PROVO -- BYU ended its preseason with a 3-2 victory in its Alumni Match at the Smith Fieldhouse. The Cougars won 27-30, 30-27, 28-30, 30-26 and 15-12.
"It was a fun match," BYU head coach Shawn Patchell said. "[The alumni] are probably the toughest competition we'll face all year. It was nice to get them out here, and we had a lot of fun."
Senior outside hitter Ivan Perez led BYU with nine kills in game one, but the alumni were in control the entire way. Never trailing, the alumni built leads of seven points six separate times. With their team down 18-24, seniors Perez and Russell Holmes carried BYU on a 5-2 run that brought the Cougars to within two. Holmes began the run with a key block, while Perez followed with a kill from the left side making it a 20-24 game.
Two of the next five points came courtesy of Perez kills to bring BYU within three at 23-26. Minutes later, and with the chance to cut the lead to two, Perez committed a service error that gave the alumni a game point situation. The graduated Cougars would put away the current squad three points later.
The second set was much more competitive than the first with eight ties and neither team leading by more than two points through the game's first 40 points. BYU led 4-3 before the alumni tied the game and then took the lead at 5-4. The Cougars would tie it up three more times before taking a 12-11 advantage.
The lead switched sides two more times before Patchell's team finally put the alumni away. With the two teams stuck at 19-apiece Perez smashed two straight kills from the left side, and BYU never looked back. The Cougars ended the game winning 11 of the final 19 points.
Game three was another thriller featuring 13 ties. The alumni got the biggest lead of the set at 29-26 and went on to win 30-28.
BYU took its second lead of game four on a side out that put the Cougars ahead at 19-18. It was the first advantage the team had since owning a 6-5 lead early on in the set. The alumni would tie it up at 19-all, but a Victor Batista service error gave the lead back to the Cougars for good. Holmes had two kills and an ace, while senior middle blocker Trent Sorensen recorded to kills to close out the 30-26 win for BYU.
The Cougars jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the final game but barely captured the 15-12 win.
BYU begins regular season play on the road at UC San Diego on Friday, Jan. 11 at 7 p.m. (PST).