Holmes' effort leads Cougars past 49ers

PROVO — Playing at home for the first time in more than a month, the BYU men's volleyball team dispatched a scrappy Long Beach State team in four games (30-28, 30-24, 28-30, 30-28) Thursday night.

The 49ers (11-12, 6-11 Mountain Pacific) had an answer for nearly everything the Cougars (17-5, 13-4 MPSF) threw at them, but the difference came from BYU middle blocker Russell Holmes, who set a career-high with 16 kills and tied another personal best with four solo blocks while hitting .652 for the match.

In the process, Holmes broke the school single-season record for blocks with 24, passing current co-head coach Ryan Millar's former record of 22.

"I just liked (Holmes') fire tonight," said co-head coach Shawn Patchell. "He was a real leader out there."

BYU found itself on both ends of a see-saw contest through the four games, but Holmes praised the team's composure throughout.

"I thought our guys showed a lot of heart tonight," Holmes said. "We were behind a couple times, but we kept coming back."

Freshman Robby Stowell led BYU with 19 kills, while Long Beach's Paul Lotman led all players with 25 kills on .444 hitting.

The Cougars built a quick 5-0 lead in the first game, only to see it melt away under a furious 49er comeback that fell just short.

In Game 2, the teams traded sides and roles, with the 49ers building an early advantage that grew to as many as six points midway through the game.

Long Beach still held a 20-16 lead as the game entered the final stretch, but gifted BYU with two points on a serving error and a hitting error to create a break in the momentum that the Cougars were quick to exploit.

BYU's hitters took over after that point, guiding the team on a 14-4 run to close out the game with a 30-24 win as the Cougars improved to a .455 team hitting percentage after a .289 effort in game one.

The teams traded points for most of game three, but with the score tied at 27, the 49ers took a one-point lead and the Cougars made a critical error on the next exchange, going into the net to give Long Beach a game-point situation it was quick to put away.

Game 4 played out in similar fashion to Game 3, but Holmes seized control down the stretch, collecting six kills on seven swings to secure the win.

"I just like to win; I hate losing," Holmes said of his late takeover. "I'm a very competitive guy and after losing game three so close like we did, I didn't want to lose again."

The two teams meet again tonight at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse.

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E-mail: jtwitchell@desnews.com