Men begin preseason

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    By Michael Meru

    The United States came out on top of the Seventh Annual Husky Oil Can-Am Men”s Volleyball Challenge with the BYU Cougars adding two wins and having one player named to the NCAA all tournament team for the second year in a row.

    “We are going to be an exciting team with very exciting players,” said BYU head coach Tom Peterson. “We are going to be fun to watch.”

    The Can-Am Challenge pits four top NCAA teams against high-ranking Canadian teams in a country vs. country battle.

    BYU overcame Canada”s University of Montreal in three straight games and the University of Manitoba Bisons in four games, but fell to the University of Alberta and the University of Saskatchewan.

    “This was a good measuring stick of who we are and how we have to improve,” Peterson said. “The whole team thinks we need to be a lot better and the whole game needs to be a little better come January.”

    BYU was led by junior setter Carlos Moreno, who was named to the NCAA Tournament All-Star Team for the second year in a row.

    In the final game, against Alberta, Moreno recorded a game-high 39 assists.

    “We are not completely settled in our starters, even though we do know some that will definitely play,” Peterson said. “We put different players together. We are a very deep team.”

    BYU experimented with its lineups by playing diverse combinations of players, including placing middle blocker Chris Gorny as an outside hitter for the tournament.

    In BYU”s first tournament win, Gory recorded Cougar match highs of 15 kills and four digs.

    BYU has been consistently ranked as one of the top teams in the nation.

    “We run the most complicated offense in the country,” Peterson said. “But our ball control needs some work so that we can run the plays we want to.”

    The Cougars are still in their pre-season, and according to NCAA regulations, only have three more weeks to be together as a team until the season begins in January.

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