PROVO -- After losing game-one on Saturday to No. 9 Lewis, the fifth-ranked BYU men's volleyball team rebounded to win three straight games, ending the Flyers' hopes of an upset in Provo. The Cougars rallied to win the match, 27-30, 30-25, 30-23, 30-27, improving to 13-5 on the season. The win also marks BYU's 12th victory over a ranked opponent this season.
The Cougars had for players with double-digit kills, including Luka Slabe who led the team with 18 kills on 24 swings (.750). All-American Mike Wall added 17 kills, while Rafael Paal had 13 and Joaquin Acosta chipped in 12 for the Cougars. BYU hit .522 at the net, including a stunning .645 percentage in the final game of the match. Defensively, the Cougars forced 25 Flyer errors and out-blocked Lewis, 15.0 - 2.0.
"I thought we played three really good games this afternoon," BYU head coach Carl McGown said. "For the first time this season, I thought we showed significant balance in our game. We hit .522 and did a nice job on defense. However, they were playing without one of their best players. We were fortunate in that respect. Otherwise, I think they would have been more than a handful for us."
Despite out-blocking Lewis 4.5-0 in game one, the Cougars fell behind, 24-27, on Fabiano Barreto's fifth kill of the game. The Cougars were able to close the gap to 26-28, but Barreto recorded back-to-back kills to end the game, 30-27. Barreto led both teams with seven kills in game one, while Wall turned in six kills for BYU.
In game two, the Cougars hit a blistering .522 behind Acosta's six kills. Wall and Paal added four each as BYU claimed the five-point victory, 30-25. With the Cougars clinging to a slim two-point advantage, the Flyers' Kevin Miller was called for interference. The play sparked a 4-1 run for the Cougars. After a failed game-point attempt, BYU claimed game-two on a Jose Martin's service error.
After coming off the bench late in game two, the third game of the match belonged to Slabe. The 6-foot-1 outside hitter racked up eight kills to pace BYU to a decisive 30-23 victory. Serving for the win, it was only fitting that Slabe, who had taken over the game, recorded the game-winning point on his only service ace of the afternoon.
"Luka had a great match," McGown said. "Just like last year at the NCAA Tournament, he came off the bench and dialed up a .750. He had a nice match."
In the final game of the match, the Cougars maintained a two-point advantage through much of the game. BYU setter Carlos Moreno extended the lead to 29-26 with his second kill of the match, however a subsequent service error kept the Flyers' hopes alive. The suspense lasted only seconds as Wall recorded his 17th kill of the match to give BYU a 30-27 victory.
The Cougars will return to action next weekend, taking on No. 8 Ball State. With only one loss on the season, the Cardinals will travel to Provo on Friday and Saturday, March 15-16. Both matches are slated to begin at 7 p.m. (MST).
"Ball State is really, really good," McGown said. "They have a bunch of giants and from what I've seen, they are a very good team. They are going to be tough."
#9 Lewis vs Brigham Young (March 9 2002 at Provo, Utah)
#9 Lewis | 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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4 BIRD, Victor........ 4| 16 6 25 .400| 2| 0 1| 1| 3| 0 0 0| 0
7 SOLER, Jeff......... 4| 5 4 13 .077| 0| 1 4| 1| 6| 0 0 0| 0
10 BARRETO, Fabiano.... 4| 27 11 49 .327| 2| 0 0| 0| 3| 0 1 0| 0
12 MILLER, Kevin....... 4| 8 3 17 .294| 1| 0 0| 0| 2| 1 1 1| 0
17 ELSEA, James........ 4| 7 1 20 .300| 2| 0 4| 0| 1| 0 0 0| 0
18 MARTINS, Jose....... 4| 3 0 7 .429| 55| 2 4| 0| 5| 0 0 0| 1
1 MARTIN, Mario....... 4| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 1| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
9 STUNTZ, Ryan........ 4| 0 0 0 .000| 1| 0 0| 1| 7| 0 0 0| 0
15 PEREZ, Jorge........ 4| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 2| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
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Totals.............. 4| 66 25 131 .313| 63| 3 16| 3| 27| 1 2 1| 1
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 2.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 18 7 32 .344 GAME SCORES 1 2 3 4 TEAM RECORDS
2 14 7 35 .200 #9 Lewis............ 30 25 23 27 12-7
3 16 7 33 .273 Brigham Young....... 27 30 30 30 13-5
4 18 4 31 .452
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.......... 4| 17 3 23 .609| 0| 1 1| 0| 3| 0 4 0| 0
4 ACOSTA, Joaquin..... 4| 12 2 19 .526| 0| 0 2| 0| 4| 0 4 1| 0
6 GORNY, Chris........ 4| 6 3 15 .200| 0| 0 4| 0| 2| 0 6 1| 0
7 MAYOL, Jaime........ 2| 3 1 9 .222| 1| 0 1| 1| 0| 0 1 0| 0
9 PAAL, Rafael........ 4| 13 2 18 .611| 3| 0 4| 0| 3| 1 6 1| 0
11 MORENO, Carlos...... 4| 2 1 5 .200| 60| 1 9| 0| 5| 0 5 1| 1
1 WILTON, Mike........ 3| 0 0 0 .000| 1| 0 0| 0| 4| 0 0 0| 0
12 ALLEMAN, Jonathan... 2| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
17 PESSOA, Fernando.... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 2| 0| 0 0 0| 0
18 SLABE, Luka......... 4| 18 0 24 .750| 0| 1 2| 0| 2| 0 2 0| 0
Team................ | | | | 0| | |
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Totals.............. 4| 71 12 113 .522| 65| 3 23| 3| 23| 1 28 4| 1
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 15.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 14 5 27 .333 Site: Provo, Utah (Smith Fieldhouse)
2 18 2 29 .552 Date: March 9 2002 Attend: 875 Time: 2:00
3 17 3 26 .538 Referees: Les Calles, Tom Given, DJM;MA;MRC;MBC;ST
4 22 2 31 .645
Cougars are 5-0 all-time vs. Lewis.
BYU records 12th victory over ranked opponent.