HONOLULU -- It was the eighth consecutive victory and sixth consecutive sweep for No. 2 BYU as the Cougars swept No. 13 Loyola-Chicago, 30-16, 30-22 and 30-22.

The dominating BYU (8-0, 4-0 MPSF) win came just one night after the Ramblers (4-2) upset No. 3--and tournament host--Hawaii in five games. Interestingly, BYU did not trail at any point in any of the sets against Loyola Chicago.

Russell Holmes was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Yosleyder Cala, Robby Stowell and Yamil Perez were also named to the Outrigger Hotels Invitational's All-Tournament team.

Cala led BYU with 14 kills while hitting .423 (14-3-26). Stowell had another productive night, tallying 12 kills on a .321 hitting percentage. Holmes followed his 11-kill, six-block .667 hitting performance with another strong outing. Holmes had seven kills while hitting .462 while picking up five blocks. Freshman Rodnei Santos added five kills while hitting .500 and a team-leading six blocks.

BYU out hit Loyola-Chicago .394 to .069 and out blocked the Ramblers 13.0 to 1.5. The victory also guaranteed BYU the best record in the Outrigger Hotels Invitational.

Like Friday evening against Penn State, BYU jumped out to an early lead Saturday against the Ramblers. Back-to-back kills by Cala gave the Cougars a 4-0 lead in the first set. Ahead 8-5, BYU went on a 5-1 run to give BYU a 13-6 lead. BYU had similar runs down the stretch, leading the Cougars to a dominating first set victory. The set ended on a pair of attach errors by Loyola-Chicago. BYU hit .577 in the first set while holding the Ramblers to a .036 hitting performance.

The second set was similar to the first with BYU jumping to a quick 8-3 start. The Ramblers fought back to cut the Cougars lead to 10-8 on a BYU service error. But the Cougars would not let Loyola-Chicago get any closer. BYU picked up a pair of blocks from Cala and Santos to start a 5-1 run that the Ramblers couldn't recover from. The second set ended on a service error.

The third set started with a Stowell block and an Ivan Perez kill followed by another block by Stowell and Santos to get out to a quick 3-0 lead. The Ramblers kept the third set close throughout, closing the BYU lead to just 24-21. The Cougars finished the set and match with a 6-1 run that included a pair of kills from Stowell, a block and a kill from Holmes and a pair of errors from Loyola-Chicago, including a match-ending service error.

The Cougars will put their perfect record to the test next week as No. 1 UC Irvine visits the Smith Fieldhouse on Friday and Saturday. Both matches start at 7 p.m. and Friday evenings match will be televised by BYU-TV. Fans should come early as capacity crowds are expected for both matches.

Volleyball Box Score
                            The Automated ScoreBook
  #2 Brigham Young Univ. vs #13 Loyola-Chicago (Jan 27, 2007 at Honolulu, HI)
    Brigham Young Univ.    |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  CALA, Yosleyder.....  3| 14   3  26  .423|  0|  0   2|  0|  3| 0  3  0|  0
 2  SANTOS, Rodnei......  3|  5   0  10  .500|  1|  0   1|  0|  3| 0  6  3|  0
 8  PEREZ, Ivan.........  3|  8   3  15  .333|  2|  1   1|  1|  6| 1  3  0|  0
 11 HOLMES, Russell.....  3|  7   1  13  .462|  0|  0   3|  0|  1| 1  4  0|  0
 13 STOWELL, Robby......  3| 12   3  28  .321|  0|  0   0|  0|  4| 1  3  1|  0
 14 PEREZ, Yamil........  3|  1   0   2  .500| 38|  0   1|  0|  6| 0  1  0|  0
 4  CONGELLIERE, Brian..  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 5  COX, Scott..........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 6  SILVA, Joel.........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  0|  8| 0  0  0|  0
 7  SORENSEN, Trent.....  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 12 POMPEI, Andy........  2|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
    TEAM................   |                 |   |       |  2|   |        |
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 47  10  94  .394| 43|  2   9|  3| 32| 3 20  4|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 13.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  17  2  26  .577   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  17  2  38  .395   Brigham Young Univ.. (3) 30 30 30  8-0, 2-0 OHI
   3  13  6  30  .233   Loyola-Chicago...... (0) 16 22 22  4-2, 1-1 OHI
    Loyola-Chicago         |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Guntli, Brian.......  3|  3   0   8  .375| 33|  0   0|  0|  5| 0  0  1|  1
 5  Grunst, James.......  3| 12   4  22  .364|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 6  Anderson, Ian.......  3|  9  14  33 -.152|  0|  1   2|  0|  1| 0  1  0|  0
 12 Kamberos, George....  2|  1   3   5 -.400|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 17 Berzins, Krisjanis..  3|  5   6  17 -.059|  1|  0   5|  1|  9| 0  0  0|  0
 18 Lamoureux, Nick.....  3|  4   2   9  .222|  0|  1   2|  0|  1| 0  1  0|  0
 2  Gustus, Nathan......  2|  3   1   6  .333|  1|  0   0|  0|  8| 0  1  1|  0
 8  Bailey, Zach........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  1|  4| 0  0  0|  0
 10 Jensen, Derek.......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 16 Baleiko, Matt.......  3|  0   0   2  .000|  0|  1   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 37  30 102  .069| 36|  3  10|  2| 30| 0  3  2|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 1.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  10  9  28  .036   Site: Honolulu, HI (Stan Sheriff Center)
   2  15 11  38  .105   Date: Jan 27, 2007   Attend:     Time: 1:28
   3  12 10  36  .056   Referees: Dickson Chun, Wayne Lee

PROVO -- Off to a hot start, No. 2 BYU will take a break from MPSF play to head to Hawaii for a non-conference tournament. The Cougars will play 2006 national runner-up Penn State and Loyola Chicago. After this weekend, BYU will only play one other non-conference match (Feb. 13 at Cal-Baptist).

PENN STATE SERIES INFORMATION

BYU and Penn State have played 11 previous matches. The Nittany Lions hold a 6-5 series advantage over the Cougars. BYU has won five of the last seven matches after dropping the first four the two teams played. Six of the 11 matches the Cougars and the Nittany Lions have played have been on neutral floors, with BYU holding a 4-2 advantage at neutral sites.

Interestingly, Penn State is one of only two teams that BYU has a losing record against on the Cougars home floor (1-3). The Nittany Lions won the last match played between the two teams in five sets on Feb. 5, 2005. None of the seven matches have been sweeps.

LOYOLA-CHICAGO SERIES INFORMATION

When BYU faces Loyola-Chicago, it will be only the second match between the two teams. The Cougars beat the Ramblers in four sets to open their 2000 campaign. BYU and Loyola-Chicago have never played on a neutral court. The

Cougars beat the Ramblers at the Smith Fieldhouse.

MATCH COVERAGE

Every home match will have a free live stats feed option. The live stats feed can be accessed by visiting the men's volleyball schedule page at www.byucougars.com. The direct link is http://www.byucougars.com/Schedule.jsp?SP=201&YR=2006. The live stats can be launched by clicking on the "Live Stats" link for the appropriate game.

Also available for the second season in a row is a live video feed through CSTV All- Access. Users must subscribe to this service. More information, such as cost and direct links to the CSTV All-Access page can be found by visiting the the schedule page and cliking on the "Live Video" link. This weeks' matches will be televised locally on KFVETV (Ch. 5). Chris McLachlin (pbp) and Lisa Strand-Ma'a (color) will do the 4:00 p.m. matches. A link for live stats can also be found through BYU's Web site.

DOMINATING START

BYU is off to its most dominating start in program history (in terms of sets won vs. sets lost) in its first six matches. BYU has won 18 sets against only one loss. Previous to this season, the next best start in school history was the 2001 championship season when the Cougars started 10-0. In its first six matches, BYU won 18 sets while losing two sets (both against Lewis). The Cougars swept eight of their first 10 matches in 2001.

UP NEXT

Pending the results of this week's tournament--and the results of UC Irvines' matches this weekend--No. 2 BYU could have a No. 1 against No. 2 weekend for the second time in as many years. UC Irvine is ranked No. 1 in this weeks poll and BYU is ranked second. The Cougars and Anteaters will face off next weekend at the Smith Fieldhouse.

After UC Irvine, BYU will head back out on the road to take on Cal-Baptist and Pepperdine.