SAN -- Setting a new school record of 19-straight wins in a single season, the No. 1-ranked BYU men's volleyball team defeated UC San Diego 3-1, Friday night at the RIMAC Arena. The game scores were 30-22, 30-26, 28-30, 30-26. The match was played in front of a season-high UCSD home crowd of 612.

With the win, the Cougars improve to 20-3 overall and 16-1 in the MPSF. The Tritons fall to 7-17 overall and 3-15 in league play. BYU hit .500, including an impressive .800 (17-1-20) in game one, while UCSD hit .300.

"I have to give some credit to UCSD because they did a nice job at scouting us," BYU head coach Tom Peterson said. "I felt like we need to play better and not relax too much. We need to just play like we're capable of and continue to improve with each match."

Even with four players in double-digit kills, UCSD recorded more kills on the night with 63 compared to BYU's 61. Seniors opposite Joe Hillman and outside Jon Alleman led the Cougars with 14 kills apiece, both hitting over .500 average for the match. Junior middle blocker Mike Burke and senior outside hitter Fernando Pessoa pitched in 11 kills, while sophomore middle Victor Batista chipped in nine kills and nine blocks.

Burke registered a blistering match-high .786 hitting percentage, while adding two both during the match. Pessoa also came away with a match-high eight digs, while junior setter Carlos Moreno paced the Cougar attack with 53 assists. BYU out-blocked the Tritons in a large margin of 12.5 team blocks to UCSD's two blocks.

The visiting Cougars scored the first point of the opening game on a kill by Burke. After a service error tied it at, 1-1, Hillman made it 2-1 for the visitors with a kill, and BYU led the rest of the way, finally extending to beyond a four-point cushion for the first time at 23-18 on block assists by Burke and Pessoa.

"We did a good job at siding out," Peterson said. "And that's why we're still strong. We have different weapons to keep us in the game. But if we relaxed too much, UCSD came back on us and that was disapointing."

In game two, UCSD led for the first time on the night at 1-0, and ran out to a 4-1 lead, with two kills coming from senior middle Kevin Keyser. The Cougars eventually caught the Tritons at 5-5, and 10 ties later, at 16-16, BYU went on a 3-0 run to give itself a cushion at 19-16. Following a timeout, the home side was unable to close that gap, only getting within two points on three separate occasions. A kill by Alleman and a solo block by Batista closed it out and gave the Cougars a 2-0 advantage.

Early in the third frame, it looked as though BYU would complete the sweep, up 7-1. The Tritons would not quit, however, chipping away and finally knotting it at 14-14. UCSD then scored four straight, three served by sophomore outside hitter Jeff Urton, to turn a 15-16 deficit into a 19-16 lead. Though the visitors came within one point four times, the Tritons fended them off, Urton putting down a kill on game point to make it a 2-1 match.

BYU tallied the first two points of game four, with the rest of the early part a tight affair with eight ties. At 11-11, BYU went on a 5-0 run, with Alleman serving four of the points. The Tritons never got closer than within two points the rest of the frame, the match ending on a Batista kill.

Junior outside hitter Adam Toren posted a match-high 20 kills for UCSD as well as a team-high .667 hitting (20-2-27). Urton and Keyser each contributed 13 kills, with Keyser also adding three service aces and a solo block. Redshirt junior Nate Jones started at setter and had 26 assists before true freshman Brooks Dierdorff took over in game three and contributed 32 assists over the remainder of the match.

The win helped BYU break the school mark of 18 straight wins, set by the 1999 squad that went on to claim the national title. First-year Triton assistant coach Mike Wall was a member of that team, as well as the 2001 Cougars, which also went all the way, with Wall the NCAA Tournament MVP. Fifth-year UCSD head coach Ron Larsen is a BYU graduate as well.

The two teams meet again at RIMAC Arena on Saturday night, with the match set for 7:00 PM.

To view the detailed box score, click on the pdf version link above.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                        2004 BYU Men's Volleyball Stats
          BRIGHAM YOUNG vs UC San Diego (Apr 02, 2004 at UC San Diego)
    BRIGHAM YOUNG          |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  BURKE, Michael......  4| 11   0  14  .786|  0|  0   3|  0|  1| 1  1  0|  0|  12.5
 5  MORENO, Carlos......  4|  2   2   4  .000| 53|  1   3|  0|  5| 0  2  0|  2|   4.0
 11 HILLMAN, Joe........  4| 14   2  24  .500|  2|  0   2|  0|  3| 0  2  0|  1|  15.0
 12 ALLEMAN, Jonathan...  4| 14   2  23  .522|  0|  0   4|  1|  2| 0  2  2|  0|  15.0
 17 PESSOA, Fernando....  4| 11   4  19  .368|  0|  0   4|  1|  8| 1  3  0|  0|  13.5
 18 BATISTA, Victor.....  4|  9   2  14  .500|  1|  0   3|  0|  0| 2  7  0|  0|  14.5
 10 CARPENTER, Cory.....  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 14 NEILSON, Rob........  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 15 OLMSTEAD, Shawn.....  4|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  1|  6| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
    TEAM................   |                 |   |       |  1|   |        |   |   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 61  12  98  .500| 57|  1  20|  4| 25| 4 17  2|  3|  74.5
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 12.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  17  1  20  .800   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2  13  4  23  .391   BRIGHAM YOUNG....... 30 30 28 30  20-3, 16-1 MPSF
   3  14  4  30  .333   UC San Diego........ 22 26 30 26  7-17, 3-15 MPSF
   4  17  3  25  .560
    UC San Diego           |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  WALLER, Jim.........  3|  2   8  15 -.400|  0|  0   1|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0|   2.0
 5  URTON, Jeff.........  4| 13   7  25  .240|  3|  0   5|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0|  13.0
 6  KEYSER, Kevin.......  4| 13   3  26  .385|  0|  3   3|  0|  3| 1  0  0|  0|  17.0
 10 TOREN, Adam.........  4| 20   2  27  .667|  0|  1   6|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0|  21.0
 11 JONES, Nate.........  3|  1   0   2  .500| 26|  0   2|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  1|   1.0
 17 RUPP, Andy..........  3|  8   3  14  .357|  0|  0   3|  0|  0| 0  0  1|  0|   8.0
 4  TAI, Dickens........  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  1|  4| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 20 DIERDORFF, Brooks...  2|  1   0   1 1.000| 32|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  1  0|  1|   1.5
 23 OKSENENDLER, Shawn..  3|  3   2   6  .167|  0|  0   4|  0|  1| 0  0  2|  0|   3.0
 24 SMITH, Garret.......  2|  2   2   4  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0|   2.5
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 63  27 120  .300| 61|  4  26|  1| 18| 1  2  3|  2|  69.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 2.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  12  6  23  .261   Site: UC San Diego (RIMAC Arena)
   2  17  9  37  .216   Date: Apr 02, 2004   Attend: 612   Time: 2:00
   3  19  6  34  .382   Referees: Jesse Martinez, Kevin Cull
   4  15  6  26  .346

PROVO -- After battling two non-conference teams last week, the No. 1-ranked BYU men's volleyball team returns to league play at UC San Diego on Apr. 2-3 in the RIMAC Arena. The matches start at 7 p.m. (PST)

The Cougars tied the school record at 18-straight wins, previously set by the 1999 team, after defeating George Mason and Lewis last week. The squad hopes to break the record with 19 wins this weekend against the Tritons. UCSD dropped out of the AVCA Coaches' Poll, after ranking 14th last week but falling in both matches to Stanford and Pacific. Both losses came in three games.

"These matches against UCSD are big for us on the road," BYU head coach Tom Peterson said. "They have won more matches this year than they ever have. Coach Ron Larsen is a BYU grad and has done a great job there, even without scholarships for the athletes. They could cause some problems if we're not ready."

BYU continues to sit atop the conference for the fifth straight week, with the best league record at 15-1. The Cougars, who remain in first place of the AVCA Coaches' Poll for the fourth straight week, are riding an 18-match win streak including 10 straight home wins.

The match on Friday will be the 15th meeting between the two teams, with BYU holding a perfect 14-0 overall record over UC San Diego, including six wins in Calif. The Cougars swept the Titons at home last year, 3-0 the first match and 3-1 in the second match.

"We'll have to play good to win and not make little mistakes," Peterson said. "We try not to think about winning streaks or rankings. What we're concerned about is how well we perform each night. Everything else will just take care of itself."

After clinching a MPSF Tournament berth, BYU looks to finish out the season strong in time for Apr. 24 in hopes to host the first round of the tournament.

With career and season-high hitting last Saturday, BYU dismantled the Patriots of George Mason, 3-0, capturing its 18 straight victory. The game scores for Saturday's match were 30-26, 30-15, 30-23. Coming off an emotional win over Lewis on Friday, the team settled down and focused on its game, using seven players off the bench. All American Jon Alleman posted 18 kills and a career-high .857 hitting percentage, also adding four blocks and four digs on defense.

On Friday, the Cougars put together a 3-1 victory over Lewis, who edged BYU in the 2003 National Championship, to notch their national-leading 17th victory. After dropping the first game, 28-30, the Cougars put together three wins (30-25, 30-28, 30-20) to dash the Flyers' hopes of another upset.

The match brought in a season-high 4,342 fans in the Smith Fieldhouse. All American- candidate Fernando Pessoa led the Cougar attack with a match-leading 21 kills. BYU hit a .347 percentage for the match. Alleman pitched in 12 kills, three digs and two blocks to help the Cougars to another win.

The last road trip of the regular season will take the Cougars to UCLA on Apr. 8-9. The Bruins are currently ranked third in the national polls and will try to stop BYU's momentum in the legendary Pauley Pavilion. Both matches start at 7 p.m. (PST)