Service Errors Plague Cougars in Loss to Santa Barbara

SANTA BARBARA -- Despite claiming the first two sets, the No. 9 BYU men’s volleyball team could not overcome its struggles at the service line, falling in five sets to No. 10 UC Santa Barbara on Friday night (27-30, 27-30, 30-27, 30-27, 15-12). The Cougars totaled 26 service errors compared to the Gauchos’ 18. With the loss the Cougars fall to 4-4 on the season and 2-1 in MPSF play.

Juniors Andrew Stewart and Mat Taylor led the Cougars with 17 and 16 kills, respectively, while freshman Futi Tavana followed with 15. Tavana led the team with his .583 attack percentage. Junior libero Joel Silva recorded 10 digs on the night.

The Cougars built a 12-6 lead early in the first set thanks in part to back-to-back kills by Tavana and several UCSB attack errors. Four BYU service errors brought the Gauchos back, allowing them to take the 22-21 lead. Both Yamil Perez and Otavio Souza recorded blocks down the stretch allowing BYU to claim the first set, 30-27.

Set two was close from the beginning with neither team gaining more than a one-point lead until the Cougars pulled ahead 21-19. Tanava and Jeff Robinson knocked down kills to put BYU up by six points but the Gauchos continued to make plays and came back to within one before the Cougars called a timeout. Reed Chilton’s service ace after the break, combined with Taylor’s seventh kill of the set, brought up game point. A costly service error by UCSB gave BYU the 30-27 win.

The outcomes alternated in the third and fourth set as the Gauchos claimed consecutive 30-27, 30-27 wins of their own as BYU struggled from the service line, recording 14 service errors in those two games alone.

Team captain Stewart recorded back-to-back kills to begin the final set as the teams continued trading points. UCSB pulled ahead 8-5 before a kill by Taylor and Gaucho attack error forced a timeout. Despite finding themselves within one point at 9-8, the Cougars eventually fell 15-12.

The Cougars and Gauchos face off again on Saturday at 7 p.m. PT. Live stats are available at www.byucougars.com and live radio streaming can be found at http://www.kcsb.org/.

Volleyball Box Score
                     Brigham Young Univ. Cougar VolleyBall
   #9 BYU Cougars vs #10 UC Santa Barbara (Jan 30, 2009 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
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
9  SOUZA, Otavio.......  2|  1   0   7  .143|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 1  0  0|  0
10 TAYLOR, Mat.........  5| 16  12  39  .103|  0|  1   2|  0|  5| 1  2  0|  0
11 SAGERS, Kevin.......  4|  6   1  11  .455|  0|  0   6|  1|  3| 0  0  0|  0
14 PEREZ, Yamil........  5|  0   0   3  .000| 56|  1   7|  0|  2| 1  3  1|  0
15 STEWART, Andrew.....  5| 17   7  41  .244|  1|  1   3|  0|  7| 1  1  0|  0
17 TAVANA, Futi........  5| 15   1  24  .583|  0|  1   2|  0|  0| 0  3  1|  0
1  TUTTLE, Kent........  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
3  CHILTON, Reed.......  5|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  1   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
4  SILVA, Joel.........  5|  0   0   0  .000|  3|  0   0|  2| 10| 0  0  0|  0
5  LAVAJA, Russell.....  3|  5   2   9  .333|  0|  0   3|  0|  0| 1  3  0|  1
7  ROBINSON, Jeff......  4|  7   4  13  .231|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 1  2  0|  0
8  KAULIAKAMOA, Joe....  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
23 DA PRON, Alex.......  3|  0   1   7 -.143|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  5| 67  28 154  .253| 62|  5  26|  3| 29| 6 15  2|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 13.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  15  3  33  .364   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  4  5  TEAM RECORDS
   2  18  8  39  .256   BYU Cougars......... (2) 30 30 27 27 12  4-4, 2-1 MPSF
   3  15  8  31  .226   UC Santa Barbara.... (3) 27 27 30 30 15  3-4, 1-3 MPSF
   4  11  6  33  .152
   5   8  3  18  .278
   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  Menzel, Jeff........  5| 25  15  51  .196|  0|  0   3|  1|  9| 1  1  2|  0
8  Devany, Vince.......  5|  1   0   1 1.000| 60|  1   0|  0| 11| 1  0  0|  0
12 Irons, Cullen.......  5| 16   7  30  .300|  1|  0   1|  2|  7| 0  4  0|  0
15 Rosener, Jake.......  3|  7   3  14  .286|  0|  1   3|  0|  1| 0  2  0|  0
17 Moisenco, Sam.......  5|  4   2   9  .222|  1|  0   3|  0|  2| 0  4  0|  0
19 Slaughter, Scott....  5|  9   2  14  .500|  1|  0   5|  0|  5| 0  3  0|  0
3  Valbuena, Trey......  3|  2   1   3  .333|  0|  0   2|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  1
20 McGuire, Andy.......  5|  0   0   0  .000|  3|  0   0|  1| 11| 0  0  0|  0
22 Nielsen, Blaine.....  4|  7   5  19  .105|  0|  1   1|  0|  1| 1  1  0|  0
   TEAM................   |                 |   |       |  1|   |        |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  5| 71  35 141  .255| 66|  3  18|  5| 48| 3 15  2|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 10.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  17 11  34  .176   Site: Santa Barbara, CA (Robertson Gymnasium)
   2  15  5  31  .323   Date: Jan 30, 2009   Attend: 315   Time: 2:25
   3  11  7  24  .167   Referees: Tony Chan, Rick Olmstead
   4  19 10  35  .257
   5   9  2  17  .412