By Andrew Pepper
The second-ranked BYU men''s volleyball team will travel to play two matches against an unranked Stanford squad this weekend.
The two teams will play Friday, (Jan. 19, 2007) in Maples Pavilion and Saturday, (Jan. 20, 2007) in Burnham Pavilion. Both matches will begin at 7 p.m.
The Cougars come off an impressive weekend, sweeping third-ranked UCLA to improve its record to 4-0 overall and 2-0 on the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
Stanford 0-5 overall, 0-2 in MPSF play, after losing to sixth-ranked UC Santa Barbara last weekend.
Other programs around the country are taking notice of the talented Cougars. UCLA head coach Al Scates said BYU should be ranked higher, according to UCLA''s newspaper the Daily Bruin.
'BYU actually has better athletes and more experienced players than Irvine,' Scates said after the Anteaters handed UCLA its first loss earlier this season. 'I don''t know why people didn''t vote BYU No. 1; they only got a few votes.'
Scates'' comments on BYU came before his defending National Champion Bruins lost twice to the Cougars.
The Cougars are currently ranked second behind undefeated UC Irvine. The Anteaters are 6-0. The two teams play in early February at Provo in what could be the best match of the year.
Before the Cougars can prepare for UC Irvine, they play at Stanford and against Penn State and Loyola-Chicago in Hawaii.
BYU is expecting to play a talented team in Stanford, although the Cardinal has not won a match this season.
The Stanford matches should provide the Cougars two good opportunities in preparing for the Outrigger Tournament at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu next week.
Last weekend against UC Santa Barbara, the Cardinal enjoyed complete games by Matt Ceran and Evan Romero, who provided a balanced attack over the weekend with 25 kills each. Jessie Meredith, who had 19 kills Friday, left in the second game of Saturday''s match due to an ankle injury.
They will face a Cougar team that is playing volleyball with a complete team effort early in the season. Yosleyder Cala, Ivan Perez, Russell Holmes and freshman Robby Stowell led the Cougars to impressive wins against UCLA.
Newcomer Stowell and veterans Perez and Holmes combined for 42 of 51 total kills Saturday night against UCLA before 5,366 in the Smith Fieldhouse.