PROVO -- In second rematch of the 2004 National Championship, the Cougars came out on top, defeating Long Beach State in a five game thriller, 34-36, 30-22, 26-30, 30-23, 15-10, Saturday night in the Smith Fieldhouse. BYU now owns a one-match lead over the 49ers in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation at 10-6 to 9-7.

"This is the type of match we would've expected with Long Beach," BYU coach Tom Peterson said. "It's a very important win."

The contest had the same feel as the 2004 championship match, opposite of Friday's sweep. The teams traded games before an intense fifth ensued. Long Beach started fast, leading 3-1 before the Cougars came back to lead at 7-5 on a Russell Holmes and Victor Batista block. The 49ers refused to go away, tying the game at seven and again at 10, before BYU ran away with the game and the match. Perez started a 5-0 run with a kill and added an ace two points later to put his team up 13-10. Batista added a kill before Michael Burke punctuated the win with a block that sent the Cougar bench and the fans into a frenzy.

Perez led BYU with a career and match-high 25 kills while hitting for a match-best .526 (25-5-38) percentage. He also added three service aces. Batista and Taylor Evans each added 12 kills to the cause. Batista also had a team and match-high eight blocks. Holmes, who had seen little action in the last few weeks, came off the bench to play middle and contributed four kills, four blocks and three digs. His presence was vital in the fifth, tallying two kills and a block in the deciding game.

"Russell has been getting better and better," Peterson said. "That lineup works very well as long as we pass. It adds a different dimension to what we can do."

Yassir Sliti's 19 kills led four Long Beach players in double-digit kills. Robert Tarr was next with 16 while Duncan Budinger had 14 and Teddy Liles 10.

The Cougars won the battle of percentages, hitting .333 (71-26-135) compared to .199 (67-38-146) for the 49ers. BYU also out-blocked Long Beach, 19.5 to 11.5.

Game one was a replay of Friday night, the Cougars fighting back from an early deficit to earn multiple game point chances but eventually losing, 34-36. Long Beach held the advantage throughout much of the game and was ahead 27-25 before BYU went on a 4-1 run that included two Perez kills and one by Evans. Despite game point opportunities at 29-28, 30-29, 31-30 and 33-32, the Cougars could not capitalize as the 49ers snuck away with the win on an Evans hitting error. Perez had seven kills and four digs in the game while Evans contributed four kills. Sliti led the Beach with six and Budinger and Tarr added five apiece.

BYU regrouped in the second, taking a three point lead at 10-7 thanks to a solid hitting game. The 49ers managed to tie the game at 13 but the Cougars quickly turned on the heat, capitalizing on several Long Beach errors and getting two blocks to score eight of the next nine points to jump out to a 21-14 lead. BYU continued to pour it on, extending the lead to 28-20 before winning 30-22 on a 49er hitting error. Perez and Batista had five kills each and Burke was nearly perfect, getting four kills on five swings.

A big win in the second did not help much in the third. The game remained close as there were 11 tie scores, the last coming at 17 all. At that point Long Beach took control, scoring the next three and eventually extending the lead to four at 27-23. From there the teams traded points and the match ended on a hitting error by Evans, 30-26. The Cougars struggled mightily on offense, hitting just .080 (11-9-25) while the 49ers hit .292 (13-6-24).

Needing a win to avoid another loss, BYU stepped up in the third, taking the early 11-6 lead and never looking back. Perez led the way with a perfect 7-of-7 performance, helping the Cougars hit .370 (14-4-27). BYU won the game 30-23 on a Long Beach service error.

The Cougars will now take the road back to California for two matches with Cal State Northridge next Friday and Saturday (April 1 and 2).

                              Volleyball Box Score
                     Brigham Young University - Volleyball
         Long Beach State vs Brigham Young (Mar 26, 2005 at Provo, Ut)
    Long Beach State       |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  HILDEBRAND, Tyler...  5|  1   3  10 -.200| 58|  0   0|  0|  6| 1  1  0|  0|   2.5
 8  HAGSTROM, Nathan....  5|  7   6  16  .062|  0|  0   5|  1|  5| 1  2  1|  0|   9.0
 13 LILES, Teddy........  5| 10   3  20  .350|  1|  2   3|  0|  2| 1  3  0|  0|  14.5
 14 SLITI, Yassir.......  5| 19  14  43  .116|  0|  0   6|  1|  5| 0  3  0|  0|  20.5
 17 BUDINGER, Duncan....  5| 14   3  25  .440|  1|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  3  2|  0|  15.5
 24 TARR, Robert........  5| 16   9  31  .226|  0|  0   4|  3|  8| 1  3  2|  0|  18.5
 1  CALDWELL, Tyler.....  5|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  1|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 9  HUTTON, Norm........  1|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 20 MUNOZ, Paul.........  5|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  1|  2| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 22 CAPE, Kevin.........  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  5| 67  38 146  .199| 62|  2  18|  7| 31| 4 15  5|  0|  80.5
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 11.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  25  7  49  .367   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  4  5  TEAM RECORDS
   2   8  8  24  .000   Long Beach State.... (2) 36 22 30 23 10  15-8, 9-7 MPSF
   3  13  6  24  .292   Brigham Young....... (3) 34 30 26 30 15  15-8, 10-6MPSF
   4  15 11  35  .114
   5   6  6  14  .000
    Brigham Young          |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  BURKE, Michael......  5|  9   2  19  .368|  0|  0   3|  0|  0| 3  4  2|  0|  14.0
 8  PEREZ, Ivan.........  5| 25   5  38  .526|  1|  3   3|  1|  5| 1  1  0|  0|  29.5
 9  PATTERSON, Casey....  3|  6   4  14  .143|  3|  1   3|  0|  2| 0  1  1|  0|   7.5
 14 NEILSON, Rob........  5|  3   2   6  .167| 61|  1   6|  0|  4| 2  3  1|  0|   7.5
 15 BATISTA, Victor.....  5| 12   3  23  .391|  3|  1   5|  0|  4| 0  8  2|  0|  17.0
 17 EVANS, Taylor.......  5| 12   9  30  .100|  2|  1   3|  0|  5| 1  4  0|  0|  16.0
 2  STEWART, Bryan......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 6  HEYES, Matt.........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   2|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 7  ROWLEY, Brian.......  5|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  1|  7| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 11 HOLMES, Russell.....  5|  4   1   5  .600|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  4  0|  0|   6.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  5| 71  26 135  .333| 70|  7  25|  2| 30| 7 25  6|  0|  97.5
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 19.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  20  8  44  .273   Site: Provo, Ut (Smith Field house)
   2  18  2  26  .615   Date: Mar 26, 2005   Attend: 2413   Time: 2H 30M
   3  11  9  25  .080   Referees: LES CALLES, TOM GIVEN
   4  14  4  27  .370
   5   8  3  13  .385
                                         1   2   3   4   5 Total
                        Tie scores      22   7  11   0   7    47
                        Lead changes    12   2   4   1   2    21

PROVO -- Coming off back-to-back sweeps of the University of Hawai'i, the BYU men's volleyball team is looking to continue its ascent in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation standings with two matches against rival Long Beach State Friday and Saturday (March 25 and 26). The Cougars have now won seven of eight matches and moved from as low as tenth in the league to a tie with Hawai'i for fourth.

BYU is 14-7 overall and 9-5 in the MPSF while Long Beach State is 14-7 and 8-6. The two teams are in a much different situation than they were in 2004. The Cougars were No. 1 while the 49ers were No. 2. They met four times throughout the season and while BYU won every match, they were all hotly contested. Two of the wins were in the MPSF and NCAA tournament championships.

"They're our rivals as of the last while," BYU coach Tom Peterson said. "They're a very good team and are very talented. These may be the most exciting matches of the season. Hopefully our crowd will continue to support us like they have."

The matches are not only important for the rivalry, but more so for MPSF tournament seeding. BYU's goal is to jump from fourth to at least third, thus being able to avoid playing the host of the tournament, the MPSF regular season champion, until the final. Pepperdine currently holds the top record at 16-1, two matches ahead of UCLA.

"This weekend is huge for the playoffs," Peterson said. "It's important so we can be the hot team at the end of the season and for seeding. We don't want to meet the first place team in the semifinals. We feel like we need to get to the final of the MPSF tournament to get to the final four."

There are two roads BYU can take to get to the NCAA Final Four. Winning the MPSF Tournament would guarantee a punched ticket to the championships. The other path is earning the at-large berth, which is generally awarded to the next best team in the MPSF. A strong regular season finish and going far in the MPSF Tournament would give the Cougars a shot, but there is no guarantee as the at-large team is determined by a selection committee.

Long Beach is currently riding a five-match winning streak, four of which have come against non-league foes. The 49ers have struggled in league play recently, losing three straight before defeating UC San Diego.

Tyler Hildebrand, a first-team All-American in 2004, leads the 49ers. He comes into this weekend averaging a nation's-best 14.01 assists per game while contributing 1.23 digs and 0.64 blocks. His precise setting allows Long Beach to hit .343, the fourth best percentage in the nation.

The 49er middles, Duncan Budinger and Teddy Liles are a big reason for the high percentage as they each hit .416. Opposite hitter Yassir Sliti, second on the team with a 3.70 kills per game average, is not far behind at .365. Robert Tarr is one of the nation's best outside hitters, averaging 4.97 kills per game while hitting .349.

Paul Munoz leads Long Beach in digs at 2.16 per game while Nathan Hagstrom is second with an average of 1.80. Hagstrom also leads the team in aces at 0.30 per game.

After BYU's four wins over the Beach in 2004, the all-time series between the teams is even at 12-12. The 49ers owned the series early, winning the first five and 12 of 17. The Cougars took control in 2002 and have now won seven consecutive, including three straight in the Fieldhouse.

BYU had one of its best weekends of the season against Hawai'i, sweeping the Warriors in both matches and showing a cast improvement in many areas. The Cougars posted season-high block totals with 17.0 on Friday and 18.0 on Saturday and were efficient on offense.

Rob Neilson, the Sports Imports/AVCA Division I-II Men's National Player of the Week, set career highs in blocks both nights against Hawai'i. On Friday, he had seven to surpass his previous mark and then posted nine to break that record. Peterson said he attributed the honor to Neilson's dedication and hard work.

"It's a great honor for him," Peterson said. "It indicates the work he's put in to get to where he is now. It indicates all the hard work he's put in lately. Hopefully it indicates how we're starting to play as a team as well."

Neilson was not the only one on with his blocking. Victor Batista had five and eight while Michael Burke set a career high on Friday with 11 and followed that up with six on Saturday.

Ivan Perez continued to play well after posting a career-high 24 kills against the University of the Pacific, recording 18 and 14 in the Hawai'i matches while hitting .418 (32-9-55).

The matches against Long Beach will end a four-match home stand for BYU. The Cougars will then play two at California State Northridge, April 1 and 2.

Friday's match can be seen on BYU-TV and KBYU-TV. To view the broadcast online, visit www.byutv.org/streaming/ or click here. Friday's match will also be broadcast on BYU radio. To listen, visit http://www.byuradio.org/ or click here. To follow the matches online, visit http://www.byucougars.com/ or click here.