Throughout the year, after nearly every match, BYU men’s volleyball coach Tom Peterson asked his team a question: Do you think the way you played tonight would be good enough to win an NCAA championship match?
But when it came time to play that match, the Cougars played below their usual level, allowing little Lewis University from the barely-on-the-map town of Romeoville, Ill., to win the championship match.
Lewis’ 42-44, 30-27, 30-21, 23-30, 15-12 win gave the school its first men’s volleyball championship. It was also the first title for a team from the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association-and just the second time that a non-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation team won the national title.
The loss ended a remarkable year for BYU’s program that had entered the season with many question marks, after losing legendary coach Carl McGown to retirement and All-Americans Mike Wall and Joaquin Acosta to graduation.
With a new coach and no marquee players, BYU still found a way to win the MPSF Tournament and earn the top seed in the national tournament.
Meanwhile, several stars emerged from the team without any stars.
Opposite hitter Jonathon Alleman, a junior, and sophomore setter Carlos Moreno both earned second team All-American citations.
But the season also saw an unusual development from the emotionally charged team, as the Cougars struggled continually in second night matches. On the year, BYU(23-7) finished 13-1 on the first night of a series or tournament, and 8-6 on the second night.
That, apparently, caught up with them again Saturday.
The Cougars hit .211 against Lewis, well below their season average of .346. The Cougars also committed 70 errors, including 39 attack errors.
“There were little things that we missed too many times to lose this match,” BYU outside hitter Luka Slabe said. “The errors killed us. There was no free pass, or we would go and not have a perfect pass in crucial moment, in the net, foot call on a serve, etc. With little things it matters a lot.”
But even then, BYU still had a chance at the end.
After winning an epoch first game, BYU fell behind early in all four of the next games.
The Cougars rallied to win the fourth but its rally from a six-point deficit in the fifth game fell short.
Down 10-4 and looking dead, BYU suddenly came to life. Rafael Paal started the rally with a kill followed by a Lewis attack error.
After Lewis scored on a BYU miscue, Alleman made one of his brilliant back row kills, which was followed by another Lewis attack error and a block by BYU’s Michael Burke to trim the lead to 11-9.
BYU would later close the gap to 12-11 on two consecutive kills by Luka Slabe. The Cougars suddenly had momentum and the title seemed to be within grasp, but then Lewis took over.
A kill by Lewis star Gustavo Meyer stemmed the rally and BYU’s last point came on a net violation against the Flyers. The Flyers got the last two points and celebrated their first-ever title.
“It was an emotional Final Four and an emotional last match,” Peterson said. “In the fifth game, it’s hard to know how things will end up or what will happen. We were up and down, and the momentum kept shifting. They ended up on top at the end, but it could have gone the other way.”
For their part, the Flyers were electric on the night.
Its star Gustavo Meyer, who earned player of the tournament honors, had 21 kills. Fabiano Barreto added 18 kills and a fiery disposition that gave his team an emotional lift.
The Flyers’ Kevin Miller had 11 kills.
“Determination is the only word I can use to describe my team throughout the tournament,” Lewis coach Dave Deuser said. “They are a hard working, dedicated group of guys and they got what they wanted.”
That determination included rebounding from a tough loss in game one, when BYU won the game 44-42.
BYU had nine game points before it finally won when Michael Burke and Jaime Mayol combined to block a Lewis kill. Lewis had six game points but never converted.
Lewis rebounded immediately, building a 22-12 lead in game two before BYU rallied to close the gap to 24-22, but the Flyers held on to win game two.
The Flyers then blew the Cougars out in game three and were doing so again in game four when they jumped out a commanding 12-7 lead. But the Cougars clawed back behind Slabe’s kills and two blocks by Carlos Moreno to tie the game at 15.
Then Paal stumped the Flyers with his exquisite serving, getting two aces and forcing Lewis to make some bad passes when it could control his serve. BYU scored six points on Paal’s service turn and went on to win game four, 30-23, setting up game five.
Lewis took the early lead in game five when three BYU attack errors and a Cougar violation gave the Flyers a 4-0 run and a 5-2 lead. After a kill by Paal, Lewis scored on kills by Miller and Barreto and an ace by Jame Elsea. After another Paal kill, Lewis scored on a BYU error and a kill by Miller to take the 10-4 lead it had when BYU started to rally.
Rafael Paal led BYU with 20 kills and a school-record five aces. Alleman added 18 kills. Both players earned spots on the All-Tournament team.
BYU will return a loaded team next season. Alleman and Moreno will be All-American candidates next season, and sophomore middle blocker Michael Burke could be an All-American possibility as well.
Middle blocker Chris Gorny and libero Fernando Pessoa, who are both among the MPSF’s best at their positions, also return, giving BYU five players with all-conference potential.
The biggest question mark for next season will be at outside hitter where the Cougars lose Mayol, Paal and Slabe to graduation. If the Cougars can fill the void at that position and be more consistent, then a return to the title match next season is a real possibility.
But Peterson, for the moment, is just grateful that his players had the year they had.
“I just thanked our guys in the locker room for making this year a great experience. My first year at BYU was a great experience, a great year,” Peterson said. “Although it’s disappointing to lose, and it will hurt for awhile after seeing such good players lose, the players made it great for me to be here.”
