USC
BYU
BYU Men's Volleyball Sweeps USC
March 20, 2010 | Men's Volleyball
March 20, 2010
The No. 4 BYU men's volleyball team beat No. 7 USC for the second consecutive night, this time 30-25, 30-23, 30-23 on Saturday (March 20) in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match in Provo.
The Cougars improved to 14-7 overall and 10-6 in the MPSF. The Trojans fell to 10-9 overall and 8-8 in the MPSF. It was USC's 13th straight loss to the Cougars in Provo.
BYU was led by Andrew Stewart, who had 16 kills while hitting .355 and he added 6 digs and 4 blocks. Teammate Kent Tuttle had 11 kills and 6 digs, Futi Tavana had 9 kills (hitting .615) and 7 blocks and Russell Lavaja had 7 kills and 7 blocks.
For USC, Murphy Troy had 13 kills and 5 digs, Austin Zahn had 8 kills, Hunter Current had 7 kills (hitting .636) and Tri Bourne had 9 digs.
BYU hit .394 to USC's .229 and had 15 blocks to the Trojans' 7.
USC kept it close for the first part of sets one and two before the Cougars pulled away. It was 8-8 in the first set when a Trojan serving error followed by a BYU block gave the Cougars all the cushion they needed. It was 17-17 in the second set when a BYU kill and then block enabled the Cougars to get a lead it never relinquished. A Cougar kill and block propelled BYU to an early 5-3 lead in the third set and the Cougars steadily built on that margin.
USC's next match is on Thursday (March 25) against NCAA Division II Grand Canyon in the Galen Center. It will now start at 6 p.m. (instead of the originally-announced 7 p.m.). Immediately after the match, there will be a ceremony to retire the jersey numbers of former USC All-American volleyballers Tim Hovland (10) and Bob Yoder (15). Following that, at approximately 8 p.m., the USC women's volleyball team will face Japan's Nittaidai University in an exhibition match.
