PROVO -- With several full weeks of practice under their belts, the Cougars will head to Dallas to measure their progress with two matches against Pepperdine, the 2005 national champions, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the University of Texas at Dallas Activity Center.
"It's an opportunity to play against a great team, from our own league," BYU coach Tom Peterson said. "It's a chance to experiment against a team in our conference and to see how we match up with a team that's been practicing about the same amount of time as us."
Both squads have been practicing since the beginning of October in preparation for the upcoming season.
This will be the Cougar's second weekend of preseason action, having played in the Husky Energy Can-Am Challenge in Alberta, Canada, Oct. 14 and 15. BYU finished 2-2 that weekend and learned a lot about what improvements need to be made before the 2006 season, which begins in January.
"What we saw from Canada is that for us to be a good team, we need everyone to be hitting at a decent percentage," Peterson said. "We have to pass well and be able to set anybody. We have to hit on all five cylinders. That's our main objective, to even out so we can compete at a high level."
BYU's lineup will include outside hitter Ivan Perez and middle blocker Victor Batista, All-Americans in 2005, setter Rob Neilson, a 2005 All-MPSF performer and libero Brian Rowley, outside hitter Taylor Evans and middle blocker Russell Holmes, all of whom started in 2005. Other players that will factor into the mix include opposites Jonathan Charette and Brian Stewart, middle blocker Trent Sorensen, setter Brian Congelliere and outside hitter Rodrigo Gomes.
Pepperdine returns several players from the 2005 national championship squad, including setter Jonathan Winder, middle blockers Andy Hein, Tom Hulse and John Parfitt, and outside hitter Tanner Sutherland. Hein was a first-team All-American in 2005 while Winder was a second-team performer and the ACVA Division I-II Newcomer of the Year.
Peterson will speak to BYU alumni and all those interested following Friday's match and the team will be conducting a clinic Saturday morning. For more information, visit mensvolleyball.hynesco.com/ or click here. For directions to the UT-Dallas Activity Center, visit http://www.utdallas.edu/directions.html or click here.