BYU men's volleyball team? This is the Smith Fieldhouse.
Fieldhouse, meet the Cougars.
Introductions are in order -- BYU hasn't played a match on its home floor since Jan. 23. Since then, the Cougars have been a-travelin', with stops in Los Angeles, Irvine, San Diego and Honolulu. They compiled a 4-4 record against UCLA, UC Irvine, UC San Diego and Hawaii.
"It's good to be home," said BYU senior outside hitter Andrew Stewart. "We're hoping for a big home crowd tonight."
Stewart and his teammates spent Thursday afternoon at the Wilkensen Center on the BYU campus, passing out fliers and vouchers for tickets to the marquee athletic event of the weekend: Top-ranked Pepperdine is coming to town.
"They're No. 1 in the country and No. 1in the conference," Stewart said. "They're good and they're big."
The Waves didn't start the season well, losing four of their first five matches. But behind the heavy hitting of 6-foot-8 junior Cory Riecks (4.97 kills per set), 6-7 freshman Maurice Torres (4.44 kills per set) and former Cougar Rodnei Santos, Pepperdine has reeled off eight straight wins. The streak includes victories over a pair of No. 1-ranked teams (USC and Stanford) and two No. 2s (Stanford and USC).
"We'll need to serve well and get them out of system," Stewart said. "They're one of the best teams in the nation passing the ball. We'll also need to pass it well."
The Cougars were tied with Pepperdine in first place last week, but a tough weekend in Hawaii (yes, there is such a thing) dropped BYU all the way from first to sixth in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation standings.
The Cougars pushed Hawaii to five sets before falling on Friday, then Saturday's match on Maui was postponed due to a tsunami warning. The match was played in Honolulu on Monday, and the Cougars fell in three straight sets.
"It's not something you plan for," Stewart said. "We tried not to let all the distractions get to us. We got stay two extra days in Hawaii, so you can't complain about that. But Hawaii just straight up outplayed us. The way they played Monday, they could have beaten anyone."
Stewart said the Cougars know a couple of wins this weekend could get them right back on track.
"It's a really close conference," he said. "There's only two games separating first through eighth place. Every set and every match matters."
• Daily Herald Sports Editor Darnell Dickson can be reached at 801-344-2555 or by e-mail at ddickson@heraldextra.com
INFO BOX
Playing No. 1
BYU has hosted the nation's No. 1 team in the Smith Fieldhouse six times since 2005. The Cougars are 3-3 in those matches, each time winning on the first night.
2009 vs. UC Irvine 1-1
2006 vs. Pepperdine 1-1
2005 vs. UCLA 1-1
