LONG BEACH -- BYU concluded its play at the Long Beach State Active Ankle Classic with a 3-0 (30-15, 30-21, 30-24) win over Rutgers-Newark Saturday at the Pyramid. With the win, the Cougars finished 2-0 at the tournament and improved to 16-4 overall while the Scarlet Knights fell to 7-12 overall.

"The tournament was a good experience," BYU coach Tom Peterson said. "We've been trying to focus on serve and serve receive and to ensure our chemistry and intensity are good over time. I thought we played with chemistry and were consistent for the most part this weekend."

BYU dominated Rutgers, limiting the Scarlet Knights to .060 hitting while registering a .351 hitting percentage. Yosleyder Cala and Jonathan Charette led the Cougars with 12 kills apiece and Cala added four aces. Taylor Evans had six digs to lead BYU, which finished with 30 for the match.

Andrew Pink led Rutgers with seven kills and a match-high 11 digs. Danny McGowan, Brian Honsberger and Eric Honsberger all had six digs. Brian Honsberger and Pink each had eight blocks, a match high.

In game one, the Knights scored the first two points before BYU took control, going on an 11-2 run to take an 11-4 lead. Rutgers got within four at 14-10 but the Cougars finished the game with a 16-5 run to win, 30-15. BYU hit .412 for the game while the Knights hit .083.

Game two followed a similar pattern as Rutgers took the lead at 1-0 before the Cougars went on a 6-1 run to go up 6-2. BYU eventually led 15-6 and the Knights never got closer than six the rest of the way as the Cougars won 30-21. BYU limited Rutgers to a negative .069 hitting percentage for the game.

Rutgers stayed with the Cougars in game three, keeping the score tied until leading at 9-8 and eventually 11-8. The lead was short lived, however, as BYU tied the score at 13 and took the lead back at 15-14. The Cougars led the rest of the way and went on to win 30-24.

BYU will have a week off before playing its final home matches of the season when the Pacific Tigers visit Provo for two matches, March 31 and April 1.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                     Brigham Young University - Volleyball
      Rutgers-Newark vs #2 BYU Cougars (Mar 18, 2006 at Long Beach State)
    Rutgers-Newark         |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Pink, Andrew........  3|  7   5  21  .095|  1|  1   2|  2| 11| 1  7  0|  0|  12.5
 6  Ainsworth, Graydon..  3|  1   1   3  .000| 24|  0   2|  0|  4| 0  1  2|  0|   1.5
 8  McGowan, Danny......  3|  6   7  19 -.053|  0|  1   2|  0|  1| 0  1  1|  0|   7.5
 9  Honsberger, Brian...  3|  6   3  17  .176|  0|  1   0|  1|  0| 0  8  0|  0|  11.0
 10 Honsberger, Eric....  3|  6   4  19  .105|  0|  0   2|  3|  6| 0  1  1|  0|   6.5
 11 Richardson, Henry...  2|  0   1   1-1.000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 1  Wolfe, Derek........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  3|  2| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 2  Haugan, Clinton.....  3|  1   1   3  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0|   1.5
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 27  22  83  .060| 26|  3   8|  9| 24| 1 19  4|  0|  40.5
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 10.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1   7  5  24  .083   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2   9 11  29 -.069   Rutgers-Newark...... (0) 15 21 24  7-12
   3  11  6  30  .167   BYU Cougars......... (3) 30 30 30  16-4
    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.....  3| 12   2  18  .556|  2|  4   0|  1|  2| 0  1  0|  0|  16.5
 3  CHARETTE, Jonathan..  3| 12   6  23  .261|  0|  1   2|  0|  1| 0  3  0|  0|  14.5
 8  PEREZ, Ivan.........  2|  5   1  12  .333|  1|  0   2|  0|  5| 0  1  0|  0|   5.5
 11 HOLMES, Russell.....  3|  6   1   8  .625|  1|  1   1|  0|  2| 1  1  0|  0|   8.5
 14 NEILSON, Rob........  2|  2   0   2 1.000| 27|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  2  0|  0|   3.0
 15 BATISTA, Victor.....  2|  3   1   8  .250|  0|  0   2|  0|  0| 1  4  0|  0|   6.0
 5  CONGELLIERE, Brian..  1|  0   0   0  .000| 10|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  1|   0.0
 6  MUAINA, Shaun.......  2|  2   1   5  .200|  0|  0   0|  0|  5| 0  0  0|  0|   2.0
 10 COX, Scott..........  2|  1   1   5  .000|  0|  1   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   2.0
 17 EVANS, Taylor.......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   0|  0|  6| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 18 GOMES, Rodrigo......  2|  5   2  14  .214|  0|  0   3|  2|  4| 0  0  0|  0|   5.0
 19 SORENSEN, Trent.....  2|  1   0   2  .500|  1|  2   1|  0|  1| 0  1  1|  0|   3.5
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 49  15  97  .351| 44|  9  12|  3| 30| 2 13  1|  1|  66.5
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 8.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  19  5  34  .412   Site: Long Beach State (Walter Pyramid)
   2  15  5  28  .357   Date: Mar 18, 2006   Attend:     Time: 1:17
   3  15  5  35  .286   Referees: Ron Stahl, Larry Schwartz
                        Active Ankle Classic Match #3
                        Triple blocks: Rutgers-Newark 1, BYU 1

COUGARS HEAD TO LONG BEACH TOURNAMENT

After losing back-to-back matches for the first time this season, the Cougars will look to get back on track when the play in the Long Beach State Active Ankle Tournament this Friday and Saturday. BYU dropped to No. 2 in the nation and 14-4 overall and 12-4 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation after losing two matches to UC Irvine.

In the Long Beach tournament, the Cougars will play Ohio State (15-4 overall, 3-2 MIVA) on Friday at 5:30 p.m. and then Rutgers-Newark (7-10 overall, 3-3 EIVA) on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. BYU coach Tom Peterson said he hopes the Cougars will bounce back from last weekend's losses this weekend.

"More than anything we just need to get better at being consistent," he said. "We're going to work on being a little more mentally tough and serving and passing better."

BYU is 10-4 against Ohio State and 4-2 against Rutgers-Newark. The Cougars have won the last four meetings of each series. BYU last played Ohio State in 2004 and won two matches on the road. The Cougars last played Rutgers-Newark in 2000 and won 3-0 at home.

Stuart Katz leads Ohio State, averaging 3.31 kills per game and 2.05 digs per game. Daniel Matthews is the Buckeyes' setter and averages 12.65 assists per game along with 1.38 digs and 0.84 blocks. Matthews was the starting setter as a freshman during Ohio State's Final Four run in 2005.

"Ohio State is a tough team," Peterson said. "They are very experienced. A lot of their guys played on last year's Final Four team."

Rutgers-Newark enters the weekend at 7-10 overall and 3-3 in the EIVA. The Scarlet Knights are led by the Honsberger brothers, Brian and Eric. Brian leads the team in hitting percentage and blocks at .388 and 1.27 per game, while Eric is first in kills per game at 3.68.

Yosleyder Cala leads BYU in kills at 4.29 per game and is hitting .430. On Friday against Irvine he had 32 kills, the second highest single match total in BYU rally scoring history and a career and team-season high. Russell Holmes leads the team in hitting percentage (.449) and blocks per game (1.49).

The Cougars will have a week off following the Long Beach Tournament.

MATCH NOTES

NO. 2 BYU COUGARS (14-4, 12-4 MPSF) vs. NO. 11 OHIO STATE BUCKEYES (15-4, 3-2 MIVA)

Friday March 17, 2006 - 5:30 p.m. PST - The Pyramid (5,000) - Long Beach, Calif.

Coaches: BYU, Tom Peterson (at BYU: 86-25 in fourth year, career: 338-155)

Ohio State, Pete Hanson (at Ohio State: 429-243 in 22nd year, career: 433-252 in 23rd year)

Series: BYU leads, 10-4

NO. 2 BYU COUGARS (14-4, 12-4 MPSF) vs. RUTGERS-NEWARK (7-10, 3-3 EIVA Tait)

Saturday, March 18, 2006 • 5:30 p.m. PST • The Pyramid (5,000) • Long Beach, Calif.

Coaches: BYU, Tom Peterson (at BYU: 86-25 in fourth year, career: 338-155)

Rutgers-Newark, Sean Byron (at R-N: 91-97 in fourth year, career: 129-128 in 10th year)

Series: BYU leads, 4-2

LAST MATCHES - BYU vs. UC IRVINE

The Cougars fell to 14-4 overall and 12-4 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation with two five-game losses to then No. 2 UC Irvine. In both matches, BYU lost game one and then came back to take games two and three to lead 2-1. In the first match, the Anteaters won a back-and-forth game four, 36-34, to tie the match. In game five, BYU held a 10-6 lead before Irvine scored three-straight to pull within one. Down 11-9, the Anteaters scored on a kill and then back-to-back service aces to take the lead at 12-11. Irvine went on to win the game 15-13 to take the match. In the second match, the Anteaters beat BYU 30-24 to force a fifth game, where Irvine won easily, 15-10. Yosleyder Cala led the Cougars in the first match with 32 kills and 14 digs. In the second match, he had 18 kills and Ivan Perez added 17.

THE POLLS

BYU dropped to No. 2 in the CSTV/AVCA Division I-II Men's Coaches Top 15 Poll and the Molten/Volleyball poll after back-to-back five-game losses to then No. 2 and current No. 1 UC Irvine. The Cougars held the top spot for four-straight weeks, starting Feb. 13 after two wins over USC.

A LOOK AT OHIO STATE AND RUTGERS-NEWARK

Ohio State is 15-4 overall and 3-2 in the MIVA. The Buckeyes are currently on a four-match win streak, including a 3-0 win over then No. 10 Ball State on Feb. 25. Ohio State is 3-1 again MPSF teams, including two wins over UC San Diego and one over UCLA and a loss to Hawai`i. Stuart Katz leads the Buckeyes in kills at 3.31 while Robbie Klein is second at 2.94. Rutgers-Newark enters the weekend at 7-10 overall and 3-3 in the EIVA. The Scarlet Knights are led by the Honsberger brothers, Brian and Eric. Brian leads the team in hitting percentage and blocks at .388 and 1.27 per game while Eric is first in kills per game at 3.68.

LAST TIME VS. OHIO STATE AND RUTGERS-NEWARK

BYU last played Ohio State in 2004, when the teams played back-to-back matches, Jan. 23 and 24. The wins started the Cougars' 21-match win streak, a school record. BYU won the first meeting in a sweep and was led by Fernando Pessoa's 19 kills. In the second match, the Cougars won 3-1 and were led by Jonathan Alleman, who had 16 kills. BYU last played Rutgers-Newark in 2000. The Cougars won the match 3-0 with Mike Wall leadin the way with 22 kills.