BYU men's volleyball stacked for '10

The BYU men's volleyball season is over, and now it's time to write about the departing seniors.

The Cougars didn't have a single senior on this year's team, which went 17-13 and lost to No. 2 Northridge 3-1 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation quarterfinals. In fact, BYU will not only return its entire starting lineup in 2010 but will welcome back Robby Stowell, a starter at opposite hitter as a freshman in 2007 who will return from his LDS mission to the Phillipines this summer.

Good news, sure. But probably not good enough to offset the sting of failing to qualify for the NCAA men's volleyball championships, which will be held this week at the Cougars own Smith Fieldhouse. It's the first time the finals have been held in Provo.

"I had already bought my tickets, but I was hoping not to use them," BYU junior outside hitter Andrew Stewart said. "It's gonna suck, I'm not gonna lie. I don't know how much I'll watch it, to tell you the truth. It would have been the sweetest thing in the entire world to win the championship at home."

BYU proved it was good enough to compete for that title with some impressive wins during the 2009 season. The Cougars biggest victory was a 3-1 upset of then-No. 1 UC Irvine at home. BYU also knocked off then-No. 5 Long Beach State twice at home by 3-2 scores. Later, the Cougars earned hard-fought road victories at then-No. 5 Stanford (3-2) and then-No. 2 Pepperdine (3-1), in addition to a neutral site 3-2 win over then-No. 4 Penn State.

But BYU, which had to replace six seniors from last year's 25-5 team, also lost its home opener to NAIA power Cal Baptist and dropped three matches to Northridge.

"We're obviously disappointed to lose in the quarterfinals," Stewart said, "but I'm really proud of all my guys and my team in how we performed. We didn't have much experience and we had three freshmen starting at various times. We're weren't expected to even go to the playoffs, so we had fun. I thought we played pretty well, but you expect to win championships at BYU."

Stowell (6-7 So.) is an exciting player who started 26 matches as a true freshman in 2007. He averaged 3.64 kills per game and was named Honorable Mention All-MPSF.

"I've been in contact with him by e-mail," BYU head coach Shawn Patchell said. "He's very fired up to come back."

The Cougars should be deep and talented in 2010. Stewart (3.64 kills per game) will be joined by juniors Kevin Sagers and Alex Da Pron at outside hitter and Stowell will challenge seniors Kent Tuttle and Mat Taylor at opposite. Both setters - Yamil Perez and Reed Chilton - will be seniors, as will libero Joel Silva. Sophomores Futi Tavana (1.47 blocks per game) and Rusty Lavaja (1.42 blocks per game) will return after productive freshman seasons in the middle, along with junior Otavio Souza.

"We were very successful after losing six players off last year's team," Patchell said. "I was especially proud of the guys the last 12 or 13 matches. We lost to Northridge twice then went on a nice run. We beat everyone ranked above us at least once except Northridge.

"We peaked in April like we needed to. This summer the guys need to go play on the beach, get stronger and avoid injury. We'll have six seniors next year and all those guys will be very hungry to win."

 You ever feel like you're just talking to yourself? I certainly do on this blog...

MPSF Quarterfinal match for the Cougars is a difficult one. Once again we will paired up with CSN. Our last match against the then #1 Matadors ended in twin 3-0 matches and an ugly weekend sweep.

Here is the official breakdown from the BYU website:

After splitting a pair of matches at then-No. 2 Pepperdine to close the regular season, the No. 5 BYU men’s volleyball team (17-12, 13-9 MPSF) goes to No. 2 Cal State Northridge (23-6, 16-6 MPSF) for the first round of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Men’s Volleyball Tournament. Saturday will mark BYU’s third match at CSUN this season. The Cougars suffered two sweeps by the then-No. 1 Matadors in March.

BYU’s 3-1 win at Pepperdine last weekend secured a series split with the Waves. The Cougars have recorded series splits with the nation’s first-, second- and fifth-ranked teams each of the past three weekends.

CSUN’s Eric Vance pounded a match-high 20 kills as the third-ranked Matadors wrapped up the regular season with a 30-23, 30-21, 30-28 win at No. 13 UC Santa Barbara on Friday at the Thunderdome.

Series Information
BYU holds a 25-17 lead in the series between these two teams dating back to April. 11, 1990. CSUN swept the Cougars in back-to-back matches earlier this season, while BYU recorded a perfect 3-0 record against the Matadors in 2008, winning back-to-back matches at home in the Smith Fieldhouse during the regular season and also posting a 3-0 sweep over CSUN in the semifinal match at the MSPF Championships in Long Beach. The Matadors and Cougars have met in the MPSF Tournament three times since 2003 with BYU winning each time. Between 1997-2003 the Cougars recorded a series-leading 12-match win streak over the Matadors, including nine sweeps.

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

Coming Off...Road Win Over No. 2 Pepperdine
Despite losing the first set, the No. 6 BYU men’s volleyball team came back to claim a 3-1 road win (22-30, 30-21, 30-27, 30-26) over No. 2 Pepperdine as the regular season came to an end Friday night. Friday’s win marks the first for BYU at Pepperdine since the 2003 season, providing momentum as the Cougars prepare for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Men’s Volleyball Tournament next week.

With the win BYU secures a series split with Pepperdine and concludes the regular season with a 17-12, 13-9 MPSF record. The Cougars have recorded series splits with the nation’s first-, second- and fifth-ranked teams in each of the past three weekends. Junior opposite Kent Tuttle led BYU with 22 kills on the night, while junior middle blocker Andrew Stewart racked up 18 kills with an impressive .500 hitting percentage. Redshirt freshman Futi Tavana also recorded double-digit kills with 11. He added a team-high six blocks.

BYU in the MPSF Tournament
Since 1993, BYU has qualified for the MPSF postseason tournament in 13 of 14 seasons including 12 consecutive trips. The Cougars all-time record in the MPSF tournament is 19-12. BYU has won the MPSF tournament three times and holds an 11-5 record in the first round, 5-5 record in the semifinals and 3-2 record in tournament finals. The Cougars won consecutive MPSF tournament championships in 2003 and 2004.

BYU Hosts 2009 NCAA Championship
BYU will host the 2009 NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship in the Smith Fieldhouse May 7-9, 2009. Both semifinal matches will be played on Thursday, May 7, with the national championship match held on Saturday, May 9. All session tickets are available at the Marriott Center Ticket Office. The ticket office may be reached at (801) 422-BYU1 or toll-free at (800) 322-BYU1. Tickets may also be purchased at byutickets.com.

BYU will host its first national championship event since hosting the 1989 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship. Three other outdoor track championships were held at BYU in 1967, 1975 and 1982. BYU also hosted the NCAA Wrestling Championship in 1969.

Up Next
With a win on Saturday the Cougars advance to the semifinals of the MPSF Tournament in Irvine, Calif.

Hopefully the season doesn't end against the Matadors...

There was some additional news about the Cougar Spikers as 3 Cougars were named to the All MPSF Team although none made the first team. Again here is the MPSF release as reported by Carey Hoki of BYU Athletic Communications:

 PROVO, Utah (April 23, 2009) – Three members of the BYU men’s volleyball team were honored as the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation announced its All-MPSF selections on Thursday. Both junior outside hitter Andrew Stewart and redshirt freshman middle blocker Futi Tavana were named to the All-MPSF Second Team, while junior setter Yamil Perez received honorable mention. Tavana was also honored with a place on the All-MPSF Freshmen Team.

Stewart, a native of Sandy, Utah, led the Cougars in kills during the regular season with 391, averaging 3.62 per set. As a team captain he also finished the regular season second on the team in digs (156). Following his .446 combined hitting percentage in two matches against No. 2 Pepperdine on April 16-17, Stewart earned his first MPSF Molten Player of the Week honor. He also knocked down a career-high 22 kills in BYU’s match against Cal Baptist on Jan. 15.

Since returning home from an LDS mission, Tavana has gone on to start every match for the Cougars so far this season. He leads the team with 166 blocks on the season, including 16 solo blocks. With 246 kills during the regular season, the Kalaheo, Hawaii native has a team-high .383 attack percentage. After recording back-to-back double-doubles in five-set wins over No. 5 Long Beach State, Tavana received both national and conference Player of the Week awards. His 13 blocks against LBSU on March 21 tied a BYU program record.

After suffering injuries in 2008 Perez rebounded in 2009, recording 1166 assists during the regular season. He was also successful from the service line, leading the team with 19 aces. A native of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, Perez recorded a career-high 73 assists in BYU’s 3-2 win over LBSU on March 21.

These mark the first MPSF post-season honors for both Stewart and Tavana. Perez was awarded honorable mention honors as a freshman in 2007.

The award announcements come two days before the start of the MPSF Tournament. No. 5 BYU travels to Northridge, Calif. to face No. 2 CSUN at 7 p.m. PT on Saturday.

It has been a down year, but a good MPSF tourney run and potentially a NC game at home could ease all of that. I am hopeful but definitely not overconfident.

GO Cougars!

JCoug

Number 1 Ranked CSU - Northridge put the wood to the Cougars beating them on back to back nights 3-0. Obviously BYU isn't at the point that they were at last year. Too many young players at one time have made this a learning year. Sadly hosting the NCAA Men's tournament this year may be a bit of a letdown due to the fact that the hometown Cougars will likely not be participants barring a huge winning streak. It also speaks volumes about the general parity that exists in the MPSF right now. No team is undefeated, and all of the teams could ostensibly win the MPSF tournament and its accompanying automatic bid.

JCoug 

That sweep of Pacific over the weekend sets them up at 7-3 in the MPSF. Next set of matches against UC-Riverside. In the Friday match against Pacific, they lost the first set and then won the next 3. Yamil Perez did a pretty good job of spreading the ball around, and Andrew Stewart led the team in kills both nights. 21 kills on Friday and 17 on Saturday. After hitting .258 as a team on Friday the Cougars hit a blistering .353 on Saturday. LBSU is coming up so I think that will be a good measuring stick if the Cougs can get past UC-R.

It was nice to get a sweep of UCSD. Those young guys played quite well and took both of the Game 3s over the weekend. I was impressed with Reed Chilton's setting, the Tritons didn't seem to know where the swing would be coming from and only had a couple of blocks on the night. I was impressed by Kent Tuttle's play he was hitting it well. The Cougar block dominated. I hope they can continue to build momentum.

Taylor has been very solid opposite the setter.  He had a career high 26 kills in the 5 set win over UC Santa Barbara...while he has his moments he is a pretty "streaky" player. If he gets into a funk it is hard to bring him out of it.  Coach Patchell usually puts in Kent Tuttle if Taylor isnt performing well.  Tuttle is a good player off the bench that doesnt miss a beat when he comes in.  I am excited to see how they do against a very good USC team this weekend. This will be our biggest test of the year so far and while i am not expecting a win i would like to seem them go out there and give them a good match.  One of the keys to this game will be Futi in the middle and how well he can control Murphy Troy, the Trojans best hitter on the outside.  It will be a fun match to see what happens to our young team and how well we handle them. 

Futi has been awesome in the games I have seen this year, but Mat Taylor has been the go to guy in the lineup. As a result I think we may finish middle of the MPSF this year and that will be tough to deal with after last year's late collapse. I live in WA, so I can only see what is broadcast on BYUtv. I saw them blow that 2 set lead to Cal Baptist and am hoping they get better as the season progresses because they may lose quite a few more without the killer instinct to put teams away when they have them down.

JCoug