PROVO -- Coming off a bye week, No. 1 BYU showed no signs of rust, hitting .537 to earn a sweep (30-16, 30-23, 30-23) of Stanford Friday at the Smith Fieldhouse. The Cougars improved to 13-2 overall and 11-2 in the MPSF while the Cardinal fell to 4-15 overall and 2-11 in league play.

"Anytime you can beat Stanford its nice," BYU coach Tom Peterson said. "It was nice to have the week off to heal up. We still have some guys that are a little hurt but we're fighting through it."

Yosleyder Cala had 12 kills in two games and hit .857 to lead BYU. Ivan Perez and Russell Holmes added 10 kills each and Victor Batista hit a match-high .889 (8-0-9). Holmes and Cala had match highs of four blocks and five digs. As a team, BYU hit .537 (55-11-82) and had 28 digs and 5.0 blocks.

Ben Reddy led all players 13 kills while Nick Manov added seven for Stanford. The Cardinal hit .165 (28-15-79) and had 12 digs and 2.0 blocks.

Despite coming off a bye week, the Cougars came out strong in game one, playing their best offensive game of the season and one of the best in school history. BYU had 20 kills on 25 attempts for an .800 hitting percentage, the highest in school history in a game when the Cougars had at least 20 attempts.

Stanford jumped out to a 2-0 lead but BYU quickly tied the score and took the lead for good at 6-5. The Cardinal hung close but when trailing 10-9, the Cougars went on a 10-2 run to take an insurmountable lead at 20-11. BYU went on to win the game 30-16 and were led by Cala's six kills on seven attempts and Perez and Evans added four kills each.

Stanford again jumped out to a 2-0 lead in game two but the Cougars quickly got back in control, tying the score at two and then taking the lead for good at 11-10 on a kill by Jonathan Charette. BYU increased its lead little by little on its way to a 30-23 win. Cala was again almost perfect, getting six kills on seven swings. Holmes was also near perfect, recording four kills on five attempts. As a team, the Cougars hit .467 (19-5-30).

Game three was more of the same as BYU got out to a 10-4 lead and went on to win 30-23. Peterson emptied his bench as several players got into the action. Shaun Muaina, Rodrigo Gomes and Trent Sorensen all recorded two kills to help lead BYU to a game-three win. The Cougars hit .370 during the game and limited Stanford to .087 hitting.

"We were able to get guys in that deserved some time," Peterson said. "They play hard in practice and its nice to see them be successful in the match."

The Cougars and Cardinal will be back in action Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Fieldhouse. The match will be broadcast live on BYUTV and CougarTV.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                     Brigham Young University - Volleyball
   Stanford Cardinal vs #1 BYU Cougars (Mar 03, 2006 at SMITHFIELDHOUSE BYU)
    Stanford Cardinal      |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  Ahlfeldt, Chris.....  3|  1   2   9 -.111|  1|  0   0|  1|  3| 0  0  1|  0|   1.0
 5  Manov, Nick.........  3|  7   2  20  .250|  1|  1   2|  0|  1| 0  1  0|  0|   8.5
 8  Clayton, William....  3|  2   3   8 -.125|  0|  0   2|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   2.0
 13 Jacobs, Jeremy......  3|  1   0   1 1.000| 24|  0   4|  0|  3| 1  0  1|  0|   2.0
 14 Ceran, Matt.........  2|  3   1   4  .500|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  1  0|  0|   3.5
 15 Reddy, Ben..........  3| 13   7  33  .182|  1|  0   2|  0|  0| 0  0  1|  0|  13.0
 7  Williams, Brandon...  1|  1   0   4  .250|  0|  0   2|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 11 Lindberg, Brian.....  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  5|  2| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 16 Keller, Jarod.......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  1|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 28  15  79  .165| 27|  1  13|  7| 12| 1  2  3|  0|  31.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 2.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  10  5  21  .238   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  10  4  35  .171   Stanford Cardinal... (0) 16 23 23  4-15; 2-11; MPSF
   3   8  6  23  .087   BYU Cougars......... (3) 30 30 30  13-2; 11-2; MPSF
    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
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  CALA, Yosleyder.....  2| 12   0  14  .857|  2|  1   4|  0|  5| 0  0  0|  0|  13.0
 8  PEREZ, Ivan.........  3| 10   3  15  .467|  1|  1   4|  1|  4| 0  3  0|  0|  12.5
 11 HOLMES, Russell.....  3| 10   1  15  .600|  1|  2   4|  0|  1| 0  4  0|  0|  14.0
 14 NEILSON, Rob........  3|  2   1   5  .200| 38|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  1  0|  0|   2.5
 15 BATISTA, Victor.....  3|  8   0   9  .889|  0|  1   4|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0|   9.0
 17 EVANS, Taylor.......  3|  5   1   9  .444|  0|  1   1|  0|  4| 0  1  0|  0|   6.5
 3  CHARETTE, Jonathan..  1|  2   2   5  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0|   2.0
 5  CONGELLIERE, Brian..  2|  0   0   0  .000|  7|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 6  MAUINA, Shaun.......  1|  2   1   3  .333|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   2.0
 7  ROWLEY, Brian.......  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 10 COX, Scott..........  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 18 GOMES, Rodrigo......  1|  2   2   4  .000|  0|  1   1|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0|   3.0
 19 SORENSEN, Trent.....  2|  2   0   3  .667|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  1  0|  0|   2.5
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 55  11  82  .537| 49|  7  20|  1| 28| 0 10  0|  0|  67.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 5.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  20  0  25  .800   Site: SMITHFIELDHOUSE BYU (ELAINE MICHAELIS)
   2  19  5  30  .467   Date: Mar 03, 2006   Attend: 3728   Time: 1:29
   3  16  6  27  .370   Referees: DAPHNE NELSON, MAILE JEWKES, MAETANI, AJ,

NO. 1 COUGARS BACK IN ACTION

The top-ranked Cougars will look to extend their four-match win streak when they take on Stanford in the Smith Fieldhouse, Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. BYU is 12-2 overall and first place in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation at 10-2 while Stanford is 4-14 overall and 2-10 in the MPSF.

"Stanford is a scrappy, hardworking team," BYU coach Tom Peterson said. "They may not have a very good record but any team in this league can bite you on any given night. We don't want to be outworked by them. We will have to play well to win."

BYU has not played since earning back-to-back sweeps over UC San Diego, Feb. 16 and 18. The Cougars have maintained their No. 1 status in the CSTV/AVCA Division I-II Men's Coaches Top 15 Poll and the Molten/Volleyball polls. BYU was ranked No. 1 by both polls for the first time this season on Feb. 13 following two wins over USC.

The matches between the Cougars and the Cardinal will be the 27th and 28th meetings in the series. BYU leads 18-8 and holds an 8-2 advantage at home. Last season, the Cougars earned two 3-1 wins over Stanford. BYU has won five in a row in the Fieldhouse versus the Cardinal.

Stanford relies heavily on Ben Reddy for much of its offensive production. The senior opposite averages 4.89 kills per game while contributing 1.50 digs per game, second on the team. William Clayton is second on the team in kills at 2.46 per game while Chris Ahlfeldt is third at 2.41. Ahlfeldt leads the team in hitting percentage at .264 and Clayton is second at .263.

BYU was unstoppable in its first meeting with UC San Diego, hitting .573 (50-5-75), including .760 in game one. Both percentages were season highs. Taylor Evans had 13 kills on 17 error-less swings to lead the way. In the second match, the Cougars struggled, hitting .238 but still managing to earn a sweep. Russell Holmes led BYU with nine kills and seven blocks.

Holmes currently leads BYU in blocking at 1.53 per game, and is second in hitting percentage at .439. Ivan Perez leads the team in kills per game at 4.26 while Brian Rowley is first in digs at 2.06 per game.

A livestats feed will be available for both matches at www.byucougars.com/volleyball_m/. Both matches against Stanford can be seen live on CougarTV. Saturday's match will also be televised live on BYUTV. Visit www.byucougars.com for more information.

MATCH NOTES

NO. 1 BYU COUGARS (12-2, 10-2 MPSF) vs. STANFORD CARDINAL (4-14, 2-10 MPSF)

Friday and Saturday, March 3 and 4, 2006 - 7 p.m. MST

Smith Fieldhouse (5,000) - Provo, Utah

Coaches: BYU, Tom Peterson (at BYU: 84-23 in fourth year, career: 336-153)

Stanford, Don Shaw (at Stanford: 94-93 in seventh year, career: 533-163)

Series: BYU leads, 18-8, including last season's sweep by BYU in Stanford, Calif.

TV: Friday: CougarTV, live - Visit www.byucougars.com for information

Saturday: BYUTV and CougarTV, live

Radio: Friday: BYU Radio, live

Web: Live stats broadcast is available both nights at www.byucougars.com/volleyball_m/

LAST MATCHES - BYU vs. UC SAN DIEGO

The Cougars improved to 12-2 overall and 10-2 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation with two sweeps over UC San Diego Feb. 16 and 18. In the first match, BYU hit a season-best .573 (50-7-75) and limited the Tritons to .012 (25-24-85) hitting. Taylor Evans led BYU with 13 kills and no errors and hit a career-high .765. Russell Holmes had a solid match, recording eight kills and five blocks while hitting a season-high .778. Yosleyder Cala was also hot, getting eight kills on 12 error-less swings. The Cougars pounced on UC San Diego early, hitting .760 (19-0-25) in game one and winning 30-16. BYU continued to play well offensively in games two and three, hitting .481 and .478. The Cougars had a harder time with UC San Diego in the second match. BYU struggled offensively, hitting just .238 (37-17-84). Holmes led the team in kills with nine and blocks with seven. Both were match highs.

THE POLLS

BYU maintained its No. 1 ranking in the CSTV/AVCA Division I-II Men's Coaches Top 15 Poll and the Molten/Volleyball Poll for the third-consecutive weeks. The Cougars reached the top spot after earning back-to-back home wins over USC, Feb. 10 and 11. BYU received all 16 first-place votes in the CSTV/AVCA poll for the second-consecutive week.

CALA DOMINATES TROJANS

Yosleyder Cala dominated USC Saturday, Feb. 11 when he recorded 26 kills and hit .622. It took the 6-8 freshman just 37 swings to reach the BYU season high as he recorded just three hitting errors. Cala used power and various tip shots to fool the USC blockers. He also added three aces, five digs and two blocks. Cala finished the match with 30.0 points.

MR. CONSISTENT

Russell Holmes was BYU's most consistent player when the Cougars earned back-to-back sweeps over the Tritons, Feb. 16 and 18. In the first match, he hit .778 while picking up eight kills and five blocks. In the second match, when BYU was struggling offensively, he had nine kills, seven blocks and hit .438. For the week, Holmes averaged 2.83 kills and 2.00 blocks per game and hit .560.

CAN YOU DIG IT?

Brian Rowley had the best defensive weekend of his career when BYU defeated USC in back-to-back matches on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 10 and 11. On Friday, he tied his career high with 14 digs in BYU's 3-1 win. On Saturday, he tied the BYU rally scoring record with 16 digs in the Cougars' come-from-behind 3-2 win. BYU lost games one and two on Saturday but dominated USC in games three, four and five to capture the win and improve to 9-1 at home. Rowley recorded 14 digs twice last season and his previous high this season was 11, which he accomplished against Cal Baptist and Cal State Northridge.

NATION'S BEST FANS

BYU fans continued to show their support for the men's volleyball team as several thousands showed up to cheer on the Cougars when they played USC. On Friday, Feb. 10, 3,263 attended the match while 2,718 came out on Saturday night, despite the fact that there was a men's basketball game that night starting an hour before the volleyball match. BYU sold out both of its matches against Pepperdine and over 4,300 fans attended each night against Cal State Northridge and over 3,500 attended each night against UC Santa Barbara. The Cougars are now averaging 3,823 fans per match, the best in the NCAA.