The No. 2 BYU men's volleyball team clinched a share of the regular-season Mountain Pacific Sports Federation title this weekend with back-to-back sweeps over No. 10 USC in the Smith Fieldhouse.
And though victory was nice, the wins were more than just another victory on a Cougar schedule full of 'W''s.
Indeed, it was much deeper than that.
Years from now, the five graduating seniors on BYU's roster will look back at Saturday's match and reminisce on the fateful night they played their final home match of the regular-season.
Perhaps they will remember the lights, the sounds, the sights and the profound enthusiasm expressed by faithful fans thrilled to root-on arguably the finest volleyball team in the nation.
Perhaps Ivan Perez will recall the joy in his proud father's eyes, or the red, white and blue Puerto Rican flags held high by his devoted family who flew all the way to the United States to witness their brother play the sport he loves in the place he has talked so much about.
Perhaps Jon Charette will remember seeing, or at least hearing, his loyal buddies cheering loudly from the sidelines, taunting cocky opponents and waving shiny, laminated posters of his smiling face.
At any rate, after four years of blood, sweat and tears playing in front of Cosmo and the rest of the home-court crowd in the Fieldhouse, Saturday's contest was the last regular-season match for All-American outside hitter Perez, All-American middle-blocker Russell Holmes, opposite Jon Charette, setter Brian Congelliere and middle-blocker Trent Sorensen.
The competition was fierce and the stakes were high, but as the hungry Cougars sparred off against a battle-tested USC contingent, it was clear which team was more prepared to fight on.
"We've been working really hard and we're peaking at just the right time," BYU head coach Shawn Patchell said, with a twinkle in his eye and a colorful Hawaiian lei around his neck.
Though the Trojans of Southern California put forth a commendable effort trying to topple BYU's 23-4 dynasty, the cardinal and gold were no match for the valiant Cougars who destroyed USC in three-straight sets (30-22, 30-25, 30-22).
While all five seniors started the match and contributed significantly, it was Charette who led the aerial assault on the Trojans Saturday with 14 high-flying kills, while Sorensen garnered up the defense with an incredible season-high 10 blocks.
In Friday's feisty match-up, USC tried to capitalize on some tricky back-row sets and the high-flying exploits of star Juan Figueroa, but the crafty Cougars quickly caught on to their strategy and, with the help of some on-the-money serving by Charette, neutralized the USC attack, sweeping the Trojans (30-26, 30-24, 30-25).
How did they pull it off?
"We just did our homework," Holmes said. "We watched a lot of video and I think it helped us prepare for their quick offense."
He should know; he led BYU with 10 kills and four big block assists. Sorensen also pulled his weight with nine kills on 12 swings, one solo block, four block assists and only one block error.
As a team, BYU hit a potent .312 on the night with 10.5 total team blocks compared to USC's mere .177 percentage and 6.0 team-block outing.
"It really feels good," Sorensen said. "We went off with a bang and we're heading off to the playoffs running."
Because Long Beach State holds the tiebreaker over the Cougars, BYU is now the No. 2 seed in the upcoming MPSF tournament and will therefore host a quarterfinal match next Saturday against the winner of a play-in match between the No's. 7 and 8 seeds to be held Wednesday.
Tickets for the quarterfinal match will go on sale Tuesday to Cougar Club members and Thursday to the general public. All purchases can be made through the BYU ticket office.
