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Who wants to go to Provo?
Not the other seven teams that will qualify for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation playoffs, that's for sure.
The second-ranked BYU men's volleyball team has a shot at hosting the MPSF semifinals and finals April 24-26. If the Cougars (16-4 MPSF record) beat No. 10 USC twice at home this weekend and Northridge (16-4) beats Long Beach State (16-4) on Saturday, California comes to Provo. BYU holds the tiebreaker over Northridge, but not over Long Beach State.
The Cougars are 12-1 in the Smith Fieldhouse this season. Long Beach is about an hour's drive down the 405 Freeway for Northridge. Any chance the Matadors throw the match against Long Beach State in order to stay close to home for the playoffs?
BYU head coach Shawn Patchell doesn't think so.
"The thought crossed my mind, but I don't think anyone could do that. It would be bad form," Patchell said. "Northridge is playing for the second seed. But I think everybody else in the conference is pulling for Long Beach."
Northridge beat Long Beach State 3-2 on the road on Feb. 29. BYU beat Northridge twice in Provo in early February but dropped two matches at Long Beach State in mid-March.
BYU's business this weekend is to play a surging USC team that has won three in a row and four of its past five matches. Patchell is familiar with the Trojans, having coached freshmen Murphy Troy (6-foot-8 outside hitter) and Tri Bourne (6-5 opposite hitter) with the junior national team last summer.
"USC is a hot team," Patchell said. "It just had a big win at Pepperdine -- that's a tough place to play -- and then put a beating on Stanford, which beat us. USC is a good playoff team."
Undersized outside hitter Juan Figueroa (6-0 Sr.) leads the Trojans with 4.48 kills per game and Troy is next with 4.26 kills per game. BYU senior middle blocker Russell Holmes is second in the country in blocks (1.53 per game) and fifth in hitting percentage (.466). Senior outside hitter Ivan Perez leads the Cougars with 4.41 kills per game and is hitting .333.
"We have to make sure we can side out well against USC," Patchell said. "We set a goal like to host the MPSF and anything can happen in this conference. We have to be very prepared."
• Daily Herald Sports Editor Darnell Dickson can be reached at 344-2555 or by e-mail at
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No. 10 USC (13-13, 10-10) at No. 2 BYU (21-4, 16-4)
When: Tonight and Saturday, 7 p.m.
Radio/TV: BYU-TV (Saturday only)
Internet: byucougars.com
The Word: BYU leads the overall series with USC 22-7 and has won 12 matches in a row. ... BYU can host the MPSF semifinals and finals if it beats USC twice and Northridge beats Long Beach State on Saturday.
MPSF Standings
(As of Thursday)
MPSF Overall
BYU 16-4 21-4
Cal-State Northridge 16-4 21-5
Long Beach State 16-4 21-5
Pepperdine 11-9 12-9
UCLA 11-9 16-12
Stanford 10-10 15-10
USC 10-10 13-13
UC Irvine 10-10 12-13
Hawaii 7-13 10-15
UC Santa Barbara 6-14 9-16
UC San Diego 6-14 10-17
Pacific 1-19 4-22
Today's matches
USC at BYU
UC San Diego at Northridge
Hawaii at Pepperdine
Long Beach State at UC Santa Barbara
UC Irvine at Pacific
UCLA at Stanford
Saturday's matches
USC at BYU
Long Beach State at Northridge
Hawaii at Pepperdine
UCLA at Pacific
UC Irvine at Stanford
UC San Diego at UC Santa Barbara
(END OF REGULAR SEASON) |
