Brigham Young upset 18-time champion and perennial favorite UCLA to claim its second National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship in three years. The Cougars downed the Bruins, 30-26, 30-26, 32-30 in front of a crowd of 4,807 at the Pyramid in Long Beach, California, and became only the third team in the history of the National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship not from California to have won the title.

The second game played out much like the first, with UCLA playing catch-up. Brigham Young pulled ahead at 25-23 with a triple block by Mike Wall, Mac Wilson and Luka Slabe. Another 4-0 run squashed the Bruins' efforts to tie the match.

With a two-game deficit, the Bruins fought back in game three. The game was tied at 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23. Then, UCLA rallied for a 28-27 lead behind a Scott Morrow kill and was on the brink of victory. But Wall wasn't about to let that happen. He tied the game with yet another kill. Brigham Young moved ahead and into the winner's circle.

"You could feel Brigham Young's block becoming a bigger and bigger factor," UCLA head coach Al Scates said. "They're the best blocking team in the country."

Brigham Young head coach Carl McGown said, "It was great to win a championship in 1999 when we should have won it, but it's an even better feeling to win it when the odds weren't so much in our favor, and to win it against the best of the best...it's such a great feeling."

The semifinals saw a rematch of last year's title game between UCLA and Ohio State. The Bruins were winners, 30-21, 30-20, 22-30, 30-24. In the other semifinal, Brigham Young beat a tough Penn State squad, 30-28, 28-30, 30-26, 30-26.

The all-tournament team consisted of Jose Quinones of Penn State, Adam Naeve and Morrow from UCLA, and Lebron, Acosta and Wall of Brigham Young. Wall also was named the most outstanding player of the tournament.

Championship