First-place at stake for men's volleyball

The road to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men's volleyball championship may go through Long Beach State and Brigham Young University, as both teams enter their upcoming matches tied atop the conference standings.

The national powerhouses meet when the No. 4-ranked 49ers host two matches against the No. 3-ranked Cougars at the Walter Pyramid tonight and Friday. Both matches start at 7 p.m.

"Both teams have had good seasons so far and have played consistently well," said 49ers head coach Alan Knipe. "These are two important matches for us. The guys are really looking forward to getting after it. As it gets closer to the end of the season, these matches will have a lot to do with postseason seeding."

BYU (17-2, 12-2 MPSF) lost its top rank in the nation after losing to UCLA in four games, March 14. The Cougars saw their five-match win streak snapped in the process.

LBSU (17-3, 12-2 MPSF) also saw its five-match win streak snapped March 15 at the hands of Penn State, which is now tied with CS Northridge for the No. 1 rank in the nation.

The 49ers are led by senior outside hitter Paul Lotman, who enters the match with a conference-leading 405 kills this season. His 5.62 kills per game average ranks second in the MPSF. Earlier this season, Lotman became the 17th player in LBSU history to record 1,000 kills and is ranked No. 10 on the school's all-time list with 1,226 kills.

To counter Lotman's attack at the net, the Cougars are headlined by senior All-American middle blocker Russell Holmes, who leads the nation with 109 blocks and an average of 1.64 per game. He also ranks fourth in the nation - and second in the conference - with a .474 hitting percentage.

Ranked ahead of Holmes, however, is LBSU sophomore Dan Alexander. The 6-foot-7-inch middle blocker leads the MPSF with a .521 attack percentage, which ranks second in the nation. Alexander and Holmes also are separated by just 10 total blocks, with Holmes holding a 120-110 advantage to lead the conference.

Cougars senior All-American Ivan Perez, an outside hitter, also is a concern for Knipe. Perez ranks 11th in the nation with 4.38 kills per game to go with an average of 4.96 points per game - good for 13th in the country.

"Russell Holmes and Ivan Perez are the two senior leaders for BYU," Knipe said. "One is a very good middle blocker, and the other is a very good outside hitter with international experience."

While Knipe wants to prepare his players with some tactical strategy to counter BYU's attack, he's primarily concerned with the little things the 49ers can control.

"More importantly, we must stay focused on us," said Knipe, "and making sure that we take care of our side of the net. Those are the things that we can control."