LOS ANGELES -- The BYU offense proved to be too much for the USC Trojans Friday night as the Cougars hit .472 as a team in a 33-31, 30-27, 30-24 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation win in Los Angeles. With the win, the third-ranked Cougars improve to 10-3 on the season, while the Trojans fall 3-13 (1-10 MPSF) on the year.
"We out-blocked them 10.0 to 3.0 and out-hit them quite a ways," BYU head coach Tom Peterson said. "But we could have done even better. We have to be more disciplined and figure out the serve and serve-receive on those opponent courts."
The Cougars' .472 team hitting percentage on the night is the highest all season, despite their 18 service errors, and was far above USC's .215 team average. In game two the Cougars out-hit the Trojans .633 to .233, although BYU just managed to squeak by with a three-point win.
Senior Rafael Paal led the Cougar offense with 14 kills (.370) and added five digs and one ace, while Jonathan Alleman added 12 kills (.389) for the Cougars. Jaime Mayol hit a blistering personal-best .706 percentage with 13 kills and five blocks.
"Mayol was on fire tonight." BYU head coach Tom Peterson said. "He had a really nice hitting evening, and he got some great blocks in as well."
On defense, junior newcomer David Hyte got his first major playing time of the season at middle blocker (in for injured starter Chris Gorny) and hit a .417 average with six kills and added three blocks and one ace.
For USC, Ian Gallagher hit a team-high 10 kills with two aces, while Blake Tippett added 8 kills for the Trojans.
USC was serving with a 29-28 lead in the first game, but couldn't shut out the Cougars. In the second game, BYU overcame an 11-13 deficit by taking a 6-0 run for the lead it never relinquished. In game three, the Trojans were down early at 12-5 but came back to a one-point deficit at 18-17. BYU took over at that point and went on a 12-7 run to put the game away at 30-24 and win the match 3-0.
BYU and USC play again Saturday night (Mar. 1) at 7 p.m. in Los Angeles.
Volleyball Box Score2003 BYU Men's Volleyball Stats
Brigham Young vs USC (Feb 28, 2003 at Los Angeles, 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
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3 BURKE, Michael...... 3| 6 2 11 .364| 0| 0 2| 0| 0| 0 4 2| 0
5 MORENO, Carlos...... 3| 4 0 4 1.000| 43| 0 4| 0| 6| 1 1 0| 2
7 MAYOL, Jaime........ 3| 13 1 17 .706| 0| 0 2| 2| 4| 1 4 0| 0
8 David Hyte.......... 3| 6 1 12 .417| 0| 1 3| 0| 0| 0 3 0| 0
9 PAAL, Rafael........ 3| 14 4 27 .370| 4| 1 4| 4| 5| 0 1 0| 0
12 ALLEMAN, Jonathan... 3| 12 5 18 .389| 3| 1 3| 0| 3| 0 3 0| 0
1 PATTERSON, Casey.... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
4 Joe Hillman......... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
15 OLMSTEAD, Shawn..... 3| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 5| 0 0 0| 0
17 PESSOA, Fernando.... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
18 SLABE, Luka......... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 1| 0 0 0| 0
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Totals.............. 3| 55 13 89 .472| 50| 3 18| 6| 24| 2 16 2| 2
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 10.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 17 5 31 .387 GAME SCORES 1 2 3 TEAM RECORDS
2 22 3 30 .633 Brigham Young....... 33 30 30 10-3, 10-3 MPSF
3 16 5 28 .393 USC................. 31 27 24 3-13, 1-10 MPSF
USC | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN
## Name GP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
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2 Blake Tippett....... 3| 8 4 16 .250| 0| 0 2| 1| 1| 0 0 0| 0
8 Mark Dusharme....... 3| 7 3 12 .333| 0| 2 4| 0| 1| 0 0 0| 0
10 Josh Day............ 3| 6 2 12 .333| 0| 0 1| 1| 0| 1 2 1| 0
11 Phil Peterson....... 2| 7 6 17 .059| 0| 0 0| 0| 2| 0 0 0| 0
14 Miles McGann........ 3| 1 0 2 .500| 32| 2 2| 0| 3| 0 2 0| 1
15 Ian Gallagher....... 3| 10 6 27 .148| 0| 2 0| 0| 2| 0 0 0| 1
1 J.T. Gilmour........ 1| 1 0 1 1.000| 8| 0 0| 0| 1| 0 0 0| 0
3 Derek Otte.......... 3| 1 1 5 .000| 0| 0 0| 1| 2| 0 0 0| 0
6 Joao Grangeiro...... 3| 0 0 0 .000| 2| 0 0| 0| 7| 0 0 0| 0
12 Peter Jordan........ 1| 1 0 1 1.000| 0| 0 2| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
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Totals.............. 3| 42 22 93 .215| 42| 6 11| 3| 19| 1 4 1| 2
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 3.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 18 9 38 .237 Site: Los Angeles, Calif. (Lyon Center)
2 13 6 30 .233 Date: Feb 28, 2003 Attend: 500 Time: 1:28
3 11 7 25 .160 Referees: Kim Pickering, Marvin Hall
PROVO -- After splitting a pair of matches with second-ranked Hawaii at home last week, the BYU men's volleyball team will take to the road for the third time this season, traveling to Los Angeles to play the University of Southern California in two Mountain Pacific Sports Federation contests. The fourth-ranked Cougars (9-3, 9-3 MPSF) and the Trojans (3-12, 1-9 MPSF) will square off in the Lyon Center in back-to-back matches on Feb. 28 and Mar. 1.
"Any team we play in our league is good," BYU head coach Tom Peterson said. "USC is a tall team. They have some players on their roster who are 6-10, 6-9, and a few at 6-8. They are a really tall team, and we can't overlook that."
USC's top blockers have averaged more than one block per game on the season, and with their height the Cougars will have an extra challenge.
Coming off a 3-1 loss to Hawaii last week in the Marriott Center, the Cougars are looking to regain their momentum and bring home some wins. Peterson also hopes to give some of his less-visible players some time in the spotlight at USC.
"The competition is really close in practice," Peterson said. "I have a few players I'd like to get into the match and see how they play in real competition."
Since their first matchup in 1990, the Cougars command a 12-7 lead over the Trojans in the series, and are 4-3 in Los Angeles. USC is coming off a non-conference loss to Cal Baptist on Feb. 25 and is in a six-match losing streak, so will be hungry for a win at home this weekend.
Both matches will be held at 7 p.m. (PST) in the Lyon Center.
