MALIBU -- Despite losing the first set, the No. 6 BYU men’s volleyball team came back to claim a 3-1 road win (22-30, 30-21, 30-27, 30-26) over No. 2 Pepperdine as the regular season came to an end Friday night. Friday’s win marks the first for BYU at Pepperdine since the 2003 season, providing momentum as the Cougars prepare for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Men’s Volleyball Tournament next week.

With the win BYU secures a series split with Pepperdine and concludes the regular season with a 17-12, 13-9 MPSF record. The Cougars have recorded series splits with the nation’s first-, second- and fifth-ranked teams in each of the past three weekends.

“We feel great,” said BYU head coach Shawn Patchell. “This match tonight was very indicative of the toughness and resolve of our team. After losing a close one last night and getting embarrassed in the first set tonight, we came back to play the best we’ve played all season.”

Junior opposite Kent Tuttle led BYU with 22 kills on the night, while junior middle blocker Andrew Stewart racked up 18 kills with an impressive .500 hitting percentage. Redshirt freshman Futi Tavana also recorded double-digit kills with 11. He added a team-high six blocks.

The Cougars struggled offensively to start the first set with Tuttle recording a kill to stop an early 8-0 Pepperdine run. The Waves’ momentum continued on way to a 10-point advantage, yet Tuttle was able to close the gap to 13-7 with back-to-back service aces. BYU attack errors continued to mount, resulting in a .000 hitting percentage compared to Pepperdine’s .391. The Waves claimed the set 30-22.

A service ace by Yamil Perez gave BYU its first lead of the second set at 6-5. Several Pepperdine errors followed, as well as kills by Russell Lavaja and Tuttle, increasing the Cougar lead to six. BYU maintained a steady lead with kills from multiple Cougars including Kevin Sagers, Lavaja and Tuttle. Perez’s kill to put BYU up 24-19 marked the start of a 6-2 run to close the set. Both teams traded service errors on the final two points of the set, with the latter handing BYU the 30-21 win and tying the match at one-game-all. The Cougars hit an impressive .640 from the floor to go along with three service aces.

The service errors continued for both teams in the third set. After three consecutive miscues from the line, Stewart knocked down back-to-back kills, followed by another attack from Tuttle to give BYU a 12-6 advantage. The Waves fought and came back to tie the score 16-16, and again eight more times before Stewart’s two kills and service ace secured the 30-27 win.

Even play continued in the fourth set, with six tied scores before either team reached the halfway mark. A Pepperdine service error and Tuttle kill put the Cougars up 15-12, but the Waves matched them at 16-16 with two-time All-American Paul Carroll’s 24th kill of the night. Tavana and Sagers each added kills to give BYU a three-point advantage, while Tavana and Stewart combined for a block, bringing the score to 26-22. Pepperdine’s Carroll continued to put points on the board for his team, but the Cougar offense proved too much as a Tuttle kill clinched the set and overall win for BYU.

“The fact we can win at Pepperdine and at Stanford is huge,” said Patchell. “We’ll most likely be on the road for the first round of the conference tournament, but this is a huge confidence boost for a young team.”

The Cougars now return home to prepare for the first round of the MPSF Tournament on Saturday, April 25. As a sixth seed, BYU will go to No. 3 Cal State Northridge. The Matadors swept both matchups during the regular season.

Volleyball Box Score
                     Brigham Young Univ. Cougar VolleyBall
        #6 BYU Cougars vs #2 Pepperdine (Apr 17, 2009 at Malibu, Calif.)
   BYU Cougars            |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
5  LAVAJA, Russell.....  4|  8   3  17  .294|  1|  0   1|  0|  1| 1  3  2|  0
10 TAYLOR, Mat.........  1|  0   2   4 -.500|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
14 PEREZ, Yamil........  4|  1   0   3  .333| 60|  2   4|  0|  4| 0  2  0|  0
15 STEWART, Andrew.....  4| 18   4  28  .500|  1|  1   1|  2|  4| 0  3  0|  0
17 TAVANA, Futi........  4| 11   0  17  .647|  0|  0   2|  0|  1| 0  6  1|  0
23 DA PRON, Alex.......  2|  1   2   7 -.143|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
1  TUTTLE, Kent........  4| 22   5  36  .472|  0|  2   7|  0|  4| 0  3  1|  0
3  CHILTON, Reed.......  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
4  SILVA, Joel.........  4|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  1|  6| 0  0  0|  0
8  KAULIAKAMOA, Joe....  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
11 SAGERS, Kevin.......  4|  7   2  18  .278|  1|  2   6|  0|  8| 0  1  0|  0
18 HIAPO, BJ...........  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  4| 68  18 130  .385| 64|  8  23|  3| 28| 1 18  4|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 10.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  11 11  34  .000   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2  18  2  25  .640   BYU Cougars......... (3) 22 30 30 30  17-12, 13-9 MPSF
   3  20  3  36  .472   Pepperdine.......... (1) 30 21 27 26  20-4, 18-4 MPSF
   4  19  2  35  .486
   Pepperdine             |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1  JAYNES, Tyler.......  4|  4   1   8  .375|  1|  0   3|  0|  0| 0  5  2|  0
2  SANTOS, Rodnei......  4|  4   2   8  .250|  2|  1   2|  0|  1| 0  3  2|  0
5  RIECKS, Cory........  4| 12   4  26  .308|  1|  0   2|  4|  7| 0  2  0|  0
6  McKEE, Matt.........  4|  4   3  12  .083|  0|  1   1|  2|  1| 1  2  1|  0
10 CRIDER, Kasey.......  4|  0   0   1  .000| 52|  0   4|  0|  8| 0  0  1|  0
12 CARROLL, Paul.......  4| 31   7  51  .471|  0|  0   3|  0|  5| 0  3  0|  0
11 ROSS, Chase.........  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
14 GRUBBS, Sean........  4|  0   0   0  .000|  3|  0   0|  2|  6| 0  0  0|  0
15 PEDERSEN, Sean......  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   2|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
20 HULSE, Mark.........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
21 SCHIRRIPA, Brent....  3|  5   1   9  .444|  0|  0   1|  0|  5| 0  1  0|  0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  4| 60  18 115  .365| 59|  3  18|  8| 33| 1 16  6|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 9.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  13  4  23  .391   Site: Malibu, Calif. (Firestone Fieldhouse)
   2  11  4  21  .333   Date: Apr 17, 2009   Attend: 1310   Time: 1:58
   3  15  4  36  .306   Referees: Larry Shwartz, Scott Hogue
   4  21  6  35  .429

After splitting a pair of matches at then-No. 5 Stanford, the No. 6 BYU men’s volleyball team (16-11, 12-8 MPSF) goes to No. 2 Pepperdine (19-3, 17-3 MPSF) for two matches on Thursday and Friday nights. The visit marks the final two matches of the Cougars’ regular season.

The Cougars finished 1-1 against the the Cardinal last weekend, defeating it 3-2 on Friday before suffering a sweep on Saturday. With the loss Stanford now stands alone at No. 4 in the MPSF standings, while BYU is tied with USC at No. 5.

Pepperdine enters the weekend coming off a 3-0 loss at then-No. 2 UC Irvine, snapping a 10-match win streak.

Series Information

The Waves lead the series against BYU, 22-15 and 14-5 in Malibu. Pepperdine won the first six matches in the series, dating back to 1990, before the Cougars picked up their first win in 1993. Five of the last nine meetings between these two teams have resulted in sweeps. The Cougars swept the regular-season series played last year in Provo, before falling to the Waves in five sets in the MPSF championship match.

Match Coverage

The matches can be tracked and watched live online by visiting Pepperdine’s men’s volleyball schedule page at www.pepperdinesports.com. The video and stats can be launched by clicking on the respective links for the appropriate game on the schedule page.

Coming Off...Weekend Split With Stanford

BYU notched a five-set win (26-30, 33-31, 30-24, 26-30, 15-11) over the Cardinal Friday night, breaking the Stanford’s previous five-match win streak. The win also spoiled the Cardinal’s eight-match win streak against MPSF opponents as well as its 10-match undefeated record at Maples Pavilion, dating back to 2007. Team captain Andrew Stewart led the Cougars with 16 kills and 13 digs, marking his first double-double of the 2009 season and second of his career. Futi Tavana and Mat Taylor each contributed 13 kills apiece, with Russell Lavaja recording 10 blocks, both match- and career-highs. Tavana also recorded eight blocks, including a career-high three block solos.

Just one night later, BYU suffered a 3-0 sweep (30-24, 30-19, 30-19) courtesy of Stanford. With the loss the Cardinal now stands alone as the No. 4 team in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation standings with only one week in the regular season remaining. Middle blocker Futi Tavana led BYU with 15 kills, tying his previous career-high. The redshirt freshman was the lone Cougar with double-digit kills. As a team BYU was out-hit by only one kill (45-44) but the difference-maker was attack percentage, with Stanford leading .386 to .138.

Up Next

The Cougars prepare for the first round of the MPSF Tournament on April 22.

Last Year Against Pepperdine

March 7, 2008

In a renewed rivalry between top Mountain Pacific Sports Federation elites, the No. 2 BYU men’s volleyball team (15-1, 10-1) topped No. 5 Pepperdine (8-6, 8-6) in four sets (30-20, 30-25, 31-33, 30-26) at the Smith Fieldhouse to remain atop the MPSF standings.

For only the second time this season five Cougar hitters tallied 10 or more kills. Ivan Perez led the way with 19 kills and a .343 attack percentage. He was followed by Jonathan Charette with 16, Russell Holmes and Andrew Stewart with 13 apiece, and Trent Sorensen with 12. As a team BYU hit .379 and kept Pepperdine to .269. The Cougars have yet to allow an opponent to hit .300 against them this season.

March 8, 2008

For only the first time since the 1999 championship season, the No. 2 BYU men’s volleyball team (16-1, 11-1) swept No. 5 Pepperdine (8-7, 8-7) in three sets (30-28, 30-23, 30-26) and completed a weekend sweep of the Waves for the first time since the 2004 championship season.

As is per usual with the current Cougar squad, the seniors led the charge against Pepperdine. Ivan Perez had 13 kills and five blocks to lead the Cougars, and Jonathan Charette followed with 11 kills of his own. Russell Holmes tallied nine kills and five blocks, and Trent Sorensen had eight kills and three blocks. As a team, BYU hit .348 with sophomore Reed Chilton at setter and recorded nine total team blocks.

April 26, 2008

The BYU men’s volleyball team (25-5) fell to Pepperdine (16-10) in a 2-3 loss (30-28, 30-28, 30-32, 27-30, 8-15) in the championship match of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, Calif.

The fifth-set loss is the first the team has suffered this season after going 5-0 in the fifth set during the regular season. The Cougars fall to 18-12 all-time in MPSF Tournament play and 3-2 in Tournament Championship matches.

Senior All-MPSF First Team honorees Ivan Perez and Jonathan Charette were named to the All-Tournament team. Perez tallied his team-leading 10th double-double of the season with 20 kills and 12 digs. Charette also had 20 kills, and senior Russell Holmes had 13 kills and five blocks on the night.