PROVO -- For the first time since 2003, No. 2 BYU (3-0, 1-0 MPSF) took No. 3 UCLA (2-2, 0-1 MPSF) down in three straight games, as the Cougars remained undefeated 30-28, 30-22 and 30-26.
Sophomore Yosleyder Cala led BYU with game-highs of 15 kills and an astounding .789 hitting percentage. Juniors Ivan Perez (11 kills) and Russell Holmes (12 kills) combined for 23 of BYU's 51 total kills. Freshman Robby Stowell received game-high honors in digs with eight on the night. As a team, BYU recorded 27 digs to UCLA's 13. The Cougars hit .500 for the match while holding the Bruins to 41 kills on .330 hitting.
"Our goal is to hit .350 as a team," said BYU men's volleyball head coach Shawn Patchell. "We hit .500, which is a direct correlation to our passing."
Game one was as close as it could get with 16 ties, six lead changes and neither team leading by more than two points until BYU took a 29-26 lead late in the game. Ivan Perez got the crowd roaring early on with a couple spectacular plays. Trailing 2-4, Perez crushed the ball from the left side for a kill that drew raucous cheers from the more than 5,000 in attendance. Perez made his presence felt again on the next play with a block that knotted the score at 4 apiece.
Later, with the scored tied 13-13, Cala gave BYU its first lead of the night by putting down a monster kill that ricocheted off a UCLA defender and out of bounds. The two teams took turns taking and losing the lead until the Cougars found themselves on the low end of a 22-24 score. Coming out of a timeout, BYU closed out the game on an 8-4 run to win 30-28. On one crucial play, with the teams tied at 25-25, Stowell took a Bruin spike off his face. The ball bounced off Stowell and landed back in UCLA's court for the Cougar score.
It was Cala and Perez again nearly bringing the house down in game two with their amazing athleticism and power on display. The two combined for 13 kills in the second game, which proved to be a little easier for BYU than the first. The Cougars turned an early 3-4 deficit into a 5-4 lead and never trailed again on its way to a 30-22 victory. As a team, BYU hit .642 in game two while holding the Bruins to a .222 clip.
The Cougars jumped out to a 3-0 lead and didn't trail throughout the entire third and final game. However, the intensity of game one returned as the two opponents found themselves squared away at 24-24. Freshman Rodnei Santos rose to the occasion, striking a mighty kill down the middle to break the tie. The score set BYU off on a match-ending 6-2 run and set the tone for the weekend series.
"It was exciting for our great crowd," Patchell said. "Our goal is to not split with UCLA. We want to be perfect at home."
BYU wraps up its two-game series with UCLA at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse on Saturday, Jan., 13.
Volleyball Box Score
The Automated ScoreBook
#3 UCLA Bruins vs #2 Brigham Young Univ. (Jan 12, 2007 at Provo, Utah)
UCLA Bruins | 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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10 Brett Perrine....... 3| 3 2 12 .083| 0| 0 2| 0| 0| 0 2 0| 0
12 Dylan Bowermaster... 3| 3 2 7 .143| 2| 0 4| 0| 0| 1 2 0| 0
14 Steve Klosterman.... 3| 4 5 12 -.083| 0| 0 3| 0| 2| 0 0 0| 0
15 Matt Wade........... 3| 3 0 5 .600| 36| 0 3| 0| 2| 0 3 0| 1
19 Jamie Diefenbach.... 3| 5 2 11 .273| 0| 0 1| 0| 2| 0 2 0| 0
21 Paul George......... 3| 15 1 20 .700| 1| 0 4| 0| 3| 1 0 0| 0
1 Tony Ker............ 3| 0 0 0 .000| 2| 0 0| 0| 3| 0 0 0| 0
7 Garrett Muagututia.. 2| 9 3 16 .375| 0| 0 1| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
16 Kent Kraushaar...... 2| 1 0 1 1.000| 0| 0 0| 0| 1| 0 0 0| 0
30 Mark Lovein......... 1| 1 0 3 .333| 0| 0 1| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
33 Eric Chaghouri...... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
51 Shaun Nichols....... 2| 0 0 1 .000| 0| 0 2| 0| 0| 0 1 0| 0
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Totals.............. 3| 44 15 88 .330| 41| 0 21| 0| 13| 2 10 0| 1
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 7.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 16 6 31 .323 GAME SCORES 1 2 3 TEAM RECORDS
2 11 5 27 .222 UCLA Bruins......... (0) 28 22 26 3-0,1-0 MPSF
3 17 4 30 .433 Brigham Young Univ.. (3) 30 30 30 2-2,0-1 MPSF
Brigham Young Univ. | 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 SANTOS, Rodnei...... 3| 6 2 11 .364| 2| 0 0| 0| 3| 0 4 0| 0
8 PEREZ, Ivan......... 3| 11 3 16 .500| 0| 0 3| 0| 4| 2 3 0| 0
11 HOLMES, Russell..... 3| 12 1 14 .786| 0| 0 5| 0| 1| 0 2 0| 0
13 STOWELL, Robby...... 3| 7 2 13 .385| 1| 0 3| 0| 8| 0 0 0| 0
14 PEREZ, Yamil........ 3| 0 1 1-1.000| 44| 0 1| 0| 3| 0 1 1| 0
17 STEWART, Andrew..... 1| 0 3 4 -.750| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
1 CALA, Yosleyder..... 3| 15 0 19 .789| 0| 0 5| 0| 3| 0 2 0| 0
5 COX, Scott.......... 2| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
6 SILVA, Joel......... 3| 0 0 0 .000| 2| 0 0| 0| 5| 0 0 0| 0
7 SORENSEN, Trent..... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
12 POMPEI, Andy........ 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 1| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
16 NEFF, Chip.......... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 1| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
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Totals.............. 3| 51 12 78 .500| 49| 0 19| 0| 27| 2 12 1| 0
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 8.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 14 7 28 .250 Site: Provo, Utah (Smith Fieldhous)
2 20 2 28 .643 Date: Jan 12, 2007 Attend: 5537 Time: 1h 46m
3 17 3 22 .636 Referees: Les Calles, Maile Jewkes