PROVO -- The national champion BYU men's volleyball team has announced its 2005 schedule that will feature two tournaments and a difficult conference schedule.
"I like our schedule," assistant coach Grayson DuBose said. "It's challenging and we'll have the chance to get some young guys tested."
BYU will return to the site of the 2004 NCAA tournament to open the season at the Outrigger Tournament in Hawai'i, Jan. 5-7. In the first two games, the Cougars will face 2004 NCAA semifinalists Lewis and Penn State. The Cougars own a 7-1 record against Lewis, with the only loss coming in the 2003 national championship match. Last year, the Cougars defeated the Flyers twice, once in Provo and the other in the NCAA semifinals.
Penn State, where BYU coach Tom Peterson led the Nittany Lions to their only national championship, owns a 5-4 advantage over the Cougars. BYU has won four of the last five meetings, three of which were NCAA semifinal matches.
Peterson has coached against Penn State three times, winning two. He said that he tries not to make playing his former team any different than any other match, but added that he never wants to lose to them.
"You never want to lose to your former school," he said. "You don't want your old assistant coach to beat you."
The Cougars have another possible matchup with Penn State in the Hall of Fame Classic in Springfield, Mass., Feb. 18 and 19. The tournament field includes Ball State, Penn State, and host Springfield College. The Cougars will face Ball State in the first round with the winner of the match advancing to play the winner of Springfield and Penn State in the championship match.
DuBose said he is looking forward to playing in Springfield, the birthplace of volleyball.
"It's a neat opportunity for the players to go to the Hall of Fame," DuBose said. "It'll be a great experience both culturally and athletically for the players."
In conference play, the Cougars will welcome to Provo the best of the MPSF in UCLA, Hawai'i, and NCAA runner up Long Beach State. The Cougars owned Long Beach last season, winning all four matches between the teams, including wins in the MPSF and the NCAA championship matches. BYU will also face UC San Diego and UC Irvine in the Smith Fieldhouse.
Conference road matches will include meetings with UC Santa Barbara, Pepperdine, USC, Pacific, CS Northridge, and Stanford. CS Northridge was the only team to defeat BYU at home in 2004. The loss to Northridge came right before BYU started its school record 21-match win streak.
"It's brutal playing in our league," Peterson said. "It's extra special for whoever comes out on top because they're beating the best teams in the country every week."
The majority of the teams that are ranked in the top ten nationally are from the MPSF. Both Peterson and Dubose said that the level of difficulty of the conference is very unique and would be like playing the top basketball teams from the ACC, the Pac-10 and the Big East week after week.
BYU will play two exhibition matches against California Baptist in Provo for the Cougar's final warm up before conference play begins. Baptist has won the NAIA men's volleyball championship three of the last six years, including 2004. Last season the Lancers finished 24-3 overall with an 8-3 record against NCAA Division I and II teams. Five of the wins came against MPSF teams and one against 2003 NCAA Champion Lewis University.
In all, the Cougars will play a total of 27 regular season matches and two exhibition matches with hopes of returning to the MPSF and NCAA Tournaments. With three returning starters, including the reigning AVCA National Player of the Year in senior setter Carlos Moreno, and a slew of talented newcomers, the Cougars should be favored to win the conference and make a run at back-to-back national championships.