PROVO, Utah (Feb.19, 2008) -- All-American senior middle blocker Russell Holmes was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Player of the Week Tuesday as the No. 1 BYU men's volleyball team prepares to host No. 9 Stanford Friday and Saturday at the Smith Fieldhouse.
Holmes played a major role in two wins at No. 6 UC Irvine last weekend to remain undefeated on the year. He recorded 30 kills over the two nights with a combined attack percentage of .444. He also tallied 20 blocks and three service aces. Head coach Shawn Patchell credited Holmes for his outstanding defensive performance and his presence at the service line, saying the Cougars "were able to score a lot of points with Russell [Holmes] serving." He also now has two double-doubles on the season.
The Cougars lead the series against the Cardinal 20-8 and 10-2 in Provo. BYU has not lost to Stanford since the first match of the 2002 season when the Cardinal won in four sets in Provo. Since that time, BYU has won the last 11 matches and swept Stanford in six of those. Two of those matches went to four games, but the Cardinal has not forced a fifth game since the 2003 season when BYU beat Stanford in back-to-back five-set matches.
Friday's match will be available live on BYUTV beginning at 7 p.m. The doors to both Friday and Saturday's matches will open at 5:30 p.m. with the start times set for 7 p.m. For more information, see the attached PDF release.