Errors Prove Costly in Championship Rematch

PROVO -- The Long Beach State 49ers got the best of BYU in a rematch of the 2004 National Championship match, sweeping the Cougars (38-40, 25-30, 27-30) Friday night in the Smith Fieldhouse. The teams are now tied at 9-6 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation standings while BYU fell to 14-8 overall and the 49ers improved to 15-7.

The Cougars struggled all night with errors at inopportune times, missing serves and hitting the ball into the net. BYU coach Tom Peterson said this match was evidence that his team is still not where it needs to be.

"We're doing things that good teams don't do at the end of the season," Peterson said. "It just means we're not where we have to be to be for the playoffs."

Ivan Perez led the Cougars with 22 kills while Michael Burke had 12. Brian Rowley led the BYU defensive effort with 10 digs as Perez recorded a team-high five blocks. Rob Neilson directed the Cougar offense with 50 assists, setting the team to a .339 (62-21-121) hitting percentage.

All-American setter Tyler Hildebrand led Long Beach State to a .415 (56-12-106) hitting percentage and had 53 assists. Three 49ers finished with double-figure kills, Yassir Sliti leading with 16, Robert next with 15 and Duncan Budinger adding 12. Teddy Liles had six blocks, a match high.

Despite hitting .500 (26-5-42) and getting 11 kills from Perez, BYU was unable to gut out a win in game one. The Cougars trailed for practically the whole game as Perez kept his team alive with timely kills to keep the score close. BYU pulled things together down 27-28, scoring two-in-a-row on a 49er hitting error and a Burke kill to go up 29-28 and have its first of seven game points. Long Beach was up to the task, matching the Cougars point for point and having three match points of its own until a Victor Batista hitting error sealed the win for the 49ers at 40-38. It was BYU's longest game of the season. Burke added seven kills and just one error on nine swings (.667). Sliti led Long Beach with nine kills while Budinger added six.

With the momentum gained at the end of an intense first game, Long Beach controlled the second from the opening serve. The 49ers served the Cougars out of rhythm and jumped out to a 6-0 lead. BYU managed a run, outscoring Long Beach 11-6 to cut the lead to 12-11. The run was short lived as the 49ers scored five of the next six to get back in the driver's seat and stay in control the rest of the way, winning the game 30-25. The Cougars managed to hit just .167 (16-10-36) while Long Beach hit .360 (13-4-25) and had 5.5 team blocks. Tarr had a perfect game for the 49ers, connecting on five kills on five attempts.

BYU appeared collected in the third, coming back from an early 2-4 deficit to go ahead 8-6 on back-to-back kills by Batista. The 49ers were able to fight back, tying the game at 11 and eventually taking the lead at 21-20. The Cougars again fought back, tying the score at 23 before Batista served three-straight points, two of which were service aces. It was not enough though, as BYU would score only once more and Long Beach State won 30-27. Perez had six kills to lead the Cougars and Tarr and Sliti had six apiece for the 49ers.

Peterson said he feels his players will come out much more aggressive and play with more purpose.

"It's almost like we were scared tonight, and I don't say that too often," he said. "I think we will be very aggressive tomorrow. You will see a different team."

BYU will try to even the score with Long Beach Saturday night at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                     Brigham Young University - Volleyball
    #7 Long Beach State vs #4 Brigham Young (Mar 25, 2005 at Provo UT 84602)
    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...  3|  1   0   2  .500| 53|  1   0|  0|  4| 0  2  1|  0|   3.0
 8  HAGSTROM, Nathan....  3|  3   3   9  .000|  0|  0   2|  1|  8| 0  1  0|  0|   3.5
 13 LILES, Teddy........  3|  9   1  14  .571|  0|  0   1|  0|  2| 2  4  0|  0|  13.0
 14 SLITI, Yassir.......  3| 16   4  37  .324|  0|  0   3|  0|  1| 0  3  0|  0|  17.5
 17 BUDINGER, Duncan....  3| 12   1  17  .647|  0|  1   1|  0|  1| 0  2  0|  0|  14.0
 24 TARR, Robert........  3| 15   3  27  .444|  0|  1   3|  2|  4| 1  2  2|  0|  18.0
 1  CALDWELL, Tyler.....  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 20 MUNOZ, Paul.........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   0|  0| 11| 0  0  0|  2|   0.0
 22 CAPE, Kevin.........  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 56  12 106  .415| 55|  3  10|  3| 31| 3 14  3|  2|  69.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 10.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  24  6  46  .391   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  13  4  25  .360   Long Beach State.... (3) 40 30 30  15-7; 9-6 MPFS
   3  19  2  35  .486   Brigham Young....... (0) 38 25 27  14-8; 9-6 MPFS
    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......  3| 12   3  21  .429|  0|  0   1|  0|  3| 0  4  1|  0|  14.0
 8  PEREZ, Ivan.........  3| 22   6  41  .390|  0|  0   3|  0|  6| 0  5  1|  0|  24.5
 9  PATTERSON, Casey....  3|  7   3  17  .235|  3|  1   4|  1|  5| 0  1  1|  1|   8.5
 14 NEILSON, Rob........  3|  5   2   9  .333| 50|  0   3|  0|  3| 0  2  1|  0|   6.0
 15 BATISTA, Victor.....  3|  8   3  17  .294|  0|  2   4|  0|  1| 0  3  1|  0|  11.5
 17 EVANS, Taylor.......  3|  8   4  16  .250|  1|  0   4|  0|  3| 1  1  0|  0|   9.5
 6  HEYES, Matt.........  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 7  ROWLEY, Brian.......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  3|  0   0|  2| 10| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 11 HOLMES, Russell.....  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 62  21 121  .339| 57|  3  19|  3| 31| 1 16  5|  1|  74.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 9.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  26  5  42  .500   Site: Provo UT 84602 (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  16 10  36  .167   Date: Mar 25, 2005   Attend: 2948   Time: 2h
   3  20  6  43  .326   Referees: TOM GIVEN, LES CALLES, MAETANI