PROVO -- With the new rally method of scoring in collegiate men's volleyball, it didn't take the seventh-ranked BYU men's volleyball team long to dispatch LaVerne of Friday, knocking off the Leopards in three straight games, 30-17, 30-20, 30-21, to win its fifth straight season-opener. The victory also marked the 160th career win for BYU head coach Carl McGown.

"By no means is this a measuring stick for our season," McGown said. "However, I thought the guys did a really nice job. We had nice ball control and I was impressed with our effort. We were very smooth."

In game one, the Cougars took advantage of the Leopards' serving, scoring six points on serving errors. In addition, BYU hit a blistering 74 percent at the net. The Cougars recorded 15 kills on 19 swings with only one hitting error. Junior Mike Wall paced BYU with four kills, while senior All-American Hector Lebron directed traffic with a game-high 13 assists.

In game two, McGown started emptying the bench, looking to get key newcomers some vaulable experience. Sophomore Luka Slabe and redshirt freshman Chris Gorney combined for five of the Cougars' 16 kills. The BYU defense also caused the Leopards fits, stuffing the LaVerne attack with seven blocks. BYU went on a 9-2 run to close out game two, led by a balanced attack.

In the final game of the match, freshman Jonathan Alleman and Jaime Mayol combined for eight of the Cougars' 16 kills. After leading by as many as nine points in game three, LaVerne made a 5-1 run, cutting the BYU lead to 20-15. But the play of Alleman and Mayol spurred the Cougars to a 30-21 finish, capped by a Alleman's fourth kill of the game.

Wall led BYU with a match high nine kills on the night, followed by Joaquin Acosta and Scott Bunker with five each. BYU hit .568 for the match, connecting on 31-of-44 attempts. Lebron recorded 28 assists, solidifying his third-place ranking among BYU's career assist leaders. Defensively, the Cougars' front line notched 20 blocks, including two solos, while the offense was blocked only twice in the match.

"It was terrific to have Hector back in the lineup," McGown said. "He is a great leader and has the ability to pull the guys together. There was a nice feeling out there tonight. Jonathan Alleman hit the ball hard and did a nice job for us as well. I was very impressed with our entire team effort."

LaVerne was led by Will Paulson who recorded 10 kills over three games, while Liko Tubbs produced a team-leading 17 assists. LaVerne hit 31-of-86 on the night with 23 errors (.093).

The two teams will square off again on Saturday in the Smith Fieldhouse. Match time is slated for 7 p.m. (MST).

LaVerne vs Brigham Young (Jan 19, 2001 at Provo, Utah)
    LaVerne                |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  TUBBS, Liko.........  2|  0   2   2-1.000| 17|  0   1|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  1
 5  PAULOSN, Will.......  3| 10   6  23  .174|  0|  0   2|  3|  2| 0  1  0|  0
 11 SWANN, Jake.........  3|  9   6  23  .130|  0|  1   3|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 14 CANNON, Todd........  3|  2   1   4  .250|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 16 MICHAEL, Nate.......  3|  3   4  13 -.077| 12|  0   2|  1|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 2  GROW, Agke..........  3|  0   1   1-1.000|  1|  0   0|  1|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 3  HILTON, Thomas......  3|  0   0   2  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 7  MICHAELL, Ian.......  2|  1   2   5 -.200|  0|  0   1|  1|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 8  SILVA, Nate.........  3|  2   1   7  .143|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  1  1|  0
 15 DODSON, Jared.......  1|  4   0   6  .667|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 31  23  86  .093| 30|  1  12|  6| 12| 0  2  1|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 1.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  11  7  25  .160   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  10 10  30  .000   LaVerne............. 17 20 21  1 - 3
   3  10  6  31  .129   Brigham Young....... 30 30 30  1 - 0
    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..........  2|  9   1  13  .615|  0|  0   1|  0|  3| 0  2  0|  0
 3  ACOSTA, Joaquin.....  2|  5   0   5 1.000|  1|  4   3|  0|  2| 0  1  0|  0
 4  OLSEN, Matt.........  2|  4   1   8  .375|  0|  0   2|  0|  1| 0  5  0|  0
 7  MAYOL, Jaime........  2|  7   0  10  .700|  0|  0   1|  1|  5| 0  1  0|  0
 9  LEBRON, Hector......  3|  3   0   6  .500| 37|  0   1|  0|  2| 1  2  0|  0
 13 BUNKER, Scott.......  2|  5   1   6  .667|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 1  1  0|  0
 1  TANNER, Russell.....  1|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 6  GORNY, Chris........  2|  5   3   9  .222|  1|  0   3|  0|  1| 0  2  1|  0
 10 LARSEN, Jeremiah....  2|  0   0   0  .000|  4|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 12 ALLEMAN, Jonathan...  1|  4   2   7  .286|  1|  2   2|  0|  2| 0  2  1|  0
 17 PESSOA, Fernando....  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 18 SLABE, Luka.........  2|  6   2  11  .364|  0|  0   2|  0|  3| 0  2  1|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 48  10  75  .507| 45|  6  16|  1| 23| 2 18  3|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 11.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  15  1  19  .737   Site: Provo, Utah (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  16  5  25  .440   Date: Jan 19, 2001   Attend: 2024   Time: 1:15
   3  17  4  31  .419   Referees: Tom Given, Les Calles
                        2001 Season Opener
                       Carl McGown's 160th Career Win

PROVO -- The seventh-ranked BYU men's volleyball team will officially kickoff the 2001 season with a pair of home matches against LaVerne on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 19-20 in the Smith Fieldhouse. Match times are slated for 7 p.m. (MST).

The Cougars will be playing in their first regular-season match of the season, while LaVerne has posted a 1-1 mark on the season. The Leopards lost to Cal State Northridge in three straight games to open the season, 30-32, 24-30, 15-30. On Jan. 12, LaVerne rebounded to knock off D'Youville 30-24, 32-34, 37-35, 30-28. LaVerne won the 1999 NCAA Division III National Championship -- the same year BYU won the Division I National Title.

"Since we had a couple schools on our schedule drop their volleyball programs, we were forced to find a couple opponents," McGown said. "LaVerne is a nice team and will give us a good match. We appreciate them being willing to come to Provo and play us. I think having the 1999 Division-Three champions against the 1999 Division-one champions will make a nice match."

Following Saturday's match, senior All-American Hector Lebron and junior outside hitter Joaquin Acosta will be in-studio guests for KUTV's Talkin' Sports with David James. The program will be broadcast live, beginning at 10:30 p.m. (MST) on Ch. 2 in the Salt Lake City area.