Cougars to Play In Active Ankle Tournament

The No. 9 BYU men’s volleyball team (9-8, 7-5 MPSF) remains on the road this weekend as it competes in the Long Beach State Active Ankle Tournament. The Cougars will play No. 4 Penn State (15-1, 7-0 EIVA) at 7 p.m. PT Friday and IPFW (9-5, 1-3 MIVA) at 5 p.m. PT Saturday.

BYU is coming off two losses at No. 1 CSUN last weekend, but has won four of its last six matches.

The fourth-ranked Penn State men’s volleyball team pounded George Mason in three games (30-18, 30-25, 30-18) last Friday night at Rec Hall. With the win the Nittany Lions improved to 15-1 on the season, with their only loss being a 3-2 match against Loyola-Chicago on Feb. 20.

IPFW notched back-to-back wins against MPSF foe Pacific last weekend, pulling out 3-1 victories each night.

Series Information

BYU and Penn State have played 12 previous matches, with the series tied 6-6. BYU has won six of the last eight matches after dropping the first four the two teams played. Seven of the 12 times the Cougars and the Nittany Lions have played have been on neutral floors, with BYU holding a 5-2 advantage at neutral sites.

IPFW holds an all-time 4-3 advantage over the Cougars, one of only four teams holding a series lead over BYU. After the Cougars won the first matchup in 1990, the Mastodons claimed the next four. BYU has pulled out 3-1 wins in the past two meetings, back in 1996 and 2008.

Match Coverage

Live stats can be accessed by visiting BYU’s men’s volleyball schedule page at www.byucougars.com. The live stats can be launched by clicking on the “Live Stats” link for the appropriate game on the schedule page.

Coming Off...A Loss at No. 1 CSUN

The No. 8 BYU men’s volleyball team suffered its second consecutive sweep at the hands of No. 1 Cal State Northridge on Friday night, losing a competitive 30-28, 30-24, 30-28 match. With the loss the Cougars drop to 9-8 on the season and 7-5 in MPSF play. Sophomore outside hitter Kevin Sagers recorded a BYU-leading 12 kills, playing in only two sets. Fellow sophomore Alex Da Pron followed with 10 kills, marking his third night with double-digit kills in the last four for BYU.

Up Next

BYU returns home for a three-week stay, first hosting Long Beach State for two matches on March 20 & 21. Both matches will be in the Smith Fieldhouse at 7 p.m. MT.