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MALIBU, Calif. (Feb. 17, 2007)--Southern California was unfriendly to No. 1 BYU, as the Cougars dropped their third consecutive match in the Golden State and fourth overall. BYU fell to No. 2 Pepperdine in three, 30-28, 30-23 and 30-21.
For the second consecutive match, the Cougars were led by Yosleyder Cala who had 17 kills on .324 hitting. Ivan Perez added eight kills, four blocks, seven digs and a service ace for BYU.
The first game was a back-and-forth battle of runs. Pepperdine started the set jumping out to a 7-2 lead. BYU came firing back with Ivan Perez behind the service line. The Cougars scored six consecutive points to take an 8-7 lead capped by a block by Russell Holmes, Brian Congelliere and Cala. Later in the first game, the Waves extended their 15-12 lead to 20-13 on a kill by Tom Hulse. The Cougars began to chip away at the lead and tied the game at 28 before Pepperdine scored back-to-back points to take the set, 30-28. The Waves' setter, Jonathan Winder scored a kill on a assist dump and a service ace to finish BYU off in the first.
In the second, Pepperdine started strong again. After the Cougars started the game with a 5-3 lead, the Waves went on a 10-4 run to grab a 13-9 advantage. BYU could not recover from the early Pepperdine run, falling 30-22. The Waves out-hit the Cougars, .304 to .161 in the second game.
The third game started out as a very tightly contested set with the Cougars once again jumping to an early 5-3lead. Like the first two games, Pepperdine had an early run to take a multi-point lead. In the third set, the Waves turned a 5-3 deficit into an 11-7 lead. Tom Hulse's service ace gave Pepperdine the 11-7 advantage. BYU would not lead again as the Waves cruised to the sweep on a 30-21 win.
BYU will return home next week as the Cougars will look to put an end to the current four-match losing streak. BYU will play Hawaii at the Smith Fieldhouse on Friday and Saturday. Both matches are set to start at 7 p.m. (MST) with Friday evening's match scheduled to be simulcast on KBYU and BYU-TV.
