Post by lalalaluuuke on Mar 2, 2007 15:44:43 GMT -5
By Scott Taylor
Deseret Morning News
BYU's men's volleyball team may want to consider applying for part-time California residency as the third-ranked Cougars make three consecutive trips to Southern California in a four-week stretch in March.
The Cougars' travels begin this weekend as BYU (11-4, 7-3) visits No. 12 Southern California (6-9, 5-7) for Mountain Pacific Sports Federation matches tonight and Saturday night.
BYU follows with a pair of weekend matches next week at No. 4 UC Santa Barbara (12-6, 10-5) and then, after a bye week, a pair of weekend matches at No. 11 CS Northridge (9-9, 7-6).
BYU co-head coach Ryan Millar called the March road swings "a defining moment of our season," on par with when the Cougars faced UC Irvine and Pepperdine on back-to-back weekends.
The Cougars don't play again in Provo until March 29 and 30 against No. 14 Long Beach State (7-8, 4-7).
BYU moved up a spot in this week's AVCA/CSTV Top 15 coaches poll after sweeping Hawaii in two home matches last weekend.
Pepperdine (14-1, 11-1) and UC Irvine (18-3, 12-3) remain Nos. 1 and 2, with the Cougars leapfrogging UC Santa Barbara. UCLA (10-8, 8-7) rounds out the top five, with the Bruins collecting the sole first-place vote — out of 16 total — that didn't go to Pepperdine.
However, there were a couple of key upsets in Mountain Pacific play Wednesday night, as No. 11 Northridge upset No. 4 Santa Barbara in four games and No. 14 Long Beach surprised No. 5 UCLA in five.
With BYU already having played Pepperdine (the Cougars were swept in the two matches) and UC Irvine (the Cougars split a pair at home), the team will need the help of others to knock off the top two squads if the Cougars have any hope of hosting the MPSF semis and finals.
"We've got to control what we can control and hope for other teams to pick up where we fell short," said middle blocker Russell Holmes.
In order for BYU to win the regular-season title and host the tournament as the top seed, the Cougars need Pepperdine to lose three matches and Irvine to drop at least two.
Riding a 10-match winning streak against the Trojans, BYU is 20-7 all-time against USC, including winning 15 of the last 16 meetings and 20 of the last 23. The last Trojan victory came in 2001.
Deseret Morning News
BYU's men's volleyball team may want to consider applying for part-time California residency as the third-ranked Cougars make three consecutive trips to Southern California in a four-week stretch in March.
The Cougars' travels begin this weekend as BYU (11-4, 7-3) visits No. 12 Southern California (6-9, 5-7) for Mountain Pacific Sports Federation matches tonight and Saturday night.
BYU follows with a pair of weekend matches next week at No. 4 UC Santa Barbara (12-6, 10-5) and then, after a bye week, a pair of weekend matches at No. 11 CS Northridge (9-9, 7-6).
BYU co-head coach Ryan Millar called the March road swings "a defining moment of our season," on par with when the Cougars faced UC Irvine and Pepperdine on back-to-back weekends.
The Cougars don't play again in Provo until March 29 and 30 against No. 14 Long Beach State (7-8, 4-7).
BYU moved up a spot in this week's AVCA/CSTV Top 15 coaches poll after sweeping Hawaii in two home matches last weekend.
Pepperdine (14-1, 11-1) and UC Irvine (18-3, 12-3) remain Nos. 1 and 2, with the Cougars leapfrogging UC Santa Barbara. UCLA (10-8, 8-7) rounds out the top five, with the Bruins collecting the sole first-place vote — out of 16 total — that didn't go to Pepperdine.
However, there were a couple of key upsets in Mountain Pacific play Wednesday night, as No. 11 Northridge upset No. 4 Santa Barbara in four games and No. 14 Long Beach surprised No. 5 UCLA in five.
With BYU already having played Pepperdine (the Cougars were swept in the two matches) and UC Irvine (the Cougars split a pair at home), the team will need the help of others to knock off the top two squads if the Cougars have any hope of hosting the MPSF semis and finals.
"We've got to control what we can control and hope for other teams to pick up where we fell short," said middle blocker Russell Holmes.
In order for BYU to win the regular-season title and host the tournament as the top seed, the Cougars need Pepperdine to lose three matches and Irvine to drop at least two.
Riding a 10-match winning streak against the Trojans, BYU is 20-7 all-time against USC, including winning 15 of the last 16 meetings and 20 of the last 23. The last Trojan victory came in 2001.