PROVO -- The third-ranked Cougars teamed up for a 30-27, 30-25, 25-30, 30-27 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation win over fourth-ranked Long Beach State Friday in the Smith Fieldhouse. The win ups the BYU record to 17-5 (15-4 MPSF) on the season, while Long Beach falls to 15-9 (9-8 MPSF) on the year.

BYU hit over .450 in two games and out-blocked the 49ers 16.0 to 7.0 with three players recording double-digit kills in the match.

"We saw more guys tonight from us," BYU head coach Tom Peterson said. "We are getting more comfortable with just knowing that everyone is going to contribute. Our guys did a very nice job tonight, especially those coming off the bench."

Rafael Paal led the team with 17 kills and a .400 attack percentage, while Michael Burke added 13 kills (.455) and a match-high seven blocks. Joe Hillman came off the bench to replace a struggling Jonathan Alleman and did well with a .750 hitting percentage.

BYU started off behind in the first game but made a 6-2 run to tie the score at 14 and took it from there. Both Burke and Paal hit over .700 with at least five kills each to lead the Cougars to the 30-27 win.

The most amazing play of the match happened when setter Carlos Moreno saved a ball from going into the crowd by kicking it backwards over 50 feet across the net to the 49ers, only for their return attempt to be blocked by Jonathan Alleman and Chris Gorny for the BYU point.

"I was running towards the crowd and I knew I couldn't reach it with my hands," Moreno said, "so I did what was natural to me and I kicked it."

Moreno's unconventional save got the crowd roaring and the Cougars rolling to win the second game 30-25 as they out-hit the 49ers .333 to .194 and controlled the net with 5.5 blocks while Long Beach had none.

A .455 attack percent wasn't enough for BYU to outlast Long Beach's .533 attack percent in the third game. The 49ers took the momentum away and the Cougars struggled defensively with digs, losing the third game 25-30.

In the fourth game, both teams struggled with an even .194 team attack, but BYU had the edge with less errors and a strong team effort to win the game and the match.

For the 49ers, Scott Touzinsky registered a match-high 28 kills while hitting .352, and David Lee and Robert Tarr each recorded double-digit kills with 14 and 11, respectively.

BYU and Long Beach will compete again Saturday, March 29 at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse.

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                              Volleyball Box Score
                        2003 BYU Men's Volleyball Stats
    No.4 Long Beach St vs Brigham Young (Mar 28, 2003 at Brigham Young Univ)
    No.4 Long Beach St     |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  WOOTTON, Jeff.......  3|  1   3   6 -.333|  0|  0   4|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 5  HILDEBRAND, Tyler...  4|  0   2   2-1.000| 63|  1   2|  0|  5| 0  2  0|  0
 9  TOUZINSKY, Scott....  4| 28   9  54  .352|  0|  0   1|  0|  4| 0  2  1|  0
 17 BUDINGER, Duncan....  2|  6   0  10  .600|  0|  0   1|  0|  2| 0  1  0|  0
 21 LEE, David..........  4| 14   2  25  .480|  0|  0   3|  0|  2| 1  1  1|  0
 24 TARR, Robert........  4| 11   8  22  .136|  0|  0   3|  0|  5| 0  2  0|  0
 4  COE, Clint..........  4|  3   4  12 -.083|  0|  0   4|  1|  4| 0  0  0|  0
 11 KIJEWSKI, Robert....  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 14 SLITI, Yassir.......  2|  5   0   5 1.000|  0|  0   4|  0|  0| 0  4  1|  0
 16 MEINE, Matt.........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 20 MUNOZ, Paul.........  4|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  2|  6| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 68  28 136  .294| 64|  1  23|  3| 32| 1 12  3|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 7.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  17  7  34  .294   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2  15  8  36  .194   No.4 Long Beach St.. 27 25 30 27  15-9, 9-8 MPSF
   3  20  4  30  .533   Brigham Young....... 30 30 25 30  17-5, 15-4 MPSF
   4  16  9  36  .194
    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| 13   3  22  .455|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  7  0|  0
 5  MORENO, Carlos......  4|  4   1  10  .300| 49|  0   4|  0|  5| 1  3  0|  0
 7  MAYOL, Jaime........  4| 12   2  26  .385|  0|  0   2|  0|  3| 0  4  0|  0
 8  HYTE, David.........  1|  2   1   4  .250|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  2  0|  0
 9  PAAL, Rafael........  4| 17   5  30  .400|  3|  2   2|  0|  4| 1  2  1|  1
 12 ALLEMAN, Jonathan...  4|  5   6  15 -.067|  1|  0   4|  0|  4| 0  6  0|  0
 1  PATTERSON, Casey....  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 4  HILLMAN, Joe........  3|  3   0   4  .750|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 6  GORNY, Chris........  3|  5   1   9  .444|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  4  0|  0
 15 OLMSTEAD, Shawn.....  2|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   0|  1|  4| 0  0  0|  0
 17 PESSOA, Fernando....  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  6| 0  0  0|  0
 18 SLABE, Luka.........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   1|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 61  19 120  .350| 55|  3  15|  1| 30| 2 28  1|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 16.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  17  3  29  .483   Site: Brigham Young Univ (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  17  6  33  .333   Date: Mar 28, 2003   Attend: 2247   Time: 2:15
   3  13  3  22  .455   Referees: LES CALLES, JOHN ASHMAN, TRENT MANO
   4  14  7  36  .194

PROVO -- The Cougars are set to play their last two regular-season home matches this weekend, March 28 and 29, against Mountain Pacific Sports Federation rival Long Beach State. These could prove to be two of the biggest home matches of the year for BYU in its second top-five matchup of the season.

Third ranked BYU (16-5, 14-4 MPSF) split a pair of matches last weekend with No. 7 Cal State Northridge, while fourth-ranked Long Beach State 15-8, 9-7 MPSF) is coming off a win over USC and a loss to top-ranked Pepperdine. Both teams have won seven of their last nine contests. In the series, Long Beach leads 12-6 since 1990, but the teams have split their last ten matches.

"We're ranked third and Long Beach is the fourth-ranked team," BYU head coach Tom Peterson said. "These are just great matches coming up. We're going to need a huge crowd and we're going to need our seniors to have good matches. We'll need everything we've got to win these last two home matches."

Three seniors on the BYU team will be playing their last regular-season matches in the Smith Fieldhouse this weekend. A brief ceremony will be held before the start of Saturday's match to honor Luka Slabe, Jaime Mayol and Rafael Paal. Each has different feelings about playing their last matches in the Smith Fieldhouse, but they all have the common goal of winning and making it to the championships.

"It all happened too fast." Slabe said. "I'm going to step up and play hard to beat Long Beach both nights. We want to have a good seed in the conference tournament, and we can't afford any losses. We want to win and go to the final four."

Both Slabe and Mayol were members of the 2001 team that won the National Championship.

"Our seniors have gone through a lot," Peterson said. "I want to honor them and make it special for them. We'll have to win this weekend for them, for us, for the whole team. We have to win to maintain anything we have. These are huge matches."

BYU is already guaranteed an MPSF Tournament berth, but it is in close competition with the rest of the top five teams to host the tournament. With No. 4 Long Beach this weekend and two matches at top-ranked Pepperdine in April to close out the season, the Cougars face some crucial competition and will have to give everything they've got to stay on top.

Both matches against Long Beach will be held at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse. Friday night BYU's Black Student Union will perform at halftime, and Saturday night the seniors will be recognized just before the match and the BYU Breakdance Club will perform between games two and three. Tickets can be purchased at the door up to 90 minutes before game time or in advance at the Marriott Center Ticket Office.