LOS -- Clinching the Mountain Pacific Sport Federation regular-season title, the No. 1-ranked BYU men's volleyball team overcame a tight four-game contest against third-ranked UCLA at Pauley Pavilion. The Cougars now extend to a 21-match win streak, including a nation-leading 22-3 record and 18-1 in the MPSF. The game scores were 33-31. 30-26, 29-31, 32-30.

"We ended up with a nice win," BYU head coach Tom Peterson said. "We gutted it out in the fourth game when we were down a few points. The guys looked a little tired towards the end, but turned it around after some long rallies. I think both teams will play a better match tomorrow night."

Senior outside hitter Fernando Pessoa led BYU with 20 kills and added three blocks, while senior opposite Joe Hillman chipped in a double-double performance with 16 kills and a career-high 10 digs. Senior outside hitter Jonathan Alleman also pitched in a double-double with 12 kills and a career-high 13 digs in the win.

Junior middle blocker Mike Burke contributed 10 kills, five blocks and five digs, while hitting a solid .471 percentage on the night. Junior setter Carlos Moreno paced the Cougar attack with 60 assists, three kills and eight digs.

BYU hit a .359 average, while UCLA finished with a .244 percentage. The Cougars out-blocked the Bruins, 12-7, and led with 51 digs for the match. In the second game, BYU took advantage with a strong hitting percentage at .448 (17-4-29), holding the opponent to only a .077 average (12-9-39) for the game.

The Cougars will meet the Bruins again on Friday, Apr. 9 at Pauley Pavilion. The match is set for 7 p.m. (PST).

To view the detailed boxscore, click the pdf version above.

Volleyball Box Score  
                          The Automated ScoreBook
               BYU Cougars vs UCLA BRUINS (Apr. 8, 2004 at UCLA)
   BYU Cougars            |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3  Michael Burke.......  4| 10   2  17  .471|  0|  1   1|  0|  5| 2  3  1|  0|  14.5
5  Carlos Moreno.......  4|  3   0   5  .600| 60|  1   6|  1|  8| 1  1  0|  3|   5.5
10 Cory Carpenter......  4|  7   1   9  .667|  1|  0   0|  0|  4| 0  4  0|  0|   9.0
11 Joe Hillman.........  4| 16   5  31  .355|  1|  0   3|  0| 10| 0  4  0|  0|  18.0
12 Jonathan Alleman....  4| 12   6  26  .231|  0|  0   3|  1| 13| 0  3  0|  0|  13.5
17 Fernando Pessoa.....  4| 20   8  40  .300|  1|  0   4|  2|  3| 0  3  0|  0|  21.5
7  Chris Gorny.........  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
14 Rob Neilson.........  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
15 Shawn Olmstead......  4|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   0|  1|  8| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
20 Taylor Evans........  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  4| 68  22 128  .359| 65|  3  19|  5| 51| 3 18  1|  3|  83.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 12.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  17  7  37  .270   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2  17  4  29  .448   BYU Cougars......... 33 30 29 32  22-3, 18-1
   3  14  4  22  .455   UCLA BRUINS......... 31 26 31 30  20-5, 14-5
   4  20  7  40  .325
   UCLA BRUINS            |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3  Dennis Gonzalez.....  4|  3   2   6  .167| 57|  0   1|  0|  2| 0  1  0|  1|   3.5
4  J.T. Wenger.........  2|  3   2  10  .100|  0|  1   0|  0|  3| 0  2  0|  0|   5.0
5  Paul Johnson........  4|  8   2  19  .316|  0|  0   4|  0|  3| 1  4  3|  0|  11.0
14 Steve Klosterman....  2|  8   5  18  .167|  1|  0   2|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   8.0
21 Chris Pena..........  4| 10   5  23  .217|  0|  2   5|  0|  3| 0  1  0|  0|  12.5
26 Kris Kraushaar......  4| 13   6  32  .219|  0|  1   3|  1|  3| 0  0  2|  0|  14.0
7  Jonathan Acosta.....  3| 15   2  29  .448|  0|  0   3|  0|  8| 0  0  1|  0|  15.0
10 Damien Scott........  1|  0   1   3 -.333|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
17 Allan Vince.........  2|  0   1   5 -.200|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
24 Adam Shrader........  4|  0   0   0  .000|  3|  0   0|  1| 11| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
33 Marcin Jagoda.......  2|  8   2  19  .316|  0|  1   4|  1|  1| 1  2  1|  0|  11.0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  4| 68  28 164  .244| 61|  5  24|  3| 35| 2 10  7|  1|  80.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 7.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  17  9  43  .186   Site: UCLA (Pauley Pavilion)
   2  12  9  39  .077   Date: Apr. 8, 2004   Attend: 1728   Time: 2:10
   3  23  4  42  .452   Referees: Marvin Hall, Scott Hogue
   4  16  6  40  .250

PROVO -- After downing UC San Diego last week, the No. 1-ranked BYU men's volleyball team (21-3, 17-1 MPSF) will make its final road trip of the regular season to UCLA on Apr. 8-9. The match begins at 7 p.m. (PST) at Pauley Pavilion.

The Cougars broke a school record on Friday with their 19-straight victory and then added one more on Saturday to make a 20-match win streak. With the two wins, BYU has now posted another season with over 20 wins, the seventh time in the program's 15-year history.

"UCLA is playing very well and their team is very deep," BYU head coach Tom Peterson said. "These matches determine what happens in play-offs and the rankings at the end of the season. It is a huge weekend for us. We need to be more disciplined in every aspect of our play."

With a league-leading 17-1 record, the Cougars have already clinched a MPSF Tourney first-round home match on Apr. 24. BYU alsocontinues to sit atop the conference for the sixth straight week and in first place of the AVCA Coaches' Poll for the fifth straight week, earning a unanimous selection with all 16 first-place votes. With a 17-1 league record, the Cougars own a three-match lead over second-place Long Beach State. BYU needs to win at least one match against UCLA to clinch home-court advantage in the MPSF Tournament.

The match on Thursday will be the 33rd meeting between the two teams, with UCLA holding a 22-10 overall record over BYU. The Cougars swept the Bruins at home last year, 3-0 in both matches. At the Pauley Pavilion, UCLA holds a 13-2 record.

Taking the match 3-0 last Saturday, the Cougars fought past host UCSD on Saturday at the RIMAC Arena. 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).

In its record-setting match on Friday, the team defeated UCSD, 3-1. The match was played in front of a season-high UCSD home crowd of 612. BYU hit .500, including an impressive .800 (17-1-20) in game one, while UCSD hit .300. Joe Hillman and Jon Alleman led the Cougars with 14 kills apiece, both hitting over .500 average for the match. Mike Burke Burke also registered a blistering career-high .786 hitting percentage (11-0-14), while adding two blocks during the match.

In MPSF action last week, UCLA used a balanced offensive attack to defeat No. 4 Pepperdine in three games on Saturday night at Firestone Fieldhouse. The Bruins won by scores of 30-26, 30-25, 30-25 before 2,657 fans in 84 minutes. UCLA improved to 20-4 on the season and 14-4 in MPSF play, while the Waves fell to 15-7 on the year and 11-7 in conference action. UCLA posted a .427 hitting percentage while Pepperdine registered a .385 hitting attack.

Against Pepperdine, J.T. Wenger, Paul Johnson and Chris Pena each tallied 13 kills for UCLA. Wenger registered a double-double as he also recorded 10 digs. Freshman Steve Klosterman added 11 kills an ace and a solo block. Senior libero Adam Shrader led both teams with 11 digs, and sophomore setter Dennis Gonzalez contributed 50 assists.

UCLA also defeated No.15 USC in four games Tuesday night at Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins won 3-1 in two hours in front of 702 fans. Against USC, five UCLA players recorded double-digit kills led by freshman opposite Steve Klosterman's 16 kills and 20.5 points. Junior Paul Johnson was next with 15 kills, followed by 14 from senior Chris Pena and 12 from Kris Kraushaar.

The Cougars play their last regular-season home match on Apr. 15 and 17 against No. 15 USC. KBYU will broadcast the match on Apr. 15, also available on BYU-TV nationally. Saturday, Apr. 17 will be Senior Night to honor the seven seniors on the squad. Both matches start at 7 p.m. (MST) in the Smith Fieldhouse.