LONG BEACH -- BYU's season ended Saturday as the Cougars fell 3-1 (21-30, 23-30, 30-25, 25-30) to Long Beach State in the quarterfinals of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament. BYU ends its season at 18-9 overall and 14-8 in the MPSF while the 49ers advance to the MPSF semifinals against UC Irvine.

"It's not how we wanted to end the season," BYU coach Tom Peterson said. "We played a very good team that is excellent at their place. They did the things they needed to do to beat us, namely ball control. Congratulations to them. They are well coached."

The Cougars trailed 2-0 in the match but seemed to gain some life in game three, which they won 30-25. Long Beach took the momentum right back, however, taking a big lead early in game four and winning 30-25 to seal the victory.

Yosleyder Cala led BYU with 20 kills and two aces, Russell Holmes added seven kills and a match-high nine blocks and Ivan Perez had nine kills and seven digs. The Cougars hit .184 (50-29-114) as a team and had 20 digs and 10.0 blocks.

Norm Hutton had a career and match-high 26 kills for Long Beach while Robert Tarr added 12 and Teddy Liles had eight blocks. Tyler Hildebrand had five kills, seven digs, four blocks and 43 aces while setting the 49ers to a .396 (61-19-106) hitting percentage. Long Beach had 27 digs and 15.5 team blocks.

Long Beach used hot hitting and strong serving to take game one, 30-21. The 49ers hit .739 (17-0-23) for the game and forced several bad BYU passes to keep the Cougars out of system. Trailing 19-11, BYU scored four-straight points, two on Holmes aces, to cut the lead to four but Long Beach came right back and closed out the game with an 11-6 run. Cala had five kills and the Cougars hit .194 (13-7-31) as a team in the first game.

Game two was a see-saw battle throughout the first half as the score was tied 11 times, the last at 18. BYU trailed 17-16 but then scored two points on kills by Cala and Perez to give the Cougars an 18-17 lead. That was BYU's last lead as the 49ers stormed to a 30-23 win by outscoring the Cougars 13-5 the rest of the way. Tarr had four kills during the run and Hutton scored Long Beach's last two points to give his team the victory.

BYU stayed alive with a 30-25 win in game three. The game was tied at eight when the Cougars score four-straight points to take the lead for good. BYU took a 19-12 lead on a 5-1 run and its biggest lead was eight at 27-19. Long Beach would not go away, though, cutting the lead to three at 28-25, but the Cougars put the game away on back-to-back kills by Cala. BYU had 6.0 team blocks and hit .290 (15-6-31) in game three. Cala led the way with seven kills.

The 49ers closed out the match with a 30-25 win in game four. Long Beach appeared to have the game locked up, leading 29-20, before the Cougars ran off five-consecutive points. The rally was not enough as Liles recorded the match-winning kill. With the score tied at 6-6, the 49ers scored five points in a row and led the rest of the way. Long Beach out-hit BYU .455 (14-4-22) to .087 (11-9-23) in the decisive game.

"I'm very proud of our team," Peterson said. "This isn't what we wanted but I saw our players develop both as volleyball players and as people throughout the season. This is a great group of guys."

With an 18-9 record, BYU ends a run of five-consecutive 20-win seasons. The Cougars will return several key players in 2007 but lose the services of seniors Victor Batista, Rob Neilson, Taylor Evans, Brian Rowley and Josh Brecheisen.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                     Brigham Young University - Volleyball
    #5 BYU Cougars vs #3 Long Beach State (Apr 22, 2006 at Long Beach State)
    BYU Cougars            |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  CALA, Yosleyder.....  4| 20   8  41  .293|  0|  2   5|  2|  5| 0  1  1|  0|  22.5
 8  PEREZ, Ivan.........  4|  9   7  20  .100|  0|  1   1|  0|  7| 0  2  1|  0|  11.0
 11 HOLMES, Russell.....  4|  7   1  16  .375|  0|  2   5|  0|  1| 0  9  0|  0|  13.5
 14 NEILSON, Rob........  4|  0   1   1-1.000| 43|  0   3|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 15 BATISTA, Victor.....  4|  6   3  11  .273|  0|  1   2|  0|  1| 0  0  1|  0|   7.0
 17 EVANS, Taylor.......  4|  1   5   9 -.444|  0|  0   3|  0|  1| 0  1  0|  0|   1.5
 3  CHARETTE, Jonathan..  4|  5   4  12  .083|  0|  0   2|  0|  1| 0  6  0|  0|   8.0
 5  CONGELLIERE, Brian..  1|  0   0   0  .000|  3|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 7  ROWLEY, Brian.......  4|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  1|  4| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 18 GOMES, Rodrigo......  4|  2   0   4  .500|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0|   2.0
 19 SORENSEN, Trent.....  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0|   0.5
    TEAM................   |                 |   |       |  1|   |        |   |   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 50  29 114  .184| 47|  6  21|  4| 22| 0 20  3|  0|  66.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 10.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  13  7  31  .194   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2  11  7  29  .138   BYU Cougars......... (1) 21 23 30 25  18-9
   3  15  6  31  .290   Long Beach State.... (3) 30 30 25 30  22-9
   4  11  9  23  .087
    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
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  Lotman, Paul........  4|  7   2  11  .455|  0|  1   3|  2|  5| 0  4  1|  0|  10.0
 5  Hildebrand, Tyler...  4|  5   1   7  .571| 43|  0   0|  0|  7| 0  4  2|  0|   7.0
 9  Hutton, Norm........  4| 26   5  37  .568|  0|  1   5|  0|  2| 1  3  1|  0|  29.5
 13 Liles, Teddy........  4|  8   1  12  .583|  0|  0   3|  0|  1| 0  8  0|  0|  12.0
 17 Budinger, Duncan....  4|  3   2  11  .091|  2|  1   4|  0|  0| 0  5  1|  0|   6.5
 24 Tarr, Robert........  4| 12   8  28  .143|  2|  0   6|  3|  3| 0  4  0|  0|  14.0
 1  Caldwell, Tyler.....  4|  0   0   0  .000|  5|  0   0|  1|  8| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 3  Watten, Dustin......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 6  Valdez, Francisco...  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   1|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 10 Shea, Luke..........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  1|  0|   0.0
 14 Fabry, Daniel.......  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0|   0.5
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 61  19 106  .396| 52|  4  22|  6| 27| 1 29  6|  0|  80.5
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 15.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  17  0  23  .739   Site: Long Beach State (Walter Pyramid)
   2  15  7  27  .296   Date: Apr 22, 2006   Attend: 1441   Time: 1:53
   3  15  8  34  .206   Referees: Tony Chan, Scott Hogue
   4  14  4  22  .455   Triple blocks: Long Beach State 3, BYU 2
                        MPSF Quarterfinals

COUGARS TO PLAY AT LONG BEACH FOR MPSF QUARTERFINALS

With the regular season in the books, the Cougars will head to Long Beach State to play the 49ers in a quarterfinal match of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament, Saturday, April 22 in the Walter Pyramid. BYU concluded the regular season at 18-8 overall and 14-8 in the MPSF while Long Beach finished 21-9 overall and 14-8 in league play.

"It's do or die," BYU coach Tom Peterson said. "The Fieldhouse was good for us this season but playing on the road hasn't been. We need to get back on track. We ended the season playing two tough teams and we didn't play good enough to win. We have the ability to rise to the occasion so we think we have a shot at it. We cannot let anything bother us. We just need to play our game."

The Cougars and 49ers finished the regular season going in different directions. BYU dropped its last four matches while Long Beach won its last four to tie the Cougars for fourth in the MPSF. Both teams' streaks started when the 49ers defeated BYU twice in Long Beach, April 6 and 7.

The 49ers currently own a 15-13 advantage in the league series, including an 8-5 edge in Long Beach.The Cougars have won the last three postseason meetings between the schools, including the 2004 NCAA and MPSF Tournament Championship matches and the 1999 NCAA Championship match. Prior to those matches, Long Beach was 2-0 against BYU in postseason play, earning victories in the 1994 and 1998 MPSF tournaments.

Peterson said his team needs to stay in system to defeat Long Beach.

"We have to be able to serve and serve receive with them," he said. "They have a few guys that can really blast the ball on the serve. We have the arms offensively to be good so if we can pass well, we'll be okay."

Robert Tarr leads Long Beach by averaging 4.98 kills per game and Duncan Budinger is second, averaging 3.75 kills. Tarr and Tyler Hildebrand were first-team All-Americans last season while Budinger was a second-team All-American in 2005.

Yosleyder Cala leads BYU by averaging 3.95 kills per game and Ivan Perez is second at 3.73. Russell Holmes has a team-best .459 hitting percentage and leads the Cougars in blocks per game at 1.46.

The winner of the match will advance to the MPSF semifinals in Irvine, Calif. and play No. 1 seed UC Irvine.

MATCH NOTES

MPSF QUARTERFINALS: NO. 5 BYU (18-8, 14-8 MPSF) at NO. 3 LONG BEACH STATE (21-9, 14-8 MPSF)

Saturday, April 22, 2006 - 7 p.m. PT

The Walter Pyramid (5,000) - Long Beach, California

Coaches: BYU, Tom Peterson (at BYU: 90-29 in fourth year, career: 342-159)

Long Beach, Alan Knipe (at Long Beach: 119-64 in sixth year, career: same)

Series: Long Beach leads 15-13, including two wins in Long Beach this season

TV: None

Radio: Visit www.longbeachstate.com to access a live broadcasts

LAST MATCHES - BYU vs. Hawai`i

BYU dropped two matches to Hawai`i, April 14 and 15, and is now 18-8 overall and 14-8 in the MPSF heading into the postseason conference tournament. The Cougars ran into the perfect storm in the first match as Hawai`i was on fire and BYU struggled. The match ended with the Warriors winning 3-0 (30-14, 30-21, 30-21). Russell Holmes had six kills and three blocks and hit .500. Hawai`i had three players record double-digit kill totals, led by Jose Delgado, who had 14. The Cougars were much improved Saturday, taking game one, 30-27, before dropping the next two. BYU won game four, 30-26, but then dropped the fifth, 15-12. The Cougars out-hit the Warriors .321 to .286 and also had more digs, 50-40. Yosleyder Cala had 21 kills, nine digs and six aces to lead BYU.

THE POLLS

BYU fell to No. 5 in the CSTV/AVCA Division I-II Men's Coaches Top 15 Poll after back-to-back losses to No. 2 Hawai`i. The Cougars were previously No. 4 and prior to that, held the second spot in the AVCA poll four-consecutive weeks. Prior to the No. 2 ranking, BYU held the top spot for four-straight weeks, starting Feb. 13 after two wins over USC, but fell to second after two five-game losses to current No. 1 UC Irvine.

A LOOK AT LONG BEACH

Long Beach State has won its last four matches and is 21-9 overall and 14-8 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The 49ers are tied with BYU at fourth in the MPSF but own the tie breaker, having won the two matches between the teams this season. Long Beach's win streak started with two wins over the Cougars and then defeated Pacific and Stanford to clinch the fourth seed in the postseason tournament. Robert Tarr leads Long Beach by averaging 4.98 kills per game and Duncan Budinger is second, averaging 3.75 kills. Tarr and Tyler Hildebrand were first-team All-Americans last season while Budinger was a second-team All-American in 2005.

LAST TIME VS. LONG BEACH

BYU dropped two matches to Long Beach State earlier this season on April 6 and 7. The Cougars jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first match with 31-29 and 30-26 wins in games one and two. BYU then went flat, falling 30-26 and 30-22, in games three and four. The Cougars led 8-7 in game five but then fell behind 11-9 and could not recover as the 49ers went on to win 15-13. Yosleyder Cala had 19 kills and five blocks while Russell Holmes had 11 kills and nine blocks. BYU won game one 31-29 the second night but then Long Beach came back and won the next three games to win 3-1. Victor Batista led the Cougars with 14 kills and five blocks.

SERIES NOTES VS. LONG BEACH

The Cougars and 49ers will meet for the 29th time in the history of the series when they square off in the MPSF Tournament quarterfinals in The Walter Pyramid. Long Beach leads the series, 15-13 and owns an 8-5 advantage at home. The teams split two matches in Provo last season but the Cougars defeated the 49ers four times in 2004, including wins in the MPSF championship match and the NCAA championship match. Those four wins capped a seven-match win streak for BYU over Long Beach. The 49ers won seven of the first eight meetings in the series.