Big finishes remedy slow starts for BYU

PROVO — The third-ranked Cougars punctuated a return from nearly a month's worth of road matches with a two-match sweep of No. 9 Long Beach State at the Smith Fieldhouse.

With Friday night's 30-26, 30-28, 30-22 whitewashing, BYU (18-5 overall, 14-4 Mountain Pacific) one-upped Thursday's four-game victory over LBSU (11-3, 6-12).

Yosleyder Cala led BYU with 12 kills and setter Yamil Perez logged all 38 assists. Besides his 11 kills, outside hitter Ivan Perez proved to be the Cougars' top cat in the other key categories — zero errors in 15 swings for .733, two of BYU's four aces, four digs and in on a half-dozen of BYU's 13 total team blocks.

"We were playing steady, but without any energy," said Perez, saying the Cougars came on "when it counted" late in each game.

"After the score got to the 20s in every game, we just brought it, and they couldn't handle it," he added.

BYU co-head coach Ryan Millar said he would prefer a sustained intensity. "It's nice that we can turn that on, but I'd rather have them play like they do at 21 when it's 0-0. If we don't bring it the whole match, we're going to be down."

Paul Lotman's 15 kills led LBSU, which hit .156 to BYU's .329. All 18 Cougar wins have come when the team has hit .300 or better.

In the first game, BYU squandered leads of 12-7 and 14-10 as Long Beach took its first advantage at 17-16 and carried through to 25-23. But the Cougars went on a 7-1 run to win, with an emphatic Cala kill, a back-row Perez smash and a Trent Sorensen hammer of an errant 49er pass putting the Cougars in front at 27-26.

A Long Beach kill the side judge called "in" was ruled "out" by the referee, giving BYU a 28-26 margin, with a Cala tip and a combo block by Cala and Sorensen providing game point for the Cougars, who outhit the 49ers .276 to .126.

In the second, kills came more regularly — 17 for each — as BYU hit .577 and LBSU .312, with neither team leading by more than two. A couple of punishing Perez kills kept the Cougars even in the low 20s, while two kills and a solo block by Cala gave BYU advantage points in the late 20s before Perez's kill off the block earned game point.

In the third, BYU managed a meager .095 and LBSU only .000. BYU took its first lead at 13-12 and soon upped it 21-17 before the Beach drew within 22-21. But the Cougars ripped off an 8-1 run to close the match, led by three Robby Stowell kills.

BYU plays its final regular-season homestand against San Diego next weekend.

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