LONG BEACH -- The BYU Cougars advance to the NCAA Championship for the third time in five years after posting a 36-34, 30-25, 28-30, 30-26 victory over Penn State Thursday at the Pyramid, maintaining a perfect 5-0 in NCAA Final Four competition. In the championship round on Saturday, BYU will play No. 4 Lewis, who upset No. 2 Pepperdine 3-2 in the first semifinal match of the tournament Thursday.

The Cougars, now 23-6 on the season, got an edge by obliterating their previous single-match ace record as five players combined for a total of 16 service aces on the night, with Chris Gorny, Jonathan Alleman and Rafael Paal contributing four each. The previous record of 10 aces was set at Pepperdine on April 11, 2003.

"I think we just dropped the ball short on them--they weren't expecting it," Alleman said. "I think the win is a great tribute to how hard we worked during the year and the great job our coaches do in preparing us for these matches."

BYU out-hit the Nittany Lions 72 to 65 on the attack, with four Cougars in double-digit kills. Alleman led the Cougars with 17 kills on 30 attempts while hitting .367 and added four aces, three blocks and ten digs for his third-straight double-double in post-season play.

Michael Burke hit .538 with 16 kills and added five blocks, while Carlos Moreno guided the team with 62 assists and three aces. Rafael Paal and Jaime Mayol each added double-digit kills with 11 and 15, respectively.

"I think our heart won the match, our team really worked together and our heart won it tonight," BYU head coach Tom Peterson said. "I thought these guys played hard to win the match. Mark Pavlik is a great friend, and it was emotional for me to play his team in the Final Four."

Game one started with a service error from each team, followed by back-to-back kills by Mayol to give the Cougars the lead. BYU held its lead until a 5-1 run by Penn State tied the score at 16. From there on it was a battle for every point as the teams went head to head all the way through several game points and into overtime with over 30 points each.

With the Cougars down 33-34, Mayol threw down a kill to tie it, then Gorny served an ace for the lead and Mayol and Burke teamed up for a block to win the game 36-34. Mayol and Paal both recorded six kills in the first game and hit over .600 to help BYU to a .590 attack percent in game one.

Carlos Guerra started Penn State off in game two again with a service error to give BYU the lead off the bat. But again the Cougars pulled away on some Alleman kills and aces from Moreno and Paal to gain a three-point lead at 8-5. After recording just 2.0 blocks in the first game, the Cougar defense got stronger in the second game as they out-blocked the Nittany Lions 5.0 to 1.0.

The BYU attack continued strong at a .414 percent, while Penn State was held to just .286 in game two. Alleman knocked down six kills on nine attempts with no errors to lead the Cougars to a 29-25 lead over the Nittany Lions, then finished off the game with a back-row, flying-through-the-air kill off a set from Paal for the Cougar win, 30-25.

Gorny started game three off with his third ace of the night, a new personal high for him. BYU racked up a four-point lead at 16-12, but ran into trouble with errors and let Penn State come back to within one at 17-16. Paal knocked down a kill to give the Cougars a little cushion, but the Nittany Lions came back again to tie it at 21.

A Penn State block and two Cougar attack errors put the Nittany Lions in the lead, where they stayed through the final point, made by Carlos Guerra for the Penn State win, 28-30. BYU hit just .182 in the third game while Penn State hit .303 as a team and out-blocked BYU 4.5 to 3.5.

Guerra kept his momentum going as he started game four with an ace, his second of the night. It looked as if Penn State might keep going with the lead as they held on up to a tie at 13. BYU then went on a 6-2 run with two Slabe kills and a huge solo block from Moreno to take a 19-15 lead. The Cougars garnered seven aces in the fourth game and won 30-26 with a final hit from Paal.

"We put ourselves into some real deep holes with not being willing or able to adjust to their off-speed jump serves," Penn State head coach Mark Pavlik said. "Besides that, I don't think anyone really counted us out till that last point."

For the Nittany Lions, Carlos Guerra led the attack with 19 kills on 41 attempts and added two aces, four digs and two blocks. Three other Nittany Lions recorded kills in double figures, including Zach Slenker with 14 and Keith Kowal with 11 kills on the night.

Top-seed BYU will face third-seed Lewis in the championship match on Saturday, May 3 at 4:30 p.m. (PST) at the Pyramid. The match will be televised live on ESPN2.

Volleyball Box Score
         Penn State vs Brigham Young (May 01, 2003 at Long Beach State)
    Penn State             |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2  O'Dell, Dan.........  3|  1   0   1 1.000| 28|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  2  1|  0
8  Slenker, Zach.......  4| 14   8  32  .188|  0|  0   4|  0|  1| 0  4  0|  0
9  Guerra, Carlos......  4| 19   6  41  .317|  0|  2   6|  5|  4| 0  2  0|  0
12 Koljesar, Zeliko....  4|  6   1  10  .500|  2|  2   1|  5|  2| 0  2  0|  0
13 Keil, Norman........  4| 10   2  19  .421|  1|  0   1|  0|  3| 1  6  2|  0
14 Kowal, Keith........  4| 11   3  20  .400|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 1  2  1|  0
1  Mattei, Ricky.......  4|  0   0   0  .000|  3|  0   0|  1| 16| 0  0  0|  0
3  Schneider, Richard..  3|  3   1   6  .333|  0|  0   0|  4|  2| 0  1  0|  0
6  Matthews, Nate......  4|  1   0   1 1.000| 27|  1   2|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
11 Meerstein, Nate.....  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
    TEAM................   |                 |   |       |  1|   |        |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 65  21 130  .338| 61|  5  15| 16| 31| 2 19  4|  0
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 11.5
Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  21  5  39  .410   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2  14  6  28  .286   Penn State.......... 34 25 30 26  26-6
   3  16  6  33  .303   Brigham Young....... 36 30 28 30  23-6
   4  14  4  30  .333
    Brigham Young          |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3  Burke, Michael......  4| 16   2  26  .538|  1|  0   2|  0|  3| 0  5  2|  0
5  Moreno, Carlos......  4|  5   1   6  .667| 62|  3   4|  0|  3| 1  2  0|  1
6  Gorny, Chris........  4|  4   3  11  .091|  0|  4   2|  0|  2| 1  5  1|  0
7  Mayol, Jaime........  4| 11   5  23  .261|  0|  0   1|  3|  3| 0  2  0|  0
9  Paal, Rafael........  4| 15   6  34  .265|  3|  4   3|  0|  6| 0  4  1|  0
12 Alleman, Jonathan...  4| 17   6  30  .367|  0|  4   3|  0| 10| 0  3  0|  0
1  Patterson, Casey....  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   2|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
4  Hillman, Joe........  3|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
17 Pessoa, Fernando....  4|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   0|  2|  7| 0  0  0|  0
18 Slabe, Luka.........  3|  4   1   5  .600|  0|  1   2|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 72  24 136  .353| 68| 16  19|  5| 34| 2 21  4|  1
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 12.5
Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  26  3  39  .590   Site: Long Beach State (The Pyramid)
   2  16  4  29  .414   Date: May 01, 2003   Attend: 3622   Time: 2:12
   3  14  8  33  .182   Referees: Alan Stankaitis, Mike Paull
   4  16  9  35  .200   Triple blocks: Penn State 3, BYU 1
                        NCAA MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINAL #2

COUGARS EARN No. 1 SEED

After trailing Pepperdine, 0-2, in Saturday's MPSF Championship match, the third-ranked BYU men's volleyball team rallied to win three straight games and knock off the No. 1 Waves to capture the league's automatic bid to the NCAA National Championships in Long Beach, Calif. By virtue of winning the MPSF Tournament, the Cougars (22-6) will enter this week's competition as the No. 1 seed, and will face No. 4 Penn State (26-5) on Thursday, May 1. Match time is slated for 8:00 p.m. (PDT) at the Pyramid--the site of BYU's last National Championship run in 2001.The winner of Thursday's match will play for the National Championship on Saturday, May 3, beginning at 4 p.m. (PDT).

TWO OUT OF THREE 'AINT BAD

The Cougars will enter this week's NCAA National Championship tournament as the top-seeded team for the second time in their three appearances. In 1999, BYU posted a 28-1 record entering the tournament to garner top-seed honors. In 2001, the Cougars suffered a semi-final loss in the MPSF Tournament, and was selected as the at-large team for the Final Four.

TICKET INFORMATION

Fans wishing to follow the Cougars to the Final Four may purchase tickets by contacting the Long Beach State ticket office at 562-985-4949. The LBSU ticket office is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (PDT). All-session tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for youth (17 and under) and students. Single-session tickets (if available) will go on sale beginning at 10 a.m. (PDT) on Thursday, May 1 for $15 and $12.

TELEVISION BROADCAST INFORMATION

Thursday's match will be broadcast (tape delayed) on ESPN 2, beginning at 8 a.m. (PDT) on Friday, May 2. The championship match will be broadcast live on ESPN2.

COUGARS AT A GLANCE

The Cougars have earned a 22-6 overall record on the season, including key victories over Hawai'i and Pepperdine in the MPSF Tournament. BYU's 17-5 MPSF record eared it the second spot in the final conference rankings behind Pepperdine. The Cougars' .346 percentage ranks sixth-bestin the nation and third in the MPSF. As a team, The Cougars finished among the top-five in the MPSF in aces and blocking. Two Cougars, Rafael Paal and Jonathan Alleman, have earned National Player-of-the-Week honors this season. Alleman is among the top-20 nationally, averaging 3.93 kills per game, while Paal has the highest service ace mark in the MPSF, averaging .41 per contest. Sophomore middle blocker Michael Burke is ranked third in the league for individual hitting percentage, average .458 per game, and adds a team-leading 1.34 blocks per contest. Middle blocker Chris Gorny and setter Carlos Moreno are among the national and conferece leaders in blocks and assists, respectively.

BYU IN THE FINAL FOUR

The Cougars enter this week's NCAA Championship tournament with a perfect, 4-0, record in Final Four action. BYU won the 1999 NCAA tournament, defeating Long Beach State, 3-0, at UCLA's Pauley Pavillion. The Cougars advanced to the championship match by knocking off Penn State, 3-1. In 2001, the Cougars returned to the Final Four, this time as an at-large selection. In semi-final action, BYU upended Penn State again, 3-1, to advance to the championship match. Once again, the Cougars were crowned National Champions after blanking top-ranked UCLA, 3-0, at the Pyramid in Long Beach.

BYU FINAL FOUR HISTORY

May 6, 1999 BYU def. Penn State, 3-1 10-15, 15-4, 15-11, 15-5

May 8, 1999 BYU def. Long Beach State, 3-0 15-9, 15-7, 15-10

May 3, 2001 BYU def. Penn State, 3-1 30-28, 28-30, 30-28, 30-26

May 5, 2003 BYU def. UCLA, 3-0 30-26, 30-26, 32-30

FINAL FOUR FACTS

• The Cougars beat Long Beach State (1999) to win the National

Championship on the home court of the UCLA Bruins. Two years later,

BYU beat UCLA on the home court of the Long Beach State 49'ers to win

the National Championship.

• The Cougars are a perfect 4-0 in Final Four action, posting a 12-2 single-

game record.

• Penn State is the only team to win a game against BYU in Final Four

action. The Cougars have defeated the Nittany Lions, 3-1, in both match-

ups in NCAA semi-final round action.

• Since 1999, the Cougars have made three appearances to the Final Four,

and have won more NCAA Championships in that span than any other

school.

ROAD TO THE FINAL FOUR

In 1999: BYU swept Hawaii and Pacific then beat USC, 3-1, for the MPSF tournament championship and automatic berth to the NCAA tournament. in their first-ever appearance at the Final Four, the Cougars played Penn State on May 6 in the first round of the national tournament and won, 3-1. The Cougars then met Long Beach State--the only team to defeat BYU during the regular season--in the finals for a 3-0 win and their first-ever national title.

In 2001: After losing to Hawaii in MPSF Tournament semi-final action, the Cougars' fate was up to the selection committee. A 21-4 record was good enough for the committee and an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. BYU again faced Penn State in the first round of the Final Four and again beat the Nittany Lions, 3-1. The Championship featured BYU and top-ranked UCLA. The Cougars weren't deterred, however, and pulled off another, 3-0, victory to win their second national title in just three years.

In 2003: Entering the semi-finals of the MPSF tournament, the Cougars faced a difficult challenge. In order to hope for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, they would need to beat Hawaii--the second-ranked team in the nation. After a 3-0 thumping, mission accomplished. For the automatic bid, BYU would then need to beat No. 1 Pepperdine. After falling behind, 2-0, things didn't look so good for the Cougars. However, a stellar come-from-behind effort calmed the Waves and BYU went on to a 3-2 win and received the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship tournament. For the third time in five years, BYU will face Penn State in the first round of the tournament. BYU's first-year head coach Tom Peterson coached the Nittany Lions to their first and only National Championship in 1994. Interestingly, 1994 was Peterson's last year coaching NCAA men's volleyball before returning to BYU this season. Peterson now faces his ex-assistant in Mark Pavlik, now head coach at Penn State. If BYU wins this year, it will be akin to back-to-back championships for Peterson in men's NCAA competition, just nine years apart.

A FAMILIAR PLACE

Five current BYU players were part of the 2001 NCAA National Championship team, including Fernando Pessoa, Jonathan Alleman, Luka Slabe, Jaime Mayol and Shawn Olmstead. Pessoa is the only starter from 2001 remaining on this year's team, while Slabe, Mayol and Alleman played key rolls of the bench.

THE PENN STATE SERIES

Thursday‚s first-round match marks the third time BYU and Penn State have competed against each other in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. BYU won the previous two NCAA Tournament matches, 3-1, and went on to win the Championship. This season, the two teams split a pair of matches in Provo. On March 7, Michael Burke recorded a season-high nine blocks and three different Cougars registered double-digit kills to come back from a first-game loss and win the match, 3-1. On March 8, four Cougars tallied double-digit kills, and as a team out-blocked Penn State, 13.5 to 10.0, but five Nittany Lions hit in double figures, including Norman Keil who hit 15 kills with a .737 attack percent to outlast the Cougars for a 3-2 win in the second match. In their competitive history, Penn State leads the series 5-3.

THE LEWIS SERIES

Should Lewis and BYU advance past the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the two teams would meet for the sixth time. The Cougars own a 5-0 record in the series that dates back to 1997. All five games have been won in Provo.

THE PEPPERDINE SERIES

In one of the Cougars' biggest rivalries, BYU and Pepperdine have battled 29 times since their first meeting in 1990. The Waves own a 12-17 record, however the Cougars have won 6 of the past 11 meetings. Pepperdine welcomed BYU to the collegiate ranks back in 1990 with a dominating, 3-0, victory. The Waves went on to win six straight matches over the Cougars. Finally, in 1993, BYU recorded its first win over Pepperdine, 3-2 in Provo. Interestingly, since the 1993 match, the Cougars have produced a 12-11 record over the Waves, including two come-from-behind victories this season.

BYU IN THE USAToday/AVCA COACHES POLL

After spending 11 weeks at No. 3 in the USAToday/AVCA Coaches Poll, the Cougars moved up to No. 1 in this week's poll after knocking off top-ranked Pepperdine, and second-ranked Hawaii in the semi-finals of the MPSF Tournament. The Cougars spent three weeks at No. 4 and one week at No. 5.