Health a Concern for BYU

Long Beach State’s quest to become only the second school in NCAA history to win the Division I men’s and women’s volleyball titles in the same school year would seem to be the top story going into tonight’s NCAA men’s semifinals at Pauley Pavilion.

But tonight, the big story instead will lie in the stomachs of a couple of Brigham Young players.

The top-ranked and top-seeded Cougars’ best two players--first-team All-Americans Ryan Millar and Ossie Antonetti--have what Cougar Coach Carl McGown called “intestinal distress.”

But McGown expects both to be on the court when his team (28-1) plays fourth-seeded Penn State (22-12) at 6:30.

“In terms of overcoming the bug, Ryan’s a little better,” McGown said. “But no matter what, they both still have to play.

“We don’t have a contingency plan [if they can’t play]. Play. That’s our contingency plan.”

Millar, a 6-foot-7 senior, leads the nation in blocking.

Forty-five minutes after the Cougars face the Nittany Lions, second-seeded Long Beach (21-3) will play third-seeded Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne (23-3) for the other ticket to Saturday’s championship.

The only team to defeat BYU this season, the 49ers didn’t get a chance to play the Cougars in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament, losing to USC in the semifinals at Provo, Utah.

If the 49ers do advance and win the championship match Saturday at 4:30, they will join Stanford, which won the 1996 women’s and 1997 men’s titles, as the only Division I teams to accomplish the volleyball sweep.