STOCKTON -- A strong offensive performance propelled No. 2 BYU to a 30-22, 24-30, 30-18, 31-29 victory over No. 14 Pacific in the MPSF season finale.
The win gives the Cougars a 22-5 overall record (18-4 in MPSF play) which is the fourth-best regular season record in program history. The three regular seasons that ended with better records also ended in BYU National Championships. The Cougars also claim second place outright in the MPSF regular season.
Yosleyder Cala and Robby Stowell each led BYU with 15 kills. Ivan Perez added 13 kills, two service aces, a team-high four total blocks and six digs. Russell Holmes rounded out Cougars with double figures in kills with 11 while hitting .769.
"Pacific is a very good team," co-head coach Shawn Patchell said. "We feel very fortunate to leave Pacific with two wins. It's the first time we've gone to Pacific and won both matches since 1999."
BYU wasted little time jumping ahead in the first set, building a three-point advantage at 8-5 on a combo block by Trent Sorensen, Cala and Stowell. Pacific made the game interesting as they went on a 5-1 run to take a 14-13 advangtage. The Cougars bounced back, outscoring the Tigers 4-1 to take the lead for good in the first set. BYU finished the game on a 10-3 run capped by a kill by setter Yamil Perez to take the game.
It was a different story in the second set as Pacific came out on fire, jumping to a quick 5-0 lead. The Tigers got three consecutive kills from Maor Nutkevitch to start the set with the big advantage. BYU never tied or took the lead in the second game as Pacific extended its lead to as many as nine points at 15-6. The Tigers further extended their lead to 10 at 25-15 before BYU put together a 9-4 run to end the set and build momentum for the rest of the match.
The Cougars answered Pacific's dominating effort in game two with their own lopsided victory in the third set. With BYU hanging to an 11-9 lead, the Cougars ripped off a 17-8 run to open up a 12-point advantage. BYU won the third set on an Ivan Perez kill. The Cougars hit a red-hot .700 in the third set.
In the closely contested fourth set Pacific jumped to an early 12-6 lead. BYU slowly chipped into the lead, cutting the Tigers advantage to 19-18 and forcing a Pacific timeout. An Ivan Perez service ace tied the set for the first time at 20. The two teams fought back and forth with the Tigers maintaining the advantage until a Stowell kill gave BYU back-to-back points and a 24-23 lead, its first of the set. Pacific came back with three consecutive points and appeared poised to take the game. The Cougars fought back to tie the set. With the score tied at 29, BYU scored the final two points, including a Rodnei Santos, Yamil Perez combo block on match point to take the match.
The second seeded Cougars will play next Saturday at the Smith Fieldhouse. BYU will play host to the winner of the No. 7 seed against No. 8 seed play-in match. The Cougars possible opponents include Cal-State Northridge, Hawaii or USC.
Volleyball Box Score
#2 BYU Cougars vs #14 Pacific Tigers (Apr 14, 2007 at Stockton, Calif.)
BYU Cougars | 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 CALA, Yosleyder..... 4| 15 4 25 .440| 0| 0 2| 2| 4| 0 2 0| 0
7 SORENSEN, Trent..... 2| 2 1 8 .125| 1| 0 2| 0| 0| 0 3 0| 0
8 PEREZ, Ivan......... 4| 13 6 26 .269| 1| 2 5| 1| 6| 0 4 0| 0
11 HOLMES, Russell..... 4| 11 1 13 .769| 2| 2 4| 0| 0| 0 3 0| 0
13 STOWELL, Robby...... 4| 15 3 27 .444| 1| 0 4| 0| 11| 0 2 1| 0
14 PEREZ, Yamil........ 4| 1 0 1 1.000| 52| 2 4| 0| 6| 1 1 1| 2
2 SANTOS, Rodnei...... 3| 4 1 5 .600| 0| 0 0| 0| 1| 0 2 0| 0
5 COX, Scott.......... 2| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 1| 0| 1| 0 0 0| 0
6 SILVA, Joel......... 4| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 2| 8| 0 0 0| 0
TEAM................ | | | | 1| | |
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Totals.............. 4| 61 16 105 .429| 57| 6 22| 6| 37| 1 17 2| 2
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 9.5
Game K E TA Pct
1 16 4 22 .545 GAME SCORES 1 2 3 4 TEAM RECORDS
2 11 4 30 .233 BYU Cougars......... (3) 30 24 30 31 22-5 (18-4 MPSF)
3 16 2 20 .700 Pacific Tigers...... (1) 22 30 18 29 14-17 (8-14 MPSF)
4 18 6 33 .364
Pacific Tigers | 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 Hazelett, Mitchel... 4| 0 1 4 -.250| 51| 1 1| 0| 2| 1 3 1| 0
10 Hammer, Dan......... 4| 9 0 12 .750| 0| 1 1| 0| 0| 0 5 0| 0
11 Nutkevitch, Maor.... 4| 14 9 35 .143| 0| 2 6| 4| 4| 0 2 0| 0
13 Seppanen, Pekka..... 4| 16 2 26 .538| 0| 0 4| 0| 11| 0 1 0| 0
16 Cornell, Matt....... 4| 7 6 27 .037| 0| 1 4| 0| 3| 1 0 0| 0
17 Hollenbeck, Todd.... 3| 4 1 10 .300| 0| 1 5| 0| 0| 0 1 0| 0
1 Morales, Garrett.... 4| 0 1 1-1.000| 0| 0 0| 1| 1| 0 0 0| 0
3 Forbes, Joe......... 1| 0 1 1-1.000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
6 Pratte, Kevin....... 3| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 1| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
8 Bauhs, Mark......... 2| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 1| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
14 Chen-Byerley, Simon. 1| 3 0 3 1.000| 0| 0 1| 0| 1| 0 0 0| 0
TEAM................ | | | | 1| | |
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Totals.............. 4| 53 21 119 .269| 51| 6 24| 6| 22| 2 12 1| 0
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 8.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 8 5 23 .130 Site: Stockton, Calif. (Alex G. Spanos Ctr.)
2 19 5 37 .378 Date: Apr 14, 2007 Attend: 611 Time: 2:01
3 8 7 23 .043 Referees: Mickey Matthews, Bill Forrester
4 18 4 36 .389