Cougars Sweep Matadors to Extend Win Streak

PROVO -- In a matchup of two of the MPSF’s best teams, the No. 2 BYU men’s volleyball team (21-7, 15-6) extended its winning streak to 11 games and swept the No. 3 Cal State Northridge Matadors(31-29, 30-19, 30-25).

Andrew Stewart recorded a career-high 13 blocking assists, a team-high on the season in three games, in the victory over the Matadors. Setter Reed Chilton's 46 assists is also a team-high on the season in three games.

Stewart led the team with 12 kills on the night, followed closely by Futi Tavana with 10 of his own.

"We keep accomplishing what we're working hard for and we're starting to play a lot better," said BYU head coach Shawn Patchell. "We got it going in the first set, kept it going through the rest of the match, and a lot of guys played great tonight."

The Cougars took the lead early in game one, with a 2-0 start, and would keep it until the Matadors tied the game at 28-28. Outside hitter Kevin Sagers tallied a point for BYU off a kill but a kill-to-answer from the Matadors would tie it up a second time. The Cougars finished the game with another kill from Sagers and a block from BYU’s front line to give them the 31-29 final score.

Chilton was credited with all 16 assists for the Cougars in the first game and, as a team, BYU only tallied two errors compared to the nine from Cal State Northridge.

In BYU’s last match against Cal Baptist, the team had a total of five blocks. In game one against Cal State Northridge, the Cougars had already combined for a total of eight team blocks.

Game two ended with a 30-19 BYU advantage after an offensive domination from BYU tallied 16 kills compared to the Matador’s 12. Tavana hit 1.000 on 4-for-4 sets to lead game two for the Cougars. Chilton tallied 15 more assists while Robb Stowell led the team with four digs and two aces.

Stowell was the only other Cougar to be credited with an assist and finished the game leading the team with six digs.

The Matadors took their first lead of the match in game three after a hitting error from the Cougars. Their one-point lead, however, would be short lived as the Cougars came back for the lead and 30-25 win over the Matadors.

Sagers brought home the win for BYU in game three after back-to-back kills gave the Cougars their last 2-of-3 points to finish the game. Match point was given to BYU on a service error by Matador Tanner Nua.

"We're a deep team," Patchell said. "There's so much diversity on this team that have learned from last year so we just keep moving forward. We're very well balanced."

The Cougars are now 7-4 on the season when they take a team in three games and 17-1 when they win the first game.

The team will be back in the Fieldhouse to take on Cal State Northridge Saturday, April 17, at 7 p.m. for the second game in the series.

Volleyball Box Score
                            The Automated ScoreBook
        #3 Cal State Northridge vs #2 BYU (Apr 16, 2010 at Provo, Utah)
   Cal State Northridge   |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 SP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3  Tanner Nua..........  3|  5   4  11  .091|  1|  0   1|  1|  4| 0  1  0|  0
10 Kevin McKniff.......  3| 14   3  24  .458|  0|  0   3|  0|  1| 0  4  0|  0
11 Mike Gaudino........  3|  6   4  19  .105|  3|  0   1|  0|  4| 0  1  0|  0
12 Matt Stork..........  3|  1   1   3  .000| 40|  0   3|  1|  6| 1  1  1|  0
14 John Baker..........  3|  9   7  23  .087|  0|  0   3|  1|  4| 0  2  0|  0
17 Jacek Ratajczak.....  3| 11   3  18  .444|  0|  0   1|  1|  2| 0  1  0|  0
1  Jim Wielebnicki.....  3|  2   1   4  .250|  0|  0   1|  2|  2| 0  1  0|  0
7  Ali'i Keohohou......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0
15 Ashton Hippenstiel..  1|  0   0   0  .000|  3|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  3| 48  23 102  .245| 47|  0  13|  6| 27| 1 11  1|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER SET                                TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 6.5
 Set   K  E  TA   Pct
   1  23  9  41  .341   SET SCORES                1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  12  5  33  .212   Cal State Northridge (0) 29 19 25  20-8, 14-7 mpsf
   3  13  9  28  .143   BYU................. (3) 31 30 30  21-7, 15-6 mpsf
   BYU                    |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 SP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3  CHILTON, Reed.......  3|  1   0   1 1.000| 46|  1   1|  0|  6| 0  2  0|  0
7  ROBINSON, Jeff......  1|  3   0   5  .600|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
9  SOUZA, Otavio.......  1|  2   0   4  .500|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  2  0|  0
13 STOWELL, Robb.......  3|  9   4  24  .208|  1|  2   3|  0|  6| 0  4  1|  0
15 STEWART, Andrew.....  3| 12   5  27  .259|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 0 13  0|  0
17 TAVANA, Futi........  3| 10   2  14  .571|  0|  1   2|  0|  2| 0  9  0|  0
1  TUTTLE, Kent........  2|  0   2   2-1.000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
4  SILVA, Joel.........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  0
5  LAVAJA, Russell.....  2|  5   0   6  .833|  0|  1   1|  0|  1| 0  3  0|  0
10 TAYLOR, Mat.........  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
11 SAGERS, Kevin.......  3|  7   2  13  .385|  0|  1   1|  0|  3| 1  0  0|  0
14 PEREZ, Yamil........  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  3| 49  15  96  .354| 47|  6  10|  0| 25| 1 33  1|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER SET                                TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 17.5
 Set   K  E  TA   Pct
   1  17  2  32  .469   Site: Provo, Utah (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  16  4  27  .444   Date: Apr 16, 2010   Attend: 1960   Time: 1h 50 m
   3  16  9  37  .189   Referees: Maile Jewkes, Les Calles, Trent Mano