STOCKTON -- A strong offensive performance propelled No. 2 BYU to a 30-22, 24-30, 30-18, 31-29 victory over No. 14 Pacific in the MPSF season finale.

The win gives the Cougars a 22-5 overall record (18-4 in MPSF play) which is the fourth-best regular season record in program history. The three regular seasons that ended with better records also ended in BYU National Championships. The Cougars also claim second place outright in the MPSF regular season.

Yosleyder Cala and Robby Stowell each led BYU with 15 kills. Ivan Perez added 13 kills, two service aces, a team-high four total blocks and six digs. Russell Holmes rounded out Cougars with double figures in kills with 11 while hitting .769.

"Pacific is a very good team," co-head coach Shawn Patchell said. "We feel very fortunate to leave Pacific with two wins. It's the first time we've gone to Pacific and won both matches since 1999."

BYU wasted little time jumping ahead in the first set, building a three-point advantage at 8-5 on a combo block by Trent Sorensen, Cala and Stowell. Pacific made the game interesting as they went on a 5-1 run to take a 14-13 advangtage. The Cougars bounced back, outscoring the Tigers 4-1 to take the lead for good in the first set. BYU finished the game on a 10-3 run capped by a kill by setter Yamil Perez to take the game.

It was a different story in the second set as Pacific came out on fire, jumping to a quick 5-0 lead. The Tigers got three consecutive kills from Maor Nutkevitch to start the set with the big advantage. BYU never tied or took the lead in the second game as Pacific extended its lead to as many as nine points at 15-6. The Tigers further extended their lead to 10 at 25-15 before BYU put together a 9-4 run to end the set and build momentum for the rest of the match.

The Cougars answered Pacific's dominating effort in game two with their own lopsided victory in the third set. With BYU hanging to an 11-9 lead, the Cougars ripped off a 17-8 run to open up a 12-point advantage. BYU won the third set on an Ivan Perez kill. The Cougars hit a red-hot .700 in the third set.

In the closely contested fourth set Pacific jumped to an early 12-6 lead. BYU slowly chipped into the lead, cutting the Tigers advantage to 19-18 and forcing a Pacific timeout. An Ivan Perez service ace tied the set for the first time at 20. The two teams fought back and forth with the Tigers maintaining the advantage until a Stowell kill gave BYU back-to-back points and a 24-23 lead, its first of the set. Pacific came back with three consecutive points and appeared poised to take the game. The Cougars fought back to tie the set. With the score tied at 29, BYU scored the final two points, including a Rodnei Santos, Yamil Perez combo block on match point to take the match.

The second seeded Cougars will play next Saturday at the Smith Fieldhouse. BYU will play host to the winner of the No. 7 seed against No. 8 seed play-in match. The Cougars possible opponents include Cal-State Northridge, Hawaii or USC.

Volleyball Box Score
#2 BYU Cougars vs #14 Pacific Tigers (Apr 14, 2007 at Stockton, Calif.)
    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.....  4| 15   4  25  .440|  0|  0   2|  2|  4| 0  2  0|  0
 7  SORENSEN, Trent.....  2|  2   1   8  .125|  1|  0   2|  0|  0| 0  3  0|  0
 8  PEREZ, Ivan.........  4| 13   6  26  .269|  1|  2   5|  1|  6| 0  4  0|  0
 11 HOLMES, Russell.....  4| 11   1  13  .769|  2|  2   4|  0|  0| 0  3  0|  0
 13 STOWELL, Robby......  4| 15   3  27  .444|  1|  0   4|  0| 11| 0  2  1|  0
 14 PEREZ, Yamil........  4|  1   0   1 1.000| 52|  2   4|  0|  6| 1  1  1|  2
 2  SANTOS, Rodnei......  3|  4   1   5  .600|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  2  0|  0
 5  COX, Scott..........  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 6  SILVA, Joel.........  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  2|  8| 0  0  0|  0
    TEAM................   |                 |   |       |  1|   |        |
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 61  16 105  .429| 57|  6  22|  6| 37| 1 17  2|  2
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 9.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  16  4  22  .545   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2  11  4  30  .233   BYU Cougars......... (3) 30 24 30 31  22-5 (18-4 MPSF)
   3  16  2  20  .700   Pacific Tigers...... (1) 22 30 18 29  14-17 (8-14 MPSF)
   4  18  6  33  .364
    Pacific Tigers         |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  Hazelett, Mitchel...  4|  0   1   4 -.250| 51|  1   1|  0|  2| 1  3  1|  0
 10 Hammer, Dan.........  4|  9   0  12  .750|  0|  1   1|  0|  0| 0  5  0|  0
 11 Nutkevitch, Maor....  4| 14   9  35  .143|  0|  2   6|  4|  4| 0  2  0|  0
 13 Seppanen, Pekka.....  4| 16   2  26  .538|  0|  0   4|  0| 11| 0  1  0|  0
 16 Cornell, Matt.......  4|  7   6  27  .037|  0|  1   4|  0|  3| 1  0  0|  0
 17 Hollenbeck, Todd....  3|  4   1  10  .300|  0|  1   5|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0
 1  Morales, Garrett....  4|  0   1   1-1.000|  0|  0   0|  1|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 3  Forbes, Joe.........  1|  0   1   1-1.000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 6  Pratte, Kevin.......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 8  Bauhs, Mark.........  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 14 Chen-Byerley, Simon.  1|  3   0   3 1.000|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
    TEAM................   |                 |   |       |  1|   |        |
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 53  21 119  .269| 51|  6  24|  6| 22| 2 12  1|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 8.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1   8  5  23  .130   Site: Stockton, Calif. (Alex G. Spanos Ctr.)
   2  19  5  37  .378   Date: Apr 14, 2007   Attend: 611   Time: 2:01
   3   8  7  23  .043   Referees: Mickey Matthews, Bill Forrester
   4  18  4  36  .389

PROVO -- After securing a home-court match in the quarterfinals of the MPSF Tournament and reaching the 20-win plateau for the ninth time, BYU heads out on the road for its final matches of the regular season as the Cougars take on Pacific. BYU will be looking to secure the No. 2 seed in the MPSF Tournament as the Cougars hold a one-game lead over UC Irvine. Pepperdine has already clinched the regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the tournament. Meanwhile, Pacific will be fighting for the eighth--and final--seed of the MPSF tournament.

SERIES INFORMATION

BYU has enjoyed a 16-5 series record over Pacific since the two teams' first match in 1993. The Cougars have a perfect 11-0 home record while the Tigers have an even 5-5 record on their home court. BYU won seven of the first eight matches played between the two teams.

The Cougars won both matches last year. The last time the two teams played in Stockton, each team won one match. Overall, BYU has won six of the last seven matches between the two teams. BYU's longest win streak over Pacific is four matches while the Tigers have never won consecutive matches over the Cougars.

MATCH COVERAGE

Every home match will have a free live stats feed option. The live stats feed can be accessed by visiting the men's volleyball schedule page at www.byucougars.com. The direct link is http://www.byucougars.com/Schedule.jsp?SP=201&YR=2006. The live stats can be launched by clicking on the "Live Stats" link for the appropriate game.

Also available for the second season in a row is a live video feed through CSTV All-Access. Users must subscribe to this service. More information, such as cost and direct links to the CSTV All-Access page can be found by visiting the the schedule page and cliking on the "Live Video" link. This weekend, live audio will be provided by the University of the Pacific. Fans can access the audio by clicking on the "Live Audio" link on the men's volleyball schedule page.

LUCKY NUMBER .300

BYU is a perfect 20-0 this season in matches that the Cougars hit over .300. Conversely, they are 0-5 in matches where they hit under .300.

20-WIN SEASONS

With BYU's victory over UC San Diego April 7, the Cougars won their 20th game. After finishing the 2006 season with a 18-9 record, BYU was held without 20 wins for the first time since the 2000 season. The Cougars have recorded 20-win seasons in eight of the last nine years. The first BYU team to record 20 wins was the 1994 team. The 1994 team finished its season with a 21-6 record and advanced to the final of the MPSF Tournament, losing to Stanford in four games.