PROVO -- BYU men's volleyball head coach Carl McGown picked up career victory No. 150 as the fifth-ranked Cougars blanked No. 8 Loyola Marymount in three straight games on Friday, 16-15, 17-16, 15-4, to win their 35th straight match in the Smith Fieldhouse.

"A lot of times it's hard to know about your team," McGown said. "Tonight we had guys playing in positions they've never played before and we weren't sure what we were going to get. To win games one and two by playing as badly as we did, it shows you something about this group of guys. I don't know, some how it's robbery with what happened to LMU tonight."

Despite being out-played in games one and two, the Cougars fought back to steal both games and then cruise to an easy victory in game three. Friday's victory marked the Cougars 17th straight win over Loyola Marymount, dating back to the 1992 season. After missing the first 12 games of the season with a broken left index finger, junior Mac Wilson came off the bench to record a team-leading 16 kills and a match-high 13 blocks. The 6-10 middle blocker hit a match-high .727 on the night, connecting on 16 of 22 swings with no errors.

"Mac came in and played very well," McGown said. "After being out for so long, we wanted to at least get him in for a couple games. For sure he was the outstanding player of the match and he's only going to help us become a better team."

In game one LMU took a 9-6 advantage before BYU evened things up at 12-12 on a Wilson ace. The Lions were forced into back-to-back hitting errors, giving the Cougars the 14-12 lead. LMU battled back to tie things up and then took a 15-14 lead, serving for game point. Wilson came up with the kill for sideout and then teamed with senior Chris Pitzak for a block to end the game, 16-14. Wilson finished the game hitting a perfect 6-for-6, while junior Mike Wall and sophomore Jaime Mayol tallied eight kills each for the Cougars, while LMU's Corin Bemus collected 10 kills.

In game two, the two teams battled to a 5-5 tie before the Lions took control. Paced by Bemus and Reid Priddy, who combined for 21 of the Lions' 27 kills, LMU was serving for game point at 14-9. The Cougars however, would not be denied and reeled off seven unanswered points to take a 15-14 lead. LMU jumped back ahead, 16-14, on back-to-back Cougar hitting errors before Wall and Wilson teamed to block a Lion attempt and tie things up at 16-16. BYU sealed the comeback on Wilson's seventh block of the game.

In game three, it was all BYU. The Cougars jumped out to a 7-0 lead before LMU could get on the board. BYU stretched the lead to 13-1, allowed a couple LMU points and then cruised to an easy 15-4 win. Wilson sealed the Cougars 17th straight single-game win over the Lions with his 13th block of the match.

BYU will be back in action on Saturday, hosting LMU for the back-half of the weekend series. The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. (MST) in the Smith Fieldhouse.

Short Box Score (Final)
        Loyola Marymount vs Brigham Young (Feb 11, 2000 at Provo, Utah)
  Brigham Young def. Loyola Marymount 16-14,17-16,15-4
  Loyola Marymount (2-3,  1-3) (Kills-aces-blocks) - BEMUS, Corin
  28-0-3; PRIDDY, Reid 19-3-2; VOORHEES, Jason 7-1-3; WAGNER, Brian
  7-0-2; LEE, Jason 6-0-5; DUNNE, Stephen 2-0-0; Totals 69-4-8.0.
  (Assists) - DUNNE, Stephen 63. (Dig leaders) - PRIDDY, Reid 9;
  VOORHEES, Jason 8; BEMUS, Corin 8
  Brigham Young (9-3, 6-3) (Kills-aces-blocks) - WILSON, Mac 16-1-13;
  WALL, Mike 15-1-9; BUNKER, Scott 14-1-11; ACOSTA, Joaquin 13-0-6;
  MAYOL, Jaime 11-1-4; OLSEN, Matt 5-0-0; TANNER, Russell 3-0-0;PITZAK,
  Chris 2-0-5; Totals 79-4-24.5. (Assists) - PITZAK, Chris 69. (Dig
  leaders) - GOLDSTON, Brad 9; ACOSTA, Joaquin 7
  Site: Provo, Utah (Smith Fieldhouse)
  Date: Feb 11, 2000   Attend: 2246   Time: 2:05
  Referees: Les Calles, Tom Given, DJM;MA;ST;RG;JDM
  150th career victory for BYU coach Carl McGown
  35th straight victory for BYU in the SFH

PROVO -- BYU's all-time winningest men's volleyball coach, Carl McGown, will be gunning for his 150th career victory on Friday, Feb. 11th, as the sixth-ranked Cougars play host to eighth-ranked Loyola Marymount in the Smith Fieldhouse, beginning at 7 p.m. (MST).

"In terms of career wins, this really isn't that big of a milestone," McGown said. "When we first started competing at this level 11 years ago, we got killed night in and night out. I never thought we would ever get over .500.

"So, from that aspect it's nice. However, it really doesn't compare to the career milestones achieved by Elaine Michaelis, LaVell Edwards, Gary Pullins and all the other coaches we have here at BYU. Another 800 wins or so, and I'll be right up there with Elaine (Michaelis)."

McGown picked up career win No. 149 on Saturday, upsetting third-ranked Pepperdine in five games, 7-15, 7-15, 15-7, 15-11, 17-15.

"Last week was a good trip for us," McGown said. "We played the second- and third-ranked teams in the nation and took Long Beach to five games and won a match at Pepperdine. We were in every match and these guys just never gave up."

McGown is in his 11th season of NCAA competition at BYU and has posted an overall record of 149-114 (.567), including a school record 30-1 mark last season. Over the last three season, including 11 matches in 2000, McGown has led the Cougars to an amazing 74-16 (.822) record, averaging nearly 25 wins per season. The all-time winningest coach in BYU men's volleyball history led the Cougars to their first-ever NCAA National Championship in 1999, posting a 30-1 overall record and an 18-1 mark in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

McGown has paced the Cougars to five top-10 finishes throughout his career at BYU, including a No. 1 ranking in 1999, No. 7 in 1998, No. 4 in 1997, No. 5 in 1995 and No. 2 in 1994. Following the 1999 season, McGown was named the AVCA National Coach of the Year.

In addition to his duties at BYU, McGown has served as head coach of the USA National Team from 1973-1976 and became a technical advisor to the team in 1980. Since then McGown has coached in four different Olympic Games, including the 1984 Games in Los Angeles, the 1988 Games in Seoul, Korea, the 1992 Games in Barcelona, Spain and the 1996 Games in Atlanta. McGown has also coached the National Team in seven different World Championships, the Word University Games and the Pan American Games.

Friday's match will begin at 7 p.m., while Saturday's match against Loyola Marymount will begin at 5 p.m. (MST). Both matches will be played in the Smith Fieldhouse.