Cougars upset by UC Irvine

MALIBU, Calif. — The second-ranked BYU men's volleyball team finished its 2007 season with a whimper, upset in five games by No. 3 UC Irvine in Thursday's late semifinal of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament.

BYU (23-6) fell to UCI (26-5) 30-19, 28-30, 27-30, 30-27, 15-10, with the Anteaters advancing to Saturday's MPSF final against top-ranked Pepperdine. The winner will receive the league's automatic berth in next week's NCAA Final Four, and the loser will likely receive the sole at-large berth.

UCI clobbered BYU in the first game, with 16 kills and a .536 percentage.

In Game 2, the ninth and final tie came at 25-all, with the Cougars taking late advantage in part on Yosleyder Cala's solo block and service ace.

A tighter Game 3 saw BYU take a two-point midgame lead on blocks by Yamil Perez and Russell Holmes and a 21-16 margin on a Cala kill and Rodnei Santos/Yamil Perez block. UCI never got closer than two.

BYU never led in Game 4, trailing late at 20-13 before tying it at 22-all and watching Irvine pull even at 2 games each.

BYU fell behind early in the fifth, 8-3 and 10-4. Ivan Perez's two aces help BYU draw to within 10-12 before UCI scored the final 3 points.