PROVO -- After losing game-one on Saturday to No. 9 Lewis, the fifth-ranked BYU men's volleyball team rebounded to win three straight games, ending the Flyers' hopes of an upset in Provo. The Cougars rallied to win the match, 27-30, 30-25, 30-23, 30-27, improving to 13-5 on the season. The win also marks BYU's 12th victory over a ranked opponent this season.

The Cougars had for players with double-digit kills, including Luka Slabe who led the team with 18 kills on 24 swings (.750). All-American Mike Wall added 17 kills, while Rafael Paal had 13 and Joaquin Acosta chipped in 12 for the Cougars. BYU hit .522 at the net, including a stunning .645 percentage in the final game of the match. Defensively, the Cougars forced 25 Flyer errors and out-blocked Lewis, 15.0 - 2.0.

"I thought we played three really good games this afternoon," BYU head coach Carl McGown said. "For the first time this season, I thought we showed significant balance in our game. We hit .522 and did a nice job on defense. However, they were playing without one of their best players. We were fortunate in that respect. Otherwise, I think they would have been more than a handful for us."

Despite out-blocking Lewis 4.5-0 in game one, the Cougars fell behind, 24-27, on Fabiano Barreto's fifth kill of the game. The Cougars were able to close the gap to 26-28, but Barreto recorded back-to-back kills to end the game, 30-27. Barreto led both teams with seven kills in game one, while Wall turned in six kills for BYU.

In game two, the Cougars hit a blistering .522 behind Acosta's six kills. Wall and Paal added four each as BYU claimed the five-point victory, 30-25. With the Cougars clinging to a slim two-point advantage, the Flyers' Kevin Miller was called for interference. The play sparked a 4-1 run for the Cougars. After a failed game-point attempt, BYU claimed game-two on a Jose Martin's service error.

After coming off the bench late in game two, the third game of the match belonged to Slabe. The 6-foot-1 outside hitter racked up eight kills to pace BYU to a decisive 30-23 victory. Serving for the win, it was only fitting that Slabe, who had taken over the game, recorded the game-winning point on his only service ace of the afternoon.

"Luka had a great match," McGown said. "Just like last year at the NCAA Tournament, he came off the bench and dialed up a .750. He had a nice match."

In the final game of the match, the Cougars maintained a two-point advantage through much of the game. BYU setter Carlos Moreno extended the lead to 29-26 with his second kill of the match, however a subsequent service error kept the Flyers' hopes alive. The suspense lasted only seconds as Wall recorded his 17th kill of the match to give BYU a 30-27 victory.

The Cougars will return to action next weekend, taking on No. 8 Ball State. With only one loss on the season, the Cardinals will travel to Provo on Friday and Saturday, March 15-16. Both matches are slated to begin at 7 p.m. (MST).

"Ball State is really, really good," McGown said. "They have a bunch of giants and from what I've seen, they are a very good team. They are going to be tough."

#9 Lewis vs Brigham Young (March 9 2002 at Provo, Utah)
    #9 Lewis               |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  BIRD, Victor........  4| 16   6  25  .400|  2|  0   1|  1|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 7  SOLER, Jeff.........  4|  5   4  13  .077|  0|  1   4|  1|  6| 0  0  0|  0
 10 BARRETO, Fabiano....  4| 27  11  49  .327|  2|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  1  0|  0
 12 MILLER, Kevin.......  4|  8   3  17  .294|  1|  0   0|  0|  2| 1  1  1|  0
 17 ELSEA, James........  4|  7   1  20  .300|  2|  0   4|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 18 MARTINS, Jose.......  4|  3   0   7  .429| 55|  2   4|  0|  5| 0  0  0|  1
 1  MARTIN, Mario.......  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 9  STUNTZ, Ryan........  4|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  1|  7| 0  0  0|  0
 15 PEREZ, Jorge........  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   2|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 66  25 131  .313| 63|  3  16|  3| 27| 1  2  1|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 2.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  18  7  32  .344   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2  14  7  35  .200   #9 Lewis............ 30 25 23 27  12-7
   3  16  7  33  .273   Brigham Young....... 27 30 30 30  13-5
   4  18  4  31  .452
    Brigham Young          |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  WALL, Mike..........  4| 17   3  23  .609|  0|  1   1|  0|  3| 0  4  0|  0
 4  ACOSTA, Joaquin.....  4| 12   2  19  .526|  0|  0   2|  0|  4| 0  4  1|  0
 6  GORNY, Chris........  4|  6   3  15  .200|  0|  0   4|  0|  2| 0  6  1|  0
 7  MAYOL, Jaime........  2|  3   1   9  .222|  1|  0   1|  1|  0| 0  1  0|  0
 9  PAAL, Rafael........  4| 13   2  18  .611|  3|  0   4|  0|  3| 1  6  1|  0
 11 MORENO, Carlos......  4|  2   1   5  .200| 60|  1   9|  0|  5| 0  5  1|  1
 1  WILTON, Mike........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  0
 12 ALLEMAN, Jonathan...  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 17 PESSOA, Fernando....  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  2|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 18 SLABE, Luka.........  4| 18   0  24  .750|  0|  1   2|  0|  2| 0  2  0|  0
    Team................   |                 |   |       |  0|   |        |
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 71  12 113  .522| 65|  3  23|  3| 23| 1 28  4|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 15.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  14  5  27  .333   Site: Provo, Utah (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  18  2  29  .552   Date: March 9 2002   Attend: 875   Time: 2:00
   3  17  3  26  .538   Referees: Les Calles, Tom Given, DJM;MA;MRC;MBC;ST
   4  22  2  31  .645
Cougars are 5-0 all-time vs. Lewis.
BYU records 12th victory over ranked opponent.