Holmes Leads BYU Past Penn State

HONOLULU -- Russell Holmes and Robby Stowell, coupled with hot serving, led No. 2 BYU to a dominating sweep over No. 9 Penn State (1-2), 30-22, 30-23, 30-18. The sweep was the fifth consecutive for the Cougars (7-0).

Holmes dominated the middle, leading the Cougars in kills (11), blocks (six) and hitting percentage (.667). Stowell added 11 kills of his own while swinging at a .474 mark. Ivan Perez (four aces) and Yosleyder Cala (three aces) were dominating behind the service line.

BYU got off to a quick start. Behind 3-1, the Cougars rolled off four consecutive points to grab a 5-3 lead. The early lead was one BYU would not relinquish as the Cougars led throughout the first set. The Cougars went ahead 10-6 on a Stowell kill that forced a Penn State timeout.

Later in the first set, Cala drilled back-to-back service aces to give BYU a 14-8 lead. The Nittany Lions came back with their largest run of the set, a 5-1 spurt that closed the Cougars' lead to 15-13 and forced a BYU timeout. The Cougars came out of the time out with a 5-2 run of their own to rebuild their lead. Ahead 20-15, BYU outscored Penn State, 10-7 to finish the set that was capped by a Rodnei Santos kill.

Stowell led the Cougars in the first set with six kills. Russell Holmes added four kills and a pair of blocks. As a team, BYU hit .407 while PSU was held to just a .071 hitting percentage.

The Cougars started quick again in the second set. With the scored tied at three, BYU's attack took off, as the Cougars reeled off four consecutive points to force a Penn State timeout. BYU got kills from Stowell, Perez and Cala, coupled with a Holmes block to build the advantage. The Cougars once again held their early lead throughout the second set, extending their advantage to nine at 26-17 with a Perez kill. Moments later, BYU went to the middle to finish the set with Holmes driving home the game-winning kill.

BYU's attack was not as efficient in set two, with the Cougars hitting at only a .192 clip. Penn State was held to just .162.

Much like the first two, the third set started in dominating fashion, with the Cougars jumping to a 4-0 lead behind Perez at the service line. Holmes recorded a kill and a block while Perez added a service ace to get out of the gate quickly. BYU kept pouring it on as Stowell knocked down a kill to give the Cougars a nine-point advantage at 16-7. Perez drove home back-to-back aces to give BYU a 25-13 advantage. The Cougars finished the match with a Perez kill. BYU hit a scorching .655 in the third set.

The Cougars are back in action Saturday at 7 p.m. (MST) when they face No. 13 Loyola-Chicago.

Volleyball Box Score
                            The Automated ScoreBook
     #2 Brigham Young Univ. vs #9 Penn State (Jan 26, 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|  8   3  17  .294|  0|  3   3|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  0
 2  SANTOS, Rodnei......  3|  3   1   8  .250|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 1  2  0|  0
 8  PEREZ, Ivan.........  3|  7   3  17  .235|  0|  4   2|  1|  4| 0  2  0|  0
 11 HOLMES, Russell.....  3| 11   1  15  .667|  0|  0   3|  0|  2| 2  4  0|  0
 13 STOWELL, Robby......  3| 11   2  19  .474|  0|  1   3|  0|  3| 0  4  0|  0
 14 PEREZ, Yamil........  3|  0   0   0  .000| 41|  1   2|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 5  COX, Scott..........  3|  3   0   3 1.000|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 6  SILVA, Joel.........  3|  1   0   1 1.000|  0|  0   0|  0| 10| 0  0  0|  0
 7  SORENSEN, Trent.....  3|  1   0   2  .500|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 12 POMPEI, Andy........  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
    TEAM................   |                 |   |       |  2|   |        |
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 45  10  82  .427| 41|  9  16|  3| 26| 3 12  0|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 9.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  14  3  27  .407   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  12  7  26  .192   Brigham Young Univ.. (3) 30 30 30  7-0, 1-0 OHI
   3  19  0  29  .655   Penn State.......... (0) 22 23 18  1-2, 0-1 OHI
    Penn State             |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 8  Smith, Aaron........  3|  4   3   9  .111|  1|  0   2|  1|  7| 0  2  0|  0
 9  Lipsitz, Max........  3|  3   4  11 -.091|  0|  0   2|  0|  0| 0  3  0|  0
 10 Gutor, Alex.........  3|  9   9  26  .000|  1|  2   1|  1|  4| 0  1  2|  0
 12 Holt, Max...........  3| 11   1  17  .588|  0|  1   3|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0
 14 Anderson, Matt......  3|  6   7  22 -.045|  0|  0   2|  2|  1| 0  2  0|  0
 16 Murray, Luke........  3|  1   0   3  .333| 29|  0   1|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 2  Foltz, Travis.......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 6  Walthall, Ryan......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  4|  6| 0  0  0|  0
 13 Sweitzer, Ryan......  3|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 15 Stauffer, Jay.......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
    TEAM................   |                 |   |       |  1|   |        |
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 34  24  89  .112| 32|  3  12|  9| 21| 0  9  2|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 4.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  11  9  28  .071   Site: Honolulu, HI (Stan Sheriff Center)
   2  13  8  31  .161   Date: Jan 26, 2007   Attend:     Time: 1:39
   3  10  7  30  .100   Referees: Wayne Lee, Dan Hironaka
                        13th Outrigger Hotels Invitational