SANTA BARBARA -- Joel Silva, Ivan Perez and Yosleyder Cala led a strong defensive effort as No. 3 BYU picked up a crucial MPSF victory over No. 4 UC Santa Barbara, sweeping the Gauchos 36-34, 30-23 and 30-26.

"We did an excellent job passing and serving today," co-head coach Shawn Patchell said. "A lot of credit goes to Joel, Ivan and Cala. We also served exceptionally well and put a lot of pressure on them."

The Cougars (14-4, 10-3 MPSF) were led offensively by Cala and Robby Stowell who each picked up 12 kills. The middle tandem of Rodnei Santos and Russell Holmes had very efficient offensive nights. Each added nine kills while Santos hit .583 and Holmes swung at a .500 clip. BYU also held UCSB standout Evan Patak to just eight kills and .000 hitting on the night.

"We blocked Patak well tonight," Patchell said. "We also passed well of his excellent jump serve."

Patak, who leads the nation in aces, had just one on the night.

UCSB got off to a quick start, jumping out to a 13-10 lead early on. BYU responded, going on a 6-1 run to grasp control of the opening game. A pair of Cala aces capped the run and forced the Gauchos to call a time out. BYU further extended its lead to 21-16 behind tough serving, forcing the Gauchos into consecutive hitting errors. With BYU serving ahead 29-26, UCSB scored three consecutive points to tie the set at 29. The Cougars kept the advantage throughout the extra points and won on a Cala kill.

"The first set was huge for us," Patchell said. "We had several game points. Credit UCSB for fighting back. We were able to make some adjustments and take over."

BYU never trailed in the second set as the Cougars jumped out to an early 7-1 lead to start the game. The Cougars scored four of their first seven points courtesy of blocks including a block solo and assist by Cala. BYU out-hit UCSB .393 to .107 in the second set as the Gauchos only managed nine kills in the game. The Cougars never let go of their early lead, allowing UCSB to cut the lead only to four points once during the set. Holmes took care of BYU's first game point by smoking a service ace to put the Cougars ahead.

After BYU trailed 2-1 in the third set, the Cougars went on another 7-1 run to open a game. The Cougars took a commanding 8-3 lead due to pressure from the service line. Yamil Perez and Cala's serving paced BYU's early run. The Cougars never relinquished their lead, finishing the third set with a Santos kill.

The same two teams face off Saturday evening at 7 p.m. (PST) in Santa Barbara.

Volleyball Box Score
#3 BYU Cougars vs #4 UC Santa Barbara (Mar 09, 2007 at Santa Barbara, CA)
    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   4  21  .381|  1|  2   2|  0|  5| 1  3  0|  0
 2  SANTOS, Rodnei......  3|  9   2  12  .583|  1|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  6  2|  0
 8  PEREZ, Ivan.........  3|  8   4  14  .286|  0|  0   2|  0|  5| 0  1  0|  0
 11 HOLMES, Russell.....  3|  9   2  14  .500|  0|  1   2|  0|  1| 0  2  0|  0
 13 STOWELL, Robby......  3| 12   6  22  .273|  0|  1   1|  0|  7| 0  1  1|  0
 14 PEREZ, Yamil........  3|  2   0   3  .667| 47|  1   4|  0|  7| 0  3  0|  1
 5  COX, Scott..........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 6  SILVA, Joel.........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  1|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 7  SORENSEN, Trent.....  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 15 TAYLOR, Mat.........  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
    TEAM................   |                 |   |       |  1|   |        |
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 52  18  86  .395| 50|  5  13|  2| 28| 1 16  3|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 9.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  19  6  32  .406   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  17  6  28  .393   BYU Cougars......... (3) 36 30 30  14-4, 10-3 MPSF
   3  16  6  26  .385   UC Santa Barbara.... (0) 34 23 26  14-7, 10-6 MPSF
    UC Santa Barbara       |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  Kowalski, Bart......  2|  0   0   0  .000| 25|  0   2|  0|  0| 0  1  1|  1
 4  Berman, Bryan.......  3| 10   3  18  .389|  0|  0   4|  2|  4| 1  3  0|  0
 8  Fisher, Michael.....  2|  5   2  12  .250|  0|  1   2|  1|  1| 0  2  0|  0
 21 Brunner, Theo.......  3| 12   1  17  .647|  0|  0   2|  0|  3| 0  1  0|  0
 22 Kennedy, David......  3|  6   2  13  .308|  0|  0   3|  0|  1| 0  4  1|  0
 40 Patak, Evan.........  3|  8   8  27  .000|  0|  1   4|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0
 2  Brockman, Ben.......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 7  Norton, Tyson.......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  2|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 11 Klineman, Max.......  3|  0   0   1  .000| 17|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 33 Richman, Aaron......  2|  3   2   6  .167|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 44  18  94  .277| 42|  2  18|  5| 16| 1 12  2|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 7.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  18  7  36  .306   Site: Santa Barbara, CA (Robertson Gymnasium)
   2   9  6  28  .107   Date: Mar 09, 2007   Attend: 812   Time: 1:45
   3  17  5  30  .400   Referees: Brant Lee, Ric Olmstead

PROVO -- Nos. 3 and 4 will face off this weekend when third-ranked BYU heads to Santa Barbara to take on fourth-ranked UC Santa Barbara in a pair of crucial Mountain Pacific Sports Federation matches Friday and Saturday evenings.

The Cougars (13-4, 9-3 MPSF), who are also third in the MPSF standings, will look to distance themselves from the fourth-placed Gauchos (14-6, 10-5) as the regular season winds down and the battle for MPSF tournament seedings begin to intensify.

"Santa Barbara is a very difficult place to play," co-head coach Ryan Millar said. "They have a rowdy crowd and a great team."

BYU will look to keep its current four-match winning streak going. UCSB won two in a row last week against non-conference foe IPFW. The Gauchos have dropped three straight MPSF matches. Both BYU and UCSB will be trying to gain ground on No. 1 Pepperdine and No. 2 UC Irvine. Both teams hold two-game leads on the Cougars.

"These matches are very important for seeding in the MPSF tournament," Millar said. "It will definitely be a battle."

BYU is coming off a week in which it swept the major weekly player awards. The Cougars' Yosleyder Cala brought home the Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week award while Robby Stowell was recognized as the Molten/MPSF Player of the Week. Both hit over .500 and averaged around five kills per game against USC last week.

The Gauchos are led by star opposite Evan Patak. Patak is fourth in the nation in kills per game (5.77) and leads the nation in service aces with 85. His 85 aces more than double the nearest competitor in the category.

"UCSB has one of the most dominant players in the nation in Patak," Millar said. "We are focusing on getting better. We have had a nice couple of weeks of practice and have played well in our last four matches."

Both matches will start at 7 p.m. (PST) and will have no live stats, audio or video coverage.