LOS -- A balanced attack and a strong block performance led No. 3 BYU to a four-set victory over No. 12 USC 30-26, 30-24, 28-30 and 30-21.
The Cougars (12-4, 8-3 MPSF) had four players reach double-digits in kills led by Robby Stowell's 18 on a .400 hitting percentage. Rodnei Santos added a career high in kills with 11 and block assists with seven while swinging at a team-best .714 clip. Russell Holmes also had an efficient night from the middle, collecting eight kills while hitting .438.
"Our middles played really well tonight," co-head coach Shawn Patchell said. "They were efficient offensively and held both of USC's middles under .300."
USC jumped ahead early in the first set, building three-point leads on two occasions at 5-2 and 8-5. The Cougars came back with a run to take their first lead since 1-0 at 12-11. The Trojans quickly responded scoring three in a row to take the advantage. USC held a 20-18 lead when BYU came back with three points in a row to take a one-point advantage. The Cougars extended their lead to three at 24-21 with a Santos kill. BYU got hot when it mattered as the Cougars outscored the Trojans 6-5 down the stretch to win the set 30-26. Russell Holmes drove down the game-winner. BYU won despite hitting just .200. The Cougars held USC to just a .108 hitting percentage.
The second set started with BYU jumping to a quick 3-0 lead and forcing a USC time out. The Trojans went on a 7-4 run to tie the game at 7. The Cougars came back with a 6-2 run to jump ahead by four at 13-9. Holmes and Stowell knocked down a block to cap the run. BYU kept the pressure on, extending its lead to a 23-15 advantage. The Cougars attack improved in the second set with BYU hitting at a .379 mark in the game.
Both teams came out swinging hot in the third set. BYU got a pair of points to take a 10-9 lead as both teams traded side outs in the early going. With USC leading 14-13, the Cougars scored three consecutive points to take a 16-14 lead. The Trojans turned a 20-18 deficit into a 22-20 advantage on the heels of a 4-0 run. USC extended its lead to three on back-to-back points. BYU came back with three consecutive points to tie the game at 26. The Trojans finished the set on a 4-2 run to win the game even with the Cougars out-hitting USC .652 to .483.
BYU came out on fire in the fourth, jumping to an early 7-2 lead and forcing a USC time out. The Cougars picked up kills on four of their first five swings while holding the Trojans without a kill in their first five attempts. Moving forward, BYU followed its 7-2 start with a 5-1 run to jump out to a match-high, nine-point advantage. USC put together a run to cut the Cougars lead to 15-10. BYU responded with another run to push its lead back to seven. Later, a Stowell kill gave the Cougars a commanding 24-15 lead. BYU took the match on a USC hitting error.
The two teams play again at the Galen Center Saturday evening at 7 p.m. (PST)
"We need to come out with more energy tomorrow night," Patchell said. "We can improve on a lot."
Volleyball Box Score
The Automated ScoreBook
BYU Cougars vs USC (Mar 02, 2007 at USC)
BYU Cougars | 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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1 CALA, Yosleyder..... 4| 13 4 27 .333| 0| 3 6| 0| 7| 0 4 0| 0
2 SANTOS, Rodnei...... 4| 11 1 14 .714| 1| 0 1| 1| 2| 0 7 1| 0
8 PEREZ, Ivan......... 4| 10 5 25 .200| 3| 0 0| 0| 3| 2 1 1| 0
11 HOLMES, Russell..... 4| 8 1 16 .438| 1| 0 5| 0| 1| 0 3 0| 0
13 STOWELL, Robby...... 4| 18 6 30 .400| 0| 0 3| 0| 7| 0 5 1| 0
14 PEREZ, Yamil........ 4| 1 1 2 .000| 53| 2 7| 0| 6| 0 0 1| 1
5 COX, Scott.......... 4| 0 1 1-1.000| 0| 0 2| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
6 SILVA, Joel......... 4| 0 0 0 .000| 1| 0 0| 2| 5| 0 0 0| 0
7 SORENSEN, Trent..... 4| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 1| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
17 STEWART, Andrew..... 2| 1 0 2 .500| 0| 0 0| 0| 1| 0 0 0| 0
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Totals.............. 4| 62 19 117 .368| 59| 5 25| 3| 32| 2 20 4| 1
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 12.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 14 7 35 .200 GAME SCORES 1 2 3 4 TEAM RECORDS
2 16 5 31 .355 BYU Cougars......... (3) 30 30 28 30 12-4, 8-3 MPSF
3 16 1 23 .652 USC................. (1) 26 24 30 21 6-10, 5-8 MPSF
4 16 6 28 .357
USC | 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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1 C.J. Schellenberg... 2| 2 6 10 -.400| 1| 0 1| 0| 3| 0 0 0| 0
6 Matt Pavlovich...... 4| 8 8 22 .000| 1| 0 5| 2| 6| 1 0 2| 0
8 Andrew Vernon....... 4| 9 4 18 .278| 0| 0 2| 0| 0| 2 1 0| 0
13 Juan Figueroa....... 4| 21 7 41 .341| 1| 0 6| 0| 4| 0 1 0| 0
18 Jimmy Killian....... 3| 1 0 2 .500| 29| 0 0| 0| 3| 0 2 0| 0
19 Hunter Current...... 4| 5 5 15 .000| 1| 1 3| 0| 0| 0 2 0| 0
7 Luke Morris......... 4| 0 0 0 .000| 1| 0 0| 1| 11| 0 0 0| 0
9 Jonathan Hackett.... 3| 6 0 11 .545| 0| 1 2| 1| 1| 0 0 0| 0
11 Gio Altamura........ 3| 1 0 1 1.000| 14| 1 1| 0| 2| 0 0 1| 0
20 Matt Anderson....... 1| 0 0 1 .000| 0| 0 0| 1| 0| 0 0 0| 0
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Totals.............. 4| 53 30 121 .190| 48| 3 20| 5| 30| 3 6 3| 0
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 6.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 14 10 37 .108 Site: USC (Galen Center)
2 11 7 27 .148 Date: Mar 02, 2007 Attend: 450 Time: 2:00
3 19 5 29 .483 Referees: Joe Sloat, Greg Leung
4 9 8 28 .036