PROVO -- With four matches left in the regular season, No. 3 BYU matched its win total from the 2006 season with a 30-26, 30-28, 30-22 sweep over No. 9 Long Beach State.

The Cougars (18-5, 14-4 MPSF) need just two wins in its next four to reach the 20-win plateau for the seventh time since the 1999 season. BYU's balanced attach was led by Yosleyder Cala's 12 kills. Ivan Perez knocked down 11 kills in 15 swings with no errors to hit .733. Perez also led the team with two service aces, four digs and six block assists.

"Our guys are showing that they know how to win," co-head coach Ryan Millar said. "It's encouraging to see them improve still late in the season. We played better tonight than we did last night."

BYU jumped to an early lead in the first set, going on a 5-1 run to build a 12-7 lead. The Cougars were helped out by a pair of attack errors by Long Beach State. The 49ers answered with a 4-0 spurt to tie the game at 14. After the two teams traded side outs for much of the middle of the first set, Long Beach State picked up two-point lead on a combo block to go ahead, 22-20.

BYU came fighting back. The Cougars tied the game at 25 on a Cala kill and took a 27-26 lead when Sorensen buried an over-pass. BYU took care of the final three points, winning the set with a stiff triple block from Sorensen, Cala and Yamil Perez.

In the tightly contested second set neither team built larger than a two-point lead. The Cougars held a 6-4 advantage before Long Beach scored consecutive points on three separate occasions to take a 15-13 lead. BYU began to use two-point spurts to tilt the see-saw in its direction. The Cougars re-gained a two-point advantage at 25-23 on a Sorensen/Cala combo block. BYU held on to its lead with Ivan Perez putting down his ninth kill to win the game.

"We were trying to get our guys fired up after the second set," Millar said. "It took awhile, but we finished strong."

The 49ers came out on fire in the third game, jumping to a 7-3 lead on back-to-back blocks. The Cougars responded with a 6-2 run to tie the game at 9 with an Ivan Perez service ace. BYU kept the pressure on, pushing to a game-high, three-point lead at 16-13 on a Cala ace. The Cougars pushed on to a 20-16 lead when another Perez serve found the floor. Holding a 22-21 advantage, the BYU block party started and ended with the Cougars scoring seven-consecutive points to open a 29-21 advantage. Two points later, Perez knocked down a kill to put the match away.

"Long Beach is a good team," Millar said. "They are rebuilding this season, but they are always dangerous."

The Cougars will finish their regular season home schedule next weekend when they welcome UC San Diego to the Smith Fieldhouse on Friday and Saturday. BYU will finish its regular season on the road at Pacific the following weekend. Both matches will start at 7 p.m. (MDT)

Volleyball Box Score
#9 LBSU 49'ers vs #3 BYU Cougars (Mar 30, 2007 at Provo, Utah)
    LBSU 49'ers            |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  Lotman, Paul........  3| 15   5  26  .385|  2|  1   4|  2|  6| 0  2  0|  0
 13 Liles, Teddy........  3|  4   6  12 -.167|  0|  0   4|  0|  1| 1  5  0|  0
 14 Fabry, Daniel.......  3|  7   7  18  .000|  1|  0   3|  0|  2| 0  1  0|  0
 17 Eaton, Connor.......  3|  1   0   3  .333| 35|  0   1|  0|  2| 0  2  1|  0
 18 Bittner, Dean.......  3|  7   7  17  .000|  0|  1   0|  0|  2| 1  2  0|  0
 23 Alexander, Dan......  3|  7   2  14  .357|  0|  0   5|  0|  1| 0  2  1|  0
 1  Caldwell, Tyler.....  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 3  Watten, Dustin......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  2|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 4  Schlesinger, Adam...  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 12 Pestolesi, Tommy....  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 15 Christensen, Gavin..  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 41  27  90  .156| 39|  2  17|  4| 15| 2 14  2|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 9.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  14 10  32  .125   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  17  7  32  .312   LBSU 49'ers......... (0) 26 28 22  11-13,6-12 MPSF
   3  10 10  26  .000   BYU Cougars......... (3) 30 30 30  18-5,14-4 MPSF
    BYU Cougars            |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  CALA, Yosleyder.....  3| 12   3  19  .474|  0|  1   3|  0|  1| 0  2  0|  0
 7  SORENSEN, Trent.....  3|  3   2   7  .143|  0|  1   2|  0|  1| 1  2  1|  0
 8  PEREZ, Ivan.........  3| 11   0  15  .733|  0|  2   3|  1|  4| 0  6  1|  0
 11 HOLMES, Russell.....  3|  5   1   7  .571|  0|  0   3|  0|  1| 0  5  1|  0
 13 STOWELL, Robby......  3|  9   8  20  .050|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  4  0|  0
 14 PEREZ, Yamil........  3|  1   0   2  .500| 38|  0   5|  0|  3| 0  2  1|  0
 2  SANTOS, Rodnei......  1|  0   2   3 -.667|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  3  0|  0
 5  COX, Scott..........  3|  0   0   3  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 6  SILVA, Joel.........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  1|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 17 STEWART, Andrew.....  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 41  16  76  .329| 38|  4  16|  2| 14| 1 24  4|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 13.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  15  7  29  .276   Site: Provo, Utah (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  17  2  26  .577   Date: Mar 30, 2007   Attend: 2259   Time: 1H 45M
   3   9  7  21  .095   Referees: Bert Fuller, Tom Given

PROVO -- Postseason seeding will be at stake this weekend as No. 3 BYU welcomes No. 9 Long Beach State to the Smith Fieldhouse for a pair of matches on Thursday and Friday evenings. Both matches start at 7 p.m.

The Cougars (16-5, 12-4 MPSF) are currently a game and a half behind second place UC Irvine for the second seed. BYU holds the tie-breaker over UCI by virtue of the total number of games won in the head-to-head matches.

The Cougars will be playing their first matches at home since Feb. 23 and 24. BYU has a 7-1 home record this season. The Cougars have played 13 of their last 17 games on the road.

"It's nice to be back home," BYU co-head coach Ryan Millar said. "It feels like we haven't been home for a long time."

Long Beach comes into the match having lost two in a row, including a five-set heartbreaker against No. 1 Pepperdine. The 49ers have won three in a row against BYU. Long Beach State eliminated the Cougars from the MPSF Tournament.

"These matches will definitely not be easy," Millar said. "Long Beach is a great team. Our guys will be ready and hopefully we can pick up another couple of wins."

Thursday evening's match will be televised by BYU-TV and KBYU.