BYU Gets First Postseason Win Since 2004

PROVO -- After taking an early exit from the postseason the past two seasons, No. 2 BYU coasted to a 30-26, 30-28, 30-26 sweep over No. 7 Cal-State Northridge in the MPSF quarterfinals.

The Cougars improve to 23-5 on the season with the victory while the Matadors finish their season with an 18-15 record.

"The guys were picking each other up tonight," co-head coach Ryan Millar said. "They showed a lot of heart tonight."

Yosleyder Cala led the way for BYU, knocking down 16 kills while hitting .464 (16-3-28). Robby Stowell added 14 kills while hitting at a .360 clip. The Cougars hit .370 as a team while CSUN hit .221. Eric Vance and Dan Rhodes led the Matadors with 15 kills apiece.

BYU got out to a quick start in the first set, jumping out to a 6-1 lead courtesy of a pair of Cougar service aces and early attack errors by the Matadors. CSUN responded, going on a 5-1 capped by an ace by Sean Pedersen to cut the Cougars lead to 10-8. BYU responded with a 5-1 run of its own as the Cougars pulled ahead. Northridge never led in the first set as BYU hit .333 while the Matadors swung at a .189 clip. Cala led the Cougars with eight kills in the opening game while Eric Vance had six for CSUN.

After jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the second set, BYU held on to the lead throughout as the two teams traded side outs. With the Cougars holding to a 16-13 lead, Northridge went on a 6-1 run to take its first lead of the match at 17-16. The Matadors extended their lead to three at 25-22 on a BYU blocking error. The Cougars responded with a 4-1 run capped by a Yamil Perez ace to tie the set at 26. After tying the game, BYU added two points on a Northridge hitting error and a second Perez ace. The Cougars were then able to trade side outs to hold on to the set with a Cala kill capping the game.

In the third set BYU got off to another quick start, jumping to an 11-5 lead. The Matadors fought back, going on a 9-4 run to cut the Cougars' lead to one and forcing a BYU timeout.

"We needed a timeout to regroup," co-head coach Shawn Patchell said. "We needed to get the energy back. The team really came together."

BYU came back with a 6-1 run to build a comfortable 21-15 advantage. The six-point advantage was won that the Cougars wouldn't relinquish. BYU held on to finish the match after CSUN made a small run.

The Cougars will now travel to Malibu, Calif. next Thursday to play in the semifinals against third-seeded UC Irvine. The match will start upon conclusion of the first semifinal match at approximately 8 p.m. (PDT)

The Automated ScoreBook
#7 Cal State Northridge vs #2 BYU Cougars (Apr 21, 2007 at Provo, Utah)
    Cal State Northridge   |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  Pedersen, Sean......  3|  1   1   5  .000| 39|  1   5|  0|  7| 0  2  0|  0
 3  Lischer, James......  3|  8   0  15  .533|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 2  2  1|  0
 5  Waite, Kyle.........  2|  2   1   4  .250|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 1  1  0|  0
 7  Rhodes, Dan.........  3| 15  10  34  .147|  1|  3   2|  3|  6| 0  0  0|  0
 11 Gaudino, Mike.......  3|  0   1   4 -.250|  0|  0   3|  2|  1| 1  1  0|  0
 14 Vance, Eric.........  3| 15   5  38  .263|  0|  0   5|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 1  Kneubuhl, Isaac.....  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  2|  6| 0  0  0|  0
 6  Carter, Sean........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 10 McKniff, Kevin......  1|  1   1   4  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 15 Adams, Ryan.........  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 42  19 104  .221| 41|  4  15|  7| 24| 4  6  1|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 7.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  14  7  37  .189   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  15  5  35  .286   Cal State Northridge (0) 26 28 26  18-15
   3  13  7  32  .188   BYU Cougars......... (3) 30 30 30  23-5
    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| 16   3  28  .464|  0|  1   4|  1|  2| 0  3  0|  0
 7  SORENSEN, Trent.....  3|  5   4  13  .077|  3|  0   2|  0|  2| 0  3  1|  0
 11 HOLMES, Russell.....  3|  7   2  13  .385|  1|  2   4|  0|  2| 1  4  1|  0
 13 STOWELL, Robby......  3| 14   5  25  .360|  0|  0   1|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 14 PEREZ, Yamil........  3|  0   0   1  .000| 43|  2   3|  1|  8| 0  3  1|  0
 17 STEWART, Andrew.....  3|  4   1   9  .333|  0|  1   1|  1|  7| 1  2  0|  0
 2  SANTOS, Rodnei......  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 5  COX, Scott..........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   1|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 6  SILVA, Joel.........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  8| 0  0  0|  0
 8  PEREZ, Ivan.........  1|  3   0   3 1.000|  0|  0   2|  1|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 49  15  92  .370| 47|  7  18|  4| 34| 2 15  3|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 9.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  17  5  36  .333   Site: Provo, Utah (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  16  6  31  .323   Date: Apr 21, 2007   Attend: 1550   Time: 1H 30M
   3  16  4  25  .480   Referees: Marvin Hall, Les Calles