NORTHRIDGE -- The 2009 season came to an end on Saturday as the No. 5 BYU men’s volleyball team suffered a 3-1 loss (30-26, 30-24, 27-30, 30-27) to No. 2 CSUN in the first round of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament.

After losing the first two sets, the Cougars attempted a comeback by winning the third, but eventually dropped the fourth. With the loss BYU falls to 17-13 on the season.

Second-team All-MPSF selection Andrew Stewart led the Cougars with 17 kills on the night, marking his 22nd double-digit kill match of the season. Also recording double-digit kills for BYU was freshman Russell Lavaja and junior Kent Tuttle with 13 and 10, respectively. Lavaja also led the Cougars with nine blocks against the Matadors.

Four consecutive CSUN points early in the first set forced BYU to call a timeout. Coming out of the break, the Cougars recorded their own 4-0 run with kills from Tuttle and Futi Tavana, as well as several Matador attack errors. While CSUN’s Jacek Ratajczak provided points offensively for his team, costly Matador service errors kept the score close—tied at 17-17. Trailing 25-20, Lavaja knocked down a pair of kills, before the Matadors claimed the set 30-26.

Trailing early in the second set, Tuttle and Alex Da Pron knocked down two kills apiece to bring the Cougars within two at 8-6. CSUN pulled away after attacks by Kevin McKniff and Mike Gaudino, extending its lead to four points. Down 19-14, BYU capitalized on another Matador service error to build some momentum, as Kevin Sagers and Stewart recorded three consecutive kills. Despite the run, the Cougars failed to overtake the lead, coming within one point on two occasions. A pair of Matador service aces extended their advantage to 25-19. Despite a .400 hitting percentage the Cougars lost 30-24, down two sets to none.

BYU opened the third set with back-to-back kills from Sagers and Lavaja and a pair of CSUN service errors. Two more kills from Lavaja and a Matador attack error gave the Cougars a 16-8 advantage, their largest lead of the match. Despite the lead, errors continued to plague BYU, giving CSUN the opportunity to cut it to four. The Matadors knotted the score 25-25 and again two more times before a kill from Sagers and a block from Lavaja and Stewart brought up set point for BYU. Tuttle, Lavaja and Stewart finished the Matadors off with a block for the 30-27 win.

CSUN’s Eric Vance dominated early in the fourth set, recording four kills, one block and one service ace, helping his team pull out to a 12-7 lead. After calling a timeout, trailing 18-12, the Cougars went on to score five of the next seven points. An attack error from CSUN’s Vance and subsequent block by Tavana and Da Pron evened the score 24-24, but the Matadors eventually pulled out the 30-27 win.

Though Saturday marked the end of the Cougars' season, BYU's Smith Fieldhouse will serve as the host facility for the NCAA National Championships on May 7-9. 

Volleyball Box Score

Brigham Young Univ. Cougar VolleyBall

#5 BYU vs #2 Cal State Northridge (Apr 25, 2009 at Northridge, Calif.)

BYU | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN

## Name GP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

1 TUTTLE, Kent........ 4| 10 6 27 .148| 0| 2 4| 0| 6| 0 3 1| 0

5 LAVAJA, Russell..... 4| 13 2 16 .688| 1| 0 2| 0| 2| 1 8 1| 0

11 SAGERS, Kevin....... 4| 9 9 23 .000| 0| 0 2| 1| 4| 0 0 0| 0

14 PEREZ, Yamil........ 4| 0 0 1 .000| 57| 0 6| 0| 7| 0 1 0| 0

15 STEWART, Andrew..... 4| 17 4 36 .361| 1| 0 0| 0| 4| 0 6 0| 0

17 TAVANA, Futi........ 4| 9 2 14 .500| 2| 0 1| 0| 2| 0 3 1| 0

3 CHILTON, Reed....... 4| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0

4 SILVA, Joel......... 4| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 2| 11| 0 0 0| 0

8 KAULIAKAMOA, Joe.... 3| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 2| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0

10 TAYLOR, Mat......... 2| 0 1 1-1.000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0

23 DA PRON, Alex....... 3| 4 1 6 .500| 0| 0 2| 0| 1| 0 2 0| 0

TEAM................ | | | | 1| | |

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Totals.............. 4| 62 25 124 .298| 61| 2 19| 4| 37| 1 23 3| 0

TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 12.5

Game K E TA Pct

1 11 7 27 .148 GAME SCORES 1 2 3 4 TEAM RECORDS

2 16 4 30 .400 BYU................. (1) 26 24 30 27 17-13

3 18 5 34 .382 Cal State Northridge (3) 30 30 27 30 24-6

4 17 9 33 .242

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

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

3 Nua, Tanner......... 3| 5 6 18 -.056| 1| 0 2| 0| 2| 0 3 0| 0

10 McKniff, Kevin...... 4| 11 2 18 .500| 0| 3 6| 0| 2| 0 4 2| 0

11 Gaudino, Mike....... 4| 13 2 22 .500| 3| 0 5| 0| 9| 0 2 0| 0

12 Stork, Matt......... 4| 1 2 3 -.333| 57| 0 1| 0| 3| 0 2 0| 0

14 Vance, Eric......... 4| 21 7 45 .311| 1| 1 4| 0| 4| 1 2 0| 0

17 Ratajczak, Jacek.... 4| 13 0 17 .765| 0| 0 3| 0| 0| 0 7 1| 0

4 Edwards, Theo....... 4| 3 2 7 .143| 0| 0 1| 0| 2| 0 4 0| 0

7 Keohohou, Ali'i..... 4| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 1| 11| 0 0 0| 0

TEAM................ | | | | 1| | |

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Totals.............. 4| 67 21 130 .354| 62| 4 22| 2| 33| 1 24 3| 0

TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 13.0

Game K E TA Pct

1 19 7 35 .343 Site: Northridge, Calif. (The Matadome)

2 15 2 26 .500 Date: Apr 25, 2009 Attend: 1056 Time: 2:12

3 17 7 36 .278 Referees: Verna Klubnikin, Marvin Hall

4 16 5 33 .333 Cal State Northridge advances to the MPSF semi-

finals.

After splitting a pair of matches at then-No. 2 Pepperdine to close the regular season, the No. 5 BYU men’s volleyball team (17-12, 13-9 MPSF) goes to No. 2 Cal State Northridge (23-6, 16-6 MPSF) for the first round of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Men’s Volleyball Tournament. Saturday will mark BYU’s third match at CSUN this season. The Cougars suffered two sweeps by the then-No. 1 Matadors in March.

BYU’s 3-1 win at Pepperdine last weekend secured a series split with the Waves. The Cougars have recorded series splits with the nation’s first-, second- and fifth-ranked teams each of the past three weekends.

CSUN’s Eric Vance pounded a match-high 20 kills as the third-ranked Matadors wrapped up the regular season with a 30-23, 30-21, 30-28 win at No. 13 UC Santa Barbara on Friday at the Thunderdome.

Series Information

BYU holds a 25-17 lead in the series between these two teams dating back to April. 11, 1990. CSUN swept the Cougars in back-to-back matches earlier this season, while BYU recorded a perfect 3-0 record against the Matadors in 2008, winning back-to-back matches at home in the Smith Fieldhouse during the regular season and also posting a 3-0 sweep over CSUN in the semifinal match at the MSPF Championships in Long Beach. The Matadors and Cougars have met in the MPSF Tournament three times since 2003 with BYU winning each time. Between 1997-2003 the Cougars recorded a series-leading 12-match win streak over the Matadors, including nine sweeps.

Match Coverage

Live stats can be accessed by visiting CSUN’s men’s volleyball schedule page at www.GoMatadors.com. The live stats can be launched by clicking on the “Live Stats” link for the appropriate game on the schedule page.

Coming Off...Road Win Over No. 2 Pepperdine

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. 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.

BYU in the MPSF Tournament

Since 1993, BYU has qualified for the MPSF postseason tournament in 13 of 14 seasons including 12 consecutive trips. The Cougars all-time record in the MPSF tournament is 19-12. BYU has won the MPSF tournament three times and holds an 11-5 record in the first round, 5-5 record in the semifinals and 3-2 record in tournament finals. The Cougars won consecutive MPSF tournament championships in 2003 and 2004.

BYU Hosts 2009 NCAA Championship

BYU will host the 2009 NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship in the Smith Fieldhouse May 7-9, 2009. Both semifinal matches will be played on Thursday, May 7, with the national championship match held on Saturday, May 9. All session tickets are available at the Marriott Center Ticket Office. The ticket office may be reached at (801) 422-BYU1 or toll-free at (800) 322-BYU1. Tickets may also be purchased at byutickets.com.

BYU will host its first national championship event since hosting the 1989 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship. Three other outdoor track championships were held at BYU in 1967, 1975 and 1982. BYU also hosted the NCAA Wrestling Championship in 1969.

Up Next

With a win on Saturday the Cougars advance to the semifinals of the MPSF Tournament in Irvine, Calif.