaquin Acosta, BYU went up 28-27, but two quick kills by Lance Walker and Chris Van Reusen put the Cougars down 28-29. After a service error by Fred Winters, BYU tied the game at 29-29, but a kill by Sean Rooney, and a Pepperdine block on Mike Wall ended the game.

In what would be a recurring theme on the night, the second game continued to be closely contested. The Cougars took an early 3-0 lead, but the Wave battled back to tie the game at 4-4. Neither team held more than a one point advantage, as the two teams traded points to tie at 18-18. Pepperdine went on a 3-1 run to put BYU down 19-22. The Cougars slowly crept back into the game, with key blocks by Wall, Rafael Paal, Jaime Mayol and Chris Gorny. A service error by Walker handed the Cougars a 29-28 lead, but the Waves were kept alive by key kills and Cougar errors, as Wall was again blocked by the Waves defense to end the game.

Luka Slabe came off the bench to spark the Cougar attack in game three, but the Cougars were victimized by untimely errors. Paal was called for a foot fault to stunt the BYU momentum, and brought the Waves to within one point of the Cougars at 27-26. BYU had game point on an Acosta kill at 30-29, but the tide turned, as Wall and Acosta had consecutive hitting errors to seal the match.

"The bottomline, the match was well played," McGown said. "I think Pepperdine is pretty good, they're the best team we've played all year, they're really solid."

BYU was led by Wall, who had a match-high 20 kills on 33 swings (.394), and Acosta with 17 kills on 32 swings (.375), marking the 15th consecutive match that the Cougars have had two players with double-digit kills.

This marks the first time BYU has been swept at home since March 25, 2000 versus Ohio State, and is only the fourth time the Cougars have been swept at home since Feb. 24, 1995. Pepperdine's win marks first win in feb 13, 1993 ending byu's 6 match home win streak over waves.

Pepperdine outhit BYU .343 (54 kills on 105 swings) to .330 (57 for 112). The Waves were led by Rooney with 17 kills. Brad Keenan had 12 kills, Winters had 11 kills and Walker had 10 kills to round out the Pepperdine attack.

The two teams will match up again on Saturday in the Smith Fieldhouse. The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m (MST).

"We're going to have to watch some video and come up with a better plan for tomorrow night," McGown said.

#4 Pepperdine vs Brigham Young (March 1, 2002 at Provo, Utah)
    #4 Pepperdine          |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  VAN REUSEN, Chris...  3|  4   2   8  .250|  2|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  7  0|  0
 5  DANIELS, Beau.......  3|  0   2   2-1.000| 47|  1   2|  0|  1| 0  2  0|  0
 6  KEENAN, Brad........  3| 12   2  17  .588|  1|  2   5|  0|  0| 0  2  1|  0
 7  WINTERS, Fred.......  3| 11   5  23  .261|  0|  0   2|  1|  8| 0  4  2|  0
 10 WALKER, Lance.......  3| 10   4  23  .261|  1|  2   4|  0|  2| 0  3  0|  0
 12 ROONEY, Sean........  3| 17   3  32  .438|  0|  0   1|  0|  2| 0  1  0|  0
 4  GLEDHILL, Mike......  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 16 OLSON, Clint........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  2|  6| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 54  18 105  .343| 52|  5  14|  3| 22| 0 19  3|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 9.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  16  6  29  .345   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  23  7  39  .410   #4 Pepperdine....... 31 35 32  14-4, 9-2
   3  15  5  37  .270   Brigham Young....... 29 33 30  11-4, 9-4
    Brigham Young          |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  WALL, Mike..........  3| 20   7  33  .394|  2|  0   1|  0|  5| 0  3  1|  0
 4  ACOSTA, Joaquin.....  3| 17   5  32  .375|  0|  1   0|  1|  6| 0  1  1|  0
 6  GORNY, Chris........  3|  1   0   7  .143|  0|  0   5|  0|  0| 0  3  0|  0
 7  MAYOL, Jaime........  3|  6   5  19  .053|  0|  0   1|  0|  2| 1  3  1|  0
 9  PAAL, Rafael........  3|  8   1  10  .700|  0|  0   6|  0|  8| 0  3  1|  0
 11 MORENO, Carlos......  3|  1   1   5  .000| 53|  1   3|  1|  2| 0  2  0|  0
 1  WILTON, Mike........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 12 ALLEMAN, Jonathan...  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 17 PESSOA, Fernando....  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  2|  4| 0  0  0|  0
 18 SLABE, Luka.........  3|  4   1   6  .500|  1|  0   1|  1|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 57  20 112  .330| 57|  3  17|  5| 28| 1 15  4|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 8.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  14  8  32  .188   Site: Provo, Utah (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  21  4  39  .436   Date: March 1 2002   Attend: 3438   Time: 1:45
   3  22  8  41  .341   Referees: Bert Fuller, Les Calles

PROVO -- After spending the past month on the road, the third-ranked BYU men's volleyball team will return to the friendly confines of the Smith Fieldhouse this weekend. The Cougars (11-3, 9-3) will take on fourth-ranked Pepperdine in a pair of crucial MPSF matches, beginning Friday, March 1 at 7 p.m. (MST).

"Although we are excited to come back and play in the Fieldhouse, in front of our own fans, I'm not sure how effective we will be right off the bat," BYU head coach Carl McGown said. "Playing at altitude has a real effect on the game of volleyball. Having been down at sea level for the past month, we have gotten used to playing under those conditions. It will take a little time before we can make the necessary adjustments to play in Utah, as opposed to California."

Pepperdine enters this weekend's matches with a 13-4 record, including a mark of 8-2 in league play. While 7-1 at home, the Waves have won just four of seven matches on the road this season. Pepperdine has won three of its last five matches, including a 3-2 win over No. 7 Stanford on Feb. 22. The Waves have dropped matches at UC Irvine, UCLA, Pacific and against UC Santa Barbara.

"These two matches against Pepperdine will determine our destiny," McGown added. "If we happen to win both, then I think we will be in a nice situation, but if we should lose, then it could be a real struggle for us. This weekend's matches will be the hinge that will determine which way our season swings."

The Waves are hitting .352 on the season, led by junior middle blocker Brad Keenan, who has posted a team-best .479 average against league opponents. Freshman Sean Rooney leads Pepperdine with 249 kills over 63 games, averaging 3.8 kills per game. Defensively, the Waves have out-blocked their opponents by a over 100 blocks on the season. Pepperdine is averaging over three blocks per game, while its opponents have registered a mark of just 1.6 blocks per contest. Middle blocker Lance Sorenson leads the team with an average 2.5 blocks per game.

"I think Pepperdine is the best team in the nation," McGown said. "If I were to pick this year's National Champion, I would have to say Pepperdine has the best shot. They are very good team and I would not be surprised if they win the National Championship this season."

The Cougars are coming off a six-match road stint, having posted a 4-2 mark, including wins over No. 2 UCLA, eighth-ranked UC Irvine and No. 14 Long Beach State. After losing its home, season-opener against Stanford, BYU has reeled off seven straight victories in the Smith Fieldhouse.

The Waves own a 13-10 advantage in the series, dating back to the 1990 season. BYU has posted a 7-4 mark against Pepperdine in Provo, including six straight wins dating back to the 1995 season. BYU has not lost to Pepperdine in Provo since Feb. 13, 1993.