COLUMBUS -- In the first of two non-conference matches, the No. 8 BYU men's volleyball team skid past No.12 Ohio State in a three-game win (30-27, 30-27, 30-26). The Cougars improve overall to 2-3, leading the series 9-4 while the Buckeyes registered their first loss this season (3-1).
"The games were close tonight, but overall we played a lot better," BYU coach Tom Peterson. "Ohio State's coach said they made a lot errors, so we're expecting another close match tomorrow."
AVCA National Player of the Week Fernando Pessoa led the pack with 19 kills and passed up his career-high from last week. He also hit a solid percentage at .455, while only committing four hitting errors for the match.
The Cougars had a strong showing from the middle with senior Cory Carpenter and newcomer Victor Batista combining for 14 kills and seven blocks. Carpenter hit his highest percentage of the season with .833 in five of six kills, and Batista connected for nine kills and a. 643 percentage.
"I was pleased with our efforts in the middle," Peterson said. "We needed to focus in that spot, and we did it tonight."
Senior Joe Hillman posted double-digit kills with 10 and added four aces for BYU. Sophomore setter Rob Neilson commanded the Cougar offense with 41 assists and five kills on seven attempts.
BYU maintained a solid percentage throughout each game, hitting its best in the first game at .469. Having the advantage in team blocks helped the Cougars secure the win with seven compared to the Buckeyes' 4.5 blocks.
Leading OSU was outside hitters, freshman Sam Stevens and sophomore Andy Cole, who recorded 12 and 15 kills respectively. Stevens added one ace and three digs, as Cole posted a .400 percentage and two aces.
BYU opened game one with kills by senior Jonathan Alleman and Pessoa for a 2-0 lead. Tied at four, BYU built a three-point lead at 10-7. The Buckeyes tied the game at 11 with a Mark Greaves kill. With neither team taking a lead bigger than three points and both teams holding small leads, the game moved to a 26-all tie.
A Stevens' kill gave OSU a 27-26 advantage but a Carpenter kill tied the game at 27. Three straight Ohio State hitting errors ended the game at 30-27 for BYU. The Buckeyes took an early lead in game three at 10-6. The Cougars had a four-one run, with points coming off a Pessoa kill to close to 11-10. Three Buckeye errors gave BYU a 13-11 lead. A 6-2 Cougar run opened up a 25-19 lead, but Pessoa closed out the game with a kill for a 30-26 win.
BYU takes on OSU again Saturday night to finish the non-conference match-up at the St. John Arena.
To view the detailed box score, click the pdf version above.
Volleyball Box Score
2004 BYU Men's Volleyball Stats
BRIGHAM YOUNG vs Ohio State (Jan 23, 2004 at Columbus, Ohio)
BRIGHAM YOUNG | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN
## Name GP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
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10 CARPENTER, Cory..... 3| 5 0 6 .833| 0| 0 1| 0| 1| 1 3 2| 0
11 HILLMAN, Joe........ 3| 10 5 24 .208| 2| 4 3| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
12 ALLEMAN, Jonathan... 3| 4 3 20 .050| 0| 0 0| 4| 5| 0 0 0| 0
14 NEILSON, Rob........ 3| 5 1 7 .571| 41| 0 2| 0| 6| 0 2 2| 0
17 PESSOA, Fernando.... 3| 19 4 33 .455| 2| 0 4| 0| 1| 0 2 0| 0
18 BATISTA, Victor..... 3| 9 0 14 .643| 0| 1 3| 0| 1| 1 2 1| 0
2 RANGEL, Steffin..... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 1| 0| 0| 0 1 0| 0
6 FERRE, Aaron........ 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
15 OLMSTEAD, Shawn..... 3| 0 0 0 .000| 1| 0 0| 3| 6| 0 0 0| 0
20 EVANS, TAYLOR....... 2| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 1| 0| 2| 0 0 0| 0
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Totals.............. 3| 52 13 104 .375| 46| 5 15| 7| 22| 2 10 5| 0
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 7.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 19 4 32 .469 GAME SCORES 1 2 3 TEAM RECORDS
2 16 3 34 .382 BRIGHAM YOUNG....... 30 30 30 2-3
3 17 6 38 .289 Ohio State.......... 27 27 26 3-1
Ohio State | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN
## Name GP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
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6 Peckham, Mark....... 3| 3 0 4 .750| 40| 0 1| 0| 3| 0 1 1| 2
8 Greaves, Mark....... 3| 7 5 21 .095| 0| 4 4| 0| 4| 0 2 0| 1
9 Stevens, Sam........ 3| 12 5 21 .333| 0| 1 1| 3| 3| 0 1 0| 0
11 Spurlock, Scott..... 3| 6 2 10 .400| 0| 0 0| 0| 3| 0 1 1| 0
12 Cole, Andy.......... 3| 15 5 25 .400| 1| 2 3| 0| 2| 0 1 2| 0
14 Dreven, Layne....... 3| 4 1 11 .273| 0| 0 1| 0| 2| 0 3 0| 0
1 Meske, Dan.......... 3| 0 0 4 .000| 1| 0 0| 1| 8| 0 0 0| 0
13 Wauligman, Mike..... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 1| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
TEAM................ | | | | 1| | |
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Totals.............. 3| 47 18 96 .302| 42| 7 11| 5| 25| 0 9 4| 3
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 4.5
Game K E TA Pct
1 15 5 27 .370 Site: Columbus, Ohio (St. John Arena)
2 20 6 35 .400 Date: Jan 23, 2004 Attend: 375 Time: 1:33
3 12 7 34 .147 Referees: Terry Miller, Elaine Viney