"March Madness" for BYU men's volleyball

No, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament and the NCAA Final Four haven’t been moved up from their annual late-April and early May dates. But the month of March will be key for the 2008 successes of the Cougar volleyball team.
With Friday’s five-game victory against No. 9 Stanford followed by the Cardinal’s three-game upset Saturday night, BYU slipped in both the MPSF standings and the CSTV/AVCA Top 15 coaches poll.
In the league standings as of Wednesday night, the Cougars (7-1 MPSF) are second behind Long Beach State (8-1), followed by CS Northridge (8-3), Pepperdine (7-5) and UCLA (7-6), with Stanford, Southern California and Hawaii all tied for sixth with .500 league records (Hawaii was at Stanford late Wednesday).
And in the coaches’ Top 15, a non-MPSF team – Penn State (16-0) — is the sole undefeated team nationally after BYU suffered its first loss last weekend. Long Beach State (12-1) is second and BYU (12-1) is third, with Northridge (12-4), Pepperdine (7-5), UC Irvine (9-9) and UCLA (10-7) rounding out the top seven.
A quick note – BYU has already beaten both Northridge and defending champion UC Irvine twice this season, so the Cougars don’t have to worry about those two opponents until the postseason. And BYU may be relieved to have caught CSUN early, since Northridge has won six straight — including matches against Stanford, UCI and UCLA — since falling twice in Provo.
Now, what does March hold in store for the Cougars? Well, they get a jump on the month Friday night (Leap Day — Feb. 29) by hosting one-win Pacific, with the two-match series concluding Saturday, March 1. BYU should handle Pacific at home with ease, but … first, that was some of the same thinking with Stanford last weekend, and second, Pacific’s sole victory was the Tigers’ three-game sweep at Stanford – yes, the same Cardinal squad that swept the Cougars last week.
On BYU’s schedule after this weekend come the three perennial powerhouses in as many weeks – Pepperdine visits Provo March 7-8, BYU travels to UCLA March 13-14 and to Long Beach State March 20-21. The month of March ends with the Cougars back in southern California for a pair of matches at UC Santa Barbara March 28-29.
We’ll take closer looks at all three opponents the week BYU faces each – but a quick note on Pepperdine.
In the 2000s, BYU and Pepperdine have met 20 times in regular-season and postseason matches, with the Waves holding a 14-6 series advantage. BYU has a slim 4-3 home-match edge during this decade, but all three Wave wins were 3-0 sweeps. And Pepperdine is 11-2 at home against the Cougars.
The success differential between home and road matches against Pepperdine (the same being true against Long Beach State, too) is why the Cougars want to win the regular-season MSPF title and earn the right to host the league tournament semifinals and finals.