It's a Kicker: No. 3 Beats No. 4

PROVO -- The third-ranked Cougars teamed up for a 30-27, 30-25, 25-30, 30-27 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation win over fourth-ranked Long Beach State Friday in the Smith Fieldhouse. The win ups the BYU record to 17-5 (15-4 MPSF) on the season, while Long Beach falls to 15-9 (9-8 MPSF) on the year.

BYU hit over .450 in two games and out-blocked the 49ers 16.0 to 7.0 with three players recording double-digit kills in the match.

"We saw more guys tonight from us," BYU head coach Tom Peterson said. "We are getting more comfortable with just knowing that everyone is going to contribute. Our guys did a very nice job tonight, especially those coming off the bench."

Rafael Paal led the team with 17 kills and a .400 attack percentage, while Michael Burke added 13 kills (.455) and a match-high seven blocks. Joe Hillman came off the bench to replace a struggling Jonathan Alleman and did well with a .750 hitting percentage.

BYU started off behind in the first game but made a 6-2 run to tie the score at 14 and took it from there. Both Burke and Paal hit over .700 with at least five kills each to lead the Cougars to the 30-27 win.

The most amazing play of the match happened when setter Carlos Moreno saved a ball from going into the crowd by kicking it backwards over 50 feet across the net to the 49ers, only for their return attempt to be blocked by Jonathan Alleman and Chris Gorny for the BYU point.

"I was running towards the crowd and I knew I couldn't reach it with my hands," Moreno said, "so I did what was natural to me and I kicked it."

Moreno's unconventional save got the crowd roaring and the Cougars rolling to win the second game 30-25 as they out-hit the 49ers .333 to .194 and controlled the net with 5.5 blocks while Long Beach had none.

A .455 attack percent wasn't enough for BYU to outlast Long Beach's .533 attack percent in the third game. The 49ers took the momentum away and the Cougars struggled defensively with digs, losing the third game 25-30.

In the fourth game, both teams struggled with an even .194 team attack, but BYU had the edge with less errors and a strong team effort to win the game and the match.

For the 49ers, Scott Touzinsky registered a match-high 28 kills while hitting .352, and David Lee and Robert Tarr each recorded double-digit kills with 14 and 11, respectively.

BYU and Long Beach will compete again Saturday, March 29 at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse.

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                              Volleyball Box Score
                        2003 BYU Men's Volleyball Stats
    No.4 Long Beach St vs Brigham Young (Mar 28, 2003 at Brigham Young Univ)
    No.4 Long Beach St     |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  WOOTTON, Jeff.......  3|  1   3   6 -.333|  0|  0   4|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 5  HILDEBRAND, Tyler...  4|  0   2   2-1.000| 63|  1   2|  0|  5| 0  2  0|  0
 9  TOUZINSKY, Scott....  4| 28   9  54  .352|  0|  0   1|  0|  4| 0  2  1|  0
 17 BUDINGER, Duncan....  2|  6   0  10  .600|  0|  0   1|  0|  2| 0  1  0|  0
 21 LEE, David..........  4| 14   2  25  .480|  0|  0   3|  0|  2| 1  1  1|  0
 24 TARR, Robert........  4| 11   8  22  .136|  0|  0   3|  0|  5| 0  2  0|  0
 4  COE, Clint..........  4|  3   4  12 -.083|  0|  0   4|  1|  4| 0  0  0|  0
 11 KIJEWSKI, Robert....  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 14 SLITI, Yassir.......  2|  5   0   5 1.000|  0|  0   4|  0|  0| 0  4  1|  0
 16 MEINE, Matt.........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 20 MUNOZ, Paul.........  4|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  2|  6| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 68  28 136  .294| 64|  1  23|  3| 32| 1 12  3|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 7.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  17  7  34  .294   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2  15  8  36  .194   No.4 Long Beach St.. 27 25 30 27  15-9, 9-8 MPSF
   3  20  4  30  .533   Brigham Young....... 30 30 25 30  17-5, 15-4 MPSF
   4  16  9  36  .194
    Brigham Young          |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  BURKE, Michael......  4| 13   3  22  .455|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  7  0|  0
 5  MORENO, Carlos......  4|  4   1  10  .300| 49|  0   4|  0|  5| 1  3  0|  0
 7  MAYOL, Jaime........  4| 12   2  26  .385|  0|  0   2|  0|  3| 0  4  0|  0
 8  HYTE, David.........  1|  2   1   4  .250|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  2  0|  0
 9  PAAL, Rafael........  4| 17   5  30  .400|  3|  2   2|  0|  4| 1  2  1|  1
 12 ALLEMAN, Jonathan...  4|  5   6  15 -.067|  1|  0   4|  0|  4| 0  6  0|  0
 1  PATTERSON, Casey....  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 4  HILLMAN, Joe........  3|  3   0   4  .750|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 6  GORNY, Chris........  3|  5   1   9  .444|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  4  0|  0
 15 OLMSTEAD, Shawn.....  2|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   0|  1|  4| 0  0  0|  0
 17 PESSOA, Fernando....  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  6| 0  0  0|  0
 18 SLABE, Luka.........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   1|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 61  19 120  .350| 55|  3  15|  1| 30| 2 28  1|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 16.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  17  3  29  .483   Site: Brigham Young Univ (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  17  6  33  .333   Date: Mar 28, 2003   Attend: 2247   Time: 2:15
   3  13  3  22  .455   Referees: LES CALLES, JOHN ASHMAN, TRENT MANO
   4  14  7  36  .194