SAN -- Extending to a school-record of 20-straight wins and taking the match 3-0, the top-ranked BYU men's volleyball team fought past host UC San Diego on Saturday at the RIMAC Arena. The game scores were 31-29, 36-34, 30-22.

"We played a better all-around match tonight," BYU head coach Tom Peterson said. "Our passing and serving was better than it was on Friday. UCSD was well-prepared for us and played one of their best matches of the season."

The Cougars improve to a nation-leading 21-3 overall record, including a 17-1 record in the MPSF. The Tritons dropped to 7-18 overall and 3-16 in league play.

With the two wins, BYU has now posted another season with over 20 wins, the seventh time in the program's 15-year history. The Cougars out-hit UCSD, .313 to .221, as well as out-blocking, 13.5 to seven.

Leading BYU with his 20th double-digit performance of the season was senior outside hitter Fernando Pessoa with 14 kills and six digs, while hitting a .458 clip for the match. Junior middle Michael Burke and senior opposite Joe Hillman also remained solid with 10 kills each, with Burke hitting a .714 percentage (10-0-14). Hillman racked up six blocks in the win.

Senior libero Shawn Olmstead tied his career-high in digs with 12 and also added two assists. Senior Jon Alleman chipped in eight kills, two service aces and six digs, as sophomore middle Victor Batista added six kills and a team-high seven blocks. Junior setter Carlos Moreno paced the team with 42 assists, increasing his career total to 4,115 assists and ranking him third on BYU's all-time list.

"We had a lot of guys contributing for us in each category," assistant coach Grayson DuBose said.

BYU had also gotten by the Tritons on Friday night, 3-1. BYU scored the first three points of the opening game, with two kills coming from Hillman. After UCSD caught the Cougars and achieved its first tie since the start, at 6-6, it became a back-and-forth affair. Twelve more ties led toward a 26-26 deadlock, with the Tritons continually knotting it up, only to see the Cougars go back on top. Finally, UCSD took its first lead of the frame at 27-26 on hitting error by Hillman, which forced a Cougar timeout.

The teams traded points before a Triton service error tied it up again at 28-28. A solo block by Batista regained the advantage for BYU, heading into a UCSD timeout. This time, it was a service error by the visitors, which tied the score one last time at 29-29. A kill by Alleman and block assists by Batista and Hillman finally ended it in favor of BYU.

Game two was not unlike the opener, a tight contest from beginning to end. UCSD tallied the first two points, and although the Cougars then led by as many as four points three different times, the game stood locked for a 14th time at 28-28, before the first of multiple game points for both sides. A kill by Moreno gave the visitors the first opportunity to win the frame, with back-to-back kills by the Titons' senior opposite Jim Waller and sophomore outside hitter Jeff Urton then immediately giving UCSD its first chance, heading into a BYU timeout.

Following a kill by Burke to make it 30-30, each team had another game point which it was unable to convert on. A UCSD hitting error gave BYU its third game-point opportunity, but block assists by Waller and true freshman middle Garret Smith, in a rare start, fended it off one last time. A Batista kill and blocks by Burke and Hillman gave the Cougars the game, 36-34, and the 2-0 lead in the match.

"Mike (Burke) had some good swings for us in the second game," DuBose said. "And the team's passing also helped out, and we were able to convert on some key plays. It was a great team effort tonight."

The third game was less of a contest, with BYU trotting out to a 7-3 advantage before the first timeout by the home side. Though UCSD got back to within one point once at 10-9, that was as close as it would get. The Cougars used a run of 5-0 later to really break it open at 20-13, and led by as many as 10 at 29-19 on match point before settling for the 30-22 win.

Waller led with a match-high 20 on Saturday, including seven in game one and eight more in the second. He is now just 37 shy of breaking the all-time career record for kills at UCSD. Waller also had five blocks. Senior middle Kevin Keyser collected 11 kills. Freshman setter Brook Dierdorff distributed 40 assists.

BYU travels next week to UCLA on Apr. 8-9 at the Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins are currently ranked No. 3 in the national poll and will provide a tough match up for the Cougars.

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

                              Volleyball Box Score
                        2004 BYU Men's Volleyball Stats
          BRIGHAM YOUNG vs UC San Diego (Apr 03, 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......  3| 10   0  14  .714|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  5  0|  0|  12.5
 5  MORENO, Carlos......  3|  2   3   6 -.167| 42|  1   2|  0|  1| 0  3  1|  2|   4.5
 11 HILLMAN, Joe........  3| 10   4  20  .300|  1|  0   1|  0|  4| 1  5  0|  0|  13.5
 12 ALLEMAN, Jonathan...  3|  8   4  17  .235|  1|  2   4|  1|  6| 0  2  0|  0|  11.0
 17 PESSOA, Fernando....  3| 14   3  24  .458|  1|  1   4|  1|  6| 0  2  0|  0|  16.0
 18 BATISTA, Victor.....  3|  6   3  15  .200|  0|  0   1|  0|  3| 1  6  1|  0|  10.0
 2  RANGEL, Steffin.....  1|  0   1   1-1.000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 10 CARPENTER, Cory.....  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 14 NEILSON, Rob........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 15 OLMSTEAD, Shawn.....  3|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   0|  0| 12| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 20 EVANS, TAYLOR.......  1|  0   1   2 -.500|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 50  19  99  .313| 48|  4  12|  2| 35| 2 23  2|  2|  67.5
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 13.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  18 10  37  .216   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  19  5  40  .350   BRIGHAM YOUNG....... 31 36 30  21-3, 17-1 MPSF
   3  13  4  22  .409   UC San Diego........ 29 34 22  7-18, 3-16 MPSF
    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| 20   9  41  .268|  0|  1   4|  0|  5| 2  3  0|  0|  24.5
 5  URTON, Jeff.........  3|  9   4  22  .227|  1|  0   3|  0|  3| 1  0  0|  0|  10.0
 6  KEYSER, Kevin.......  3| 11   1  20  .500|  1|  1   1|  0|  1| 0  2  0|  0|  13.0
 10 TOREN, Adam.........  3|  5   8  17 -.176|  1|  0   4|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   5.0
 20 DIERDORFF, Brooks...  3|  0   2   3 -.667| 40|  0   3|  0|  4| 0  1  0|  1|   0.5
 24 SMITH, Garret.......  3|  4   0  10  .400|  0|  0   3|  0|  1| 0  2  1|  0|   5.0
 4  TAI, Dickens........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  4|  8| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 23 OKSENENDLER, Shawn..  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 49  24 113  .221| 44|  2  18|  4| 23| 3  8  1|  1|  58.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 7.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  14  6  33  .242   Site: UC San Diego (RIMAC Arena)
   2  21 10  46  .239   Date: Apr 03, 2004   Attend: 289   Time: 1:40
   3  14  8  34  .176   Referees: Kevin Cull, Patsy Malta

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)