HONOLULU -- Entering Friday's match at No. 2 Hawaii, the fourth-ranked BYU men's volleyball team was in the midst of a 10-match win streak. During that span, the Cougars had recorded 30 out of 33 single-game victories. That all came crashing to an end on Friday night as BYU dropped three straight games at Hawaii, 26-30, 27-30, 22-30.
The Warrior defense stifled BYU all night, forcing 27 attack errors and out-blocking the Cougars, 15.5-5.0. BYU hit just .179 at the night, connecting on just 47 of 112 attempts. Hawaii's Dejan Milzdinovic recorded a match-high 11 blocks against the Cougars, producing five blocks in game two alone.
Offensively, last year's AVCA National Player of the Year, Costas Theocharidis, along with Tony Ching produced 27 of the Warriors' 46 kills. Ching, who produced a season-high 14 kills put down six kills in his first 11 swings of the night.
BYU seniors Mike Wall and Joaquin Acosta produced 11 kills each, while Wall led the Cougars with seven digs. Chris Gorny added nine kills and four blocks in the match. Wall had the only BYU ace, while Hawaii was credited with five on the night.
The Cougars, who had not lost since March 2, dropped to 21-6, 15-6 on the season, while the Warriors improved to 20-6, 15-4. The loss also marked the first 3-0 loss for the Cougars since falling to No. 1 Pepperdine on March 2.
Friday's win guarantees Hawaii a second-place finish in the MPSF and an opportunity to host the No. 7 seed (to be determined) in the first round of the MPSF tournament on Saturday, April 20. After Stanford's victory over USC on Friday, the Cougars and Cardinal are tied four fourth place in the MPSF. Both teams have one match remaining. BYU will play again at Hawaii, while Stanford must travel to Pepperdine.
In the regular-season finale, the two teams will square off again on Saturday at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu. Match time is slated for 7 p.m. (HST).
PLAYOFF PICTURE
Currently tied with Stanford at 15-6 in league play, the Cougars must defeat Hawaii on Saturday, and hope for a Stanford loss in order to host a first-round MPSF Tournament match on April 20. Should the Cougars and Cardinal end the regular season in a tie for fourth place, Stanford will host BYU in the first round of the MPSF Tournament on Saturday, April 20.
Pepperdine has clinched the No. 1 seed and will host either Cal State Northridge or Pacific. Currently tied for the eighth and final spot in the league standings, Cal State Northridge will host UC Santa Barbara on Saturday. Pacific will play at USC.
Hawaii is guaranteed the No. 2 seed and will host either Long Beach State, CSUN or Pacific in the first round.
UCLA will enter the tournament as the No. 3 seed and will host UC Santa Barbara in first-round action.
Following first-round action, the highest remaining seed will host the semi finals and final round of the MPSF Tournament on April 25-27.
Brigham Young vs No. 2 Hawai'i (Apr 12, 2002 at Honolulu, Hawaii)
Brigham Young | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN
## Name GP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
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2 WALL, Mike.......... 3| 11 9 27 .074| 1| 1 2| 1| 7| 0 1 0| 0
4 ACOSTA, Joaquin..... 3| 11 8 26 .115| 0| 0 1| 0| 5| 1 0 1| 0
6 GORNY, Chris........ 3| 9 2 18 .389| 0| 0 3| 0| 2| 0 4 1| 0
9 PAAL, Rafael........ 3| 8 2 14 .429| 2| 0 1| 0| 6| 0 0 1| 0
11 MORENO, Carlos...... 3| 2 0 4 .500| 41| 0 1| 0| 5| 0 1 1| 0
18 SLABE, Luka......... 3| 4 3 12 .083| 0| 0 2| 1| 5| 0 1 1| 0
7 MAYOL, Jaime........ 3| 2 2 9 .000| 1| 0 0| 0| 2| 0 1 1| 1
12 ALLEMAN, Jonathan... 1| 0 1 2 -.500| 1| 0 1| 0| 1| 0 0 0| 0
17 PESSOA, Fernando.... 3| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 1| 5| 0 0 0| 0
Team................ | | | | 2| | |
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Totals.............. 3| 47 27 112 .179| 46| 1 11| 5| 38| 1 8 6| 1
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 5.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 14 5 30 .300 GAME SCORES 1 2 3 TEAM RECORDS
2 18 11 42 .167 Brigham Young....... 26 27 22 21-6, 15-6
3 15 11 40 .100 No. 2 Hawai'i....... 30 30 30 20-6, 15-4
No. 2 Hawai'i | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN
## Name GP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
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1 Miladinovic, Dejan.. 3| 5 2 13 .231| 0| 0 1| 0| 0| 0 11 1| 0
4 Tuyay, Kimo......... 3| 0 0 1 .000| 40| 1 1| 0| 7| 0 6 0| 1
6 Zimet, Eyal......... 3| 7 1 13 .462| 1| 0 0| 0| 6| 2 2 2| 0
9 Theocharidis, Costas 3| 13 5 33 .242| 2| 1 1| 0| 8| 0 4 1| 0
15 Ching, Tony......... 3| 14 4 27 .370| 1| 2 3| 0| 6| 0 3 1| 0
17 Thomas, Delano...... 3| 6 2 14 .286| 0| 1 4| 0| 2| 0 1 1| 0
2 Chala, Geronimo..... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 1| 0 0 0| 0
7 Podlewski, Vernon... 3| 0 0 1 .000| 0| 0 0| 1| 2| 0 0 0| 1
10 Delgado, Jose....... 1| 1 0 1 1.000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
TEAM................ | | | | 0| | |
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Totals.............. 3| 46 14 103 .311| 44| 5 10| 1| 32| 2 27 6| 2
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 15.5
Game K E TA Pct
1 16 6 36 .278 Site: Honolulu, Hawaii (Stan Sheriff Center)
2 16 6 34 .294 Date: Apr 12, 2002 Attend: 6406 Time: 1:38
3 14 2 33 .364 Referees: Wayne Lee, Ernest Ho
Match ends BYU's 10-match win streak.