HONOLULU — The BYU Cougars men's volleyball team capped the first week of the season with a 3-1 (30-28, 25-30, 30-28, 30-19) win over the University of Hawaii Friday night to improve to 3-0 on the season and finish first at the Outrigger Tournament.
While the Cougars struggled in the first match and a half of the tournament, they played their best volleyball of the week against Hawaii, turning in solid performances in three of the four games. After splitting the first two games, both teams battled hard in the third, with the lead changing hands several times. BYU went ahead for good at 26-25 and got two kills from senior middle blocker Michael Burke and one apiece from junior setter Rob Neilson and freshman outside hitter Ivan Perez to take the game 30-28.
Three Cougars were named to the Outrigger All-Tournament Team. Burke, who was second on the squad with 44 kills, hit .438, and averaged 1.15 blocks per game, was named tournament MVP. He finished Friday's match with 12 kills, seven digs and a match-high six blocks.