MALIBU -- The No. 6 Cougars dropped their second-consecutive match Friday night, losing 3-1 (27-30, 25-30, 30-23, 17-30) to Pepperdine at Firestone Fieldhouse in the first of two meetings with the Waves. The loss puts BYU at 7-5 overall and 2-3 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Pepperdine is now 8-1 overall and in the MPSF.

The Cougars were unable to get into any kind of rhythm early in the match, dropping the first two games to the Waves. After coming back to take game three in convincing fashion, BYU had nothing left in the tank in the fourth, allowing Pepperdine to take over and win the match.

"We're just not mentally prepared to play against good teams," BYU Coach Tom Peterson said. "We can't sustain anything for a long time but we'll keep plugging away at it. It's not the physical talent but the mental errors."

Michael Burke provided a bright spot for the Cougars, going errorless on his way to hitting .611 (11-0-18) and collecting 11 kills. Victor Batista tied Burke for a team-high 11 kills.

For the match, BYU hit just .219 (55-27-128) and had 32 digs and seven team blocks. Brian Rowley had a team-leading eight digs.

Many Pepperdine players turned in solid performances, with Sean Rooney registering a match-high 17 kills. Andy Hein hit a blistering .750 (10-1-12) on his way to 10 kills. Two other Waves had double-digit kills with John Mayer getting 14 and John Parfitt finishing with 13.

As a team, Pepperdine hit .345 (60-19-119), had 39 digs and 11.5 team blocks.

The first game was fairly evenly matched as both teams came out strong offensively. The Waves were too much as they hit .414 (16-4-29) compared to .367 (14-3-30). Pepperdine did not cool down in the second, hitting .424 while BYU's hitting fell off to .235.

The Cougars showed signs in the third, out-hitting the Waves .364 to .250 on their way to a 30-23 win. The run was short lived as Pepperdine stormed back to win 30-17 in the fourth.

The teams will conclude their two game series Saturday at 3 p.m. (PST) in Firestone Fieldhouse.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                      Briham Young University - Volleyball
   #6 Brigham Young Cougar vs #2 Pepperdine (Feb 11, 2005 at Malibu, Calif.)
    Brigham Young Cougar   |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  STEWART, Bryan......  2|  1   0   2  .500|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 3  BURKE, Michael......  4| 11   0  18  .611|  1|  1   4|  0|  1| 0  1  1|  0|  12.5
 6  HEYES, Matt.........  2|  0   1   1-1.000|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 7  ROWLEY, Brian.......  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  2|  8| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 8  PEREZ, Ivan.........  3|  8   4  21  .190|  0|  0   1|  2|  5| 0  0  0|  0|   8.0
 9  PATTERSON, Casey....  4|  9   6  21  .143|  0|  0   0|  0|  5| 0  2  0|  0|  10.0
 11 HOLMES, Russell.....  2|  5   1  10  .400|  0|  0   2|  0|  1| 0  1  2|  0|   5.5
 14 NEILSON, Rob........  4|  2   1   5  .200| 45|  0   4|  0|  6| 1  3  1|  0|   4.5
 15 BATISTA, Victor.....  4| 11   6  25  .200|  2|  2   5|  1|  2| 2  1  1|  0|  15.5
 17 EVANS, Taylor.......  4|  8   8  25  .000|  1|  1   2|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  0|   9.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 55  27 128  .219| 49|  4  19|  5| 32| 3  8  5|  0|  66.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 7.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  14  3  30  .367   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2  16  8  34  .235   Brigham Young Cougar (1) 27 25 30 17  7-5, 2-3 MPSF
   3  17  5  33  .364   Pepperdine.......... (3) 30 30 23 30  8-1, 8-1 MPSF
   4   8 11  31 -.097
    Pepperdine             |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  Hein, Andy..........  4| 10   1  12  .750|  0|  1   3|  1|  3| 2  4  1|  0|  15.0
 9  Ka, James...........  4|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  1| 10| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 10 Sutherland, Tanner..  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   3|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 11 Mayer, John.........  4| 14   4  23  .435|  3|  0   1|  1|  9| 0  4  0|  0|  16.0
 12 Rooney, Sean........  4| 17   6  39  .282|  1|  2   4|  0|  6| 0  1  0|  0|  19.5
 13 Grobe, Jon..........  1|  0   1   2 -.500|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 14 Hulse, Tom..........  4|  2   1   6  .167|  0|  0   4|  1|  0| 1  2  1|  0|   4.0
 15 Winder, Jonathan....  4|  4   3  10  .100| 47|  1   1|  0|  3| 1  2  0|  0|   7.0
 16 Parfitt, John.......  4| 13   3  27  .370|  1|  1   0|  0|  8| 0  2  0|  0|  15.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 60  19 119  .345| 53|  5  16|  4| 39| 4 15  2|  0|  76.5
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 11.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  16  4  29  .414   Site: Malibu, Calif. (Firestone Fieldhouse)
   2  16  2  33  .424   Date: Feb 11, 2005   Attend: 1174   Time: 1:45
   3  16  8  32  .250   Referees: Marvin Hall, Bob Oshita
   4  12  5  25  .280
                                         1   2   3   4 Total
                        Tie scores      19   3   1   3    26
                        Lead changes     7   2   1   2    12

MALIBU -- The BYU Cougars will jump back into Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play Friday and Saturday with matches against No. 2 Pepperdine at Firestone Fieldhouse.

The Cougars, 7-4 overall and 2-2 in the MPSF, are now No. 6 in the nation after splitting two matches at the Hall of Fame Classic in Springfield, Mass. BYU swept Ball State but lost to Penn State after having a 2-0 advantage in the championship match.

"It was very disappointing to not gut one out that we should have been able to get (against Penn State)," BYU coach Tom Peterson said. "We have to get better with things other than just physical talent. We have to develop our will and desire to always be playing well."

The Waves have started the 2005 season at a blistering pace, boasting a 6-1 record overall and in the MPSF, including a four-match win streak. Their only loss was to UCLA.

Outside hitter Sean Rooney, a three-time All American, leads the way for Pepperdine. Through the weekend, he was averaging 5.41 kills per game while hitting .380.

"We have to be able to slow down Rooney," Peterson said. "He is considered by many to be the best player in college volleyball."

Middle blocker Andy Hein is another dangerous player, averaging 2.48 kills per game and leading the team in blocking with 1.30 per game. The Waves offense is guided by freshman setter Jonathan Winder, who was touted as one of the top recruits coming out of high school. Standing at 6-8, he is also a blocking threat, averaging 0.88 per game.

One of Pepperdine's strengths is its height. Middle blockers Hein and Tom Hulse stand at 6-11 and 6-8 while outside hitters Rooney and John Parfitt are 6-9 and 6-7. With the 6-8 Winder running the offense, the Waves are a threat to get a block at any time.

"They'll be the tallest team we face this season," Peterson said. "They are absolutely huge. We have to be able to pass well. If we get out of system, they'll have their big guys there waiting for us and ready to block."

These two matches are important for both teams as each is in the hunt for the MPSF regular season title and has hopes of hosting the postseason tournament.

"They're huge matches," Peterson said. "If we want to be in contention to be one of the top teams then we need to beat all of these top teams. It really puts us behind if they beat us twice."

This weekend's matches will mark the 35th and 36th meetings between BYU and Pepperdine with the Waves owning a 19-15 edge. The Cougars have won the last three matches, all in Provo. The most recent was the quarterfinals of the 2004 MPSF tournament, which went five games.

The overall record does not include two preseason matches that BYU won in October. The Cougars managed to sweep the shorthanded Waves, playing without Rooney, both nights in the Smith Fieldhouse.

Victor Batista is leading the way for BYU, averaging 4.21 kills per game. His solid hitting performance in Springfield raised his hitting percentage to .305. Ivan Perez, who sat out Saturday's match against Penn State with a sore knee, is second on the team with a 2.67 kills per game average. His status is still uncertain for this weekend.

Michael Burke continues to have a strong season, leading the Cougars with 1.36 blocks per game and a .456 hitting percentage. Brian Rowley is leading the team in digs with an average of 1.70 per game while Rob Neilson is handing out 13.51 assists per game.

"These matches are very important to us for our development," Peterson said. "It's going to test our character to play against a very well-coached and big team."

To follow the match online, visit http://pepperdinesports.collegesports.com/sports or click here. A live video broadcast will be available to Yahoo! Sports College Broadcast subscribers. To view match, visit http://sports.yahoo.com/top/collegebroadcast/teams/pah.

After playing Pepperdine, BYU will have a week off and then play UC Irvine at home, Feb. 25 and 26.