PROVO -- It wasn't the prettiest match, but with great fan support the Cougars managed to come from behind to beat Penn State 27-30, 30-27, 30-20, 30-23 in a non-conference match in the Smith Fieldhouse. With the win, BYU improves to 13-3 (11-2 MPSF) on the season, while the Nittany Lions fall 13-4 (9-0 EIVA) on the year.

Although BYU only hit a .235 attack percent on the night, three Cougars recorded double-digit kills in the win, led by seniors Jaime Mayol and Rafael Paal with 12 kills each. Jonathan Alleman added 11 kills, while middle blocker Michael Burke contributed a whopping nine blocks (0-9). Setter Carlos Moreno recorded a match-high .600 (7-1-10), 40 assists and six blocks (2-4).

"We didn't hit great, but we kept (Penn State) down," BYU head coach Tom Peterson said. "I'm sure they're not used to hitting just .189."

Keith Howal did the best overall for the Nittany Lions with 14 kills and .545 hitting (14-2-22). BYU was able to keep senior standout Carlos Guerra to hitting just .071 on the night, although he did register a match-high 15 kills and added five blocks (1-4).

"Guerra is their senior go-to guy," Peterson said. "It is nice to keep him down to that percentage."

The Nittany Lions started the match in better shape, hitting .500 as a team in game one to take a 1-0 lead in the match. The second game was close, with both teams committed too many errors and neither squad hit over .200. BYU struggled through most of the second game to maintain a one-point lead, but Mayol scored crucial kills to help the Cougars out of a 26-point tie to win the game.

"We just weren't showing much emotion. We were just letting things happen instead of making them happen," Peterson said. "I think the crowd really got us into the match. That was a big key, especially in game two. At the end of the game when it was getting tied, the crowd really got us back into the match. I think the crowd really helped us win the match."

When the teams came back from their break after game two, the match seemed completely different. BYU out-blocked Penn State 7.0 to 1.0 in the third game and the Cougars held the Nittany Lions to a .000 hitting percentage for a 30-20 win that gave BYU the lead.

The new momentum lasted into the fourth game for the Cougars, who took an early lead and held it for much of the game. There was a point when five Cougar errors let the Nittany Lions back to just a one-point deficit, but BYU was determined to have the win. With the Cougars in the lead 29-23, Peterson sent in reserve blocker David Hyte, who promptly shut out the Nittany Lions with a solo block to win the match.

BYU and Penn State will compete again Saturday night at 9 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse.

Volleyball Box Score
                        2003 BYU Men's Volleyball Stats
    No. 10 Penn State vs Brigham Young (Mar 07, 2003 at Brigham Young Univ)
    No. 10 Penn State      |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  MATTEI, Ricky.......  4|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   0|  1| 16| 0  0  0|  0
 2  O'DELL, Dan.........  4|  1   0   2  .500| 51|  1   1|  0|  2| 1  4  0|  1
 8  SLENKER, Zach.......  4|  9  10  23 -.043|  0|  0   5|  1|  2| 0  3  0|  0
 9  GUERRA, Carlos......  4| 15  12  42  .071|  0|  0   1|  0|  4| 1  4  0|  0
 12 KOLJESAR, Zeljko....  4|  8   3  12  .417|  0|  0   6|  2|  2| 0  3  1|  1
 13 KEIL, Norman........  4|  7   4  14  .214|  1|  0   1|  0|  0| 1  5  0|  0
 3  SCHNEIDER, Richard..  2|  1   1   2  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 4  PROPER, Matt........  1|  0   1   2 -.500|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 5  ROJAS, Rhonee.......  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   2|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 6  MATTHEWS, Nate......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 11 MEERSTEIN, Nate.....  2|  1   0   3  .333|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 14 KOWAL, Keith........  4| 14   2  22  .545|  0|  1   5|  0|  1| 0  5  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 56  33 122  .189| 54|  2  24|  4| 28| 3 24  1|  2
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 15.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  16  4  24  .500   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2  14  8  34  .176   No. 10 Penn State... 30 27 20 23  13-4, 9-0 EIVA
   3  10 10  29  .000   Brigham Young....... 27 30 30 30  13-3, 11-3 MPSF
   4  16 11  35  .143
    Brigham Young          |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  BURKE, Michael......  4|  7   5  16  .125|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  9  1|  0
 5  MORENO, Carlos......  4|  7   1  10  .600| 40|  1   5|  0|  3| 2  4  1|  0
 6  GORNY, Chris........  4|  4   1   9  .333|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 1  3  0|  0
 7  MAYOL, Jaime........  4| 12   5  20  .350|  0|  0   1|  1|  3| 0  5  0|  0
 9  PAAL, Rafael........  4| 12   5  32  .219|  5|  2   5|  0|  6| 0  5  2|  0
 12 ALLEMAN, Jonathan...  4| 11   9  28  .071|  2|  1   4|  0|  8| 1  2  0|  0
 1  PATTERSON, Casey....  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 8  HYTE, David.........  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 1  0  0|  0
 15 OLMSTEAD, Shawn.....  3|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 17 PESSOA, Fernando....  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  1|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 53  26 115  .235| 50|  4  16|  2| 28| 5 28  4|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 19.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  14  7  29  .241   Site: Brigham Young Univ (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  13  8  36  .139   Date: Mar 07, 2003   Attend: 1302   Time: 2:10
   3  12  5  24  .292   Referees: LES CALLES, MAILIE JEWKES, ERIN YAMASHITA
   4  14  6  26  .308

PROVO -- BYU men's volleyball head coach Tom Peterson will have his first matchup against one of his previous assistant coaches this weekend as the third-ranked Cougars host No. 11 Penn State for the first time in 12 years. To round off the week, the Cougars (11-3, 11-3 MPSF) will also be hosting Concordia on Wednesday. Both Concordia and Penn State (12-3, 8-0 EIVA) are members of the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association.

With Penn State coming to Provo on Friday and Saturday, Peterson is feeling a little extra pressure. The Nittany Lions made four NCAA Tournament appearances and won their only national championship in 1994 with Peterson as their head coach.

"Penn State is a good team," Peterson said. "I don't want to lose these matches, especially since their head coach (Mark Pavlik) was my assistant coach when I was there."

Pavlik took over as head coach when Peterson left, and Friday's match will mark the first meeting between the two coaches. The teams have only competed twice since the Nittany Lions beat the Cougars in 1994 with Peterson at the helm, but BYU won both of those matches on neutral turf. Overall, the Cougars are behind in the series 2-4 since 1990.

With Concordia, the Cougars hold a 2-0 lead in the series, having won a 3-0 contest last March in Provo.

"Concordia usually has some foreign players that have good experience, so they should be a pretty good team," BYU head coach Tom Peterson said. "And it will be nice to get back into the Smith Fieldhouse to play this week."

The Cougars played their previous two matches on the road at USC and came away with back-to-back 3-0 wins over the Trojans. Penn State is currently on a 7-0 road winning streak and holds a perfect 8-0 record in the EIVA Tait conference.

Wednesday's match against Concordia and Friday's match against Penn State will both be held at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse. Saturday's match against Penn State will be held at 9 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse.