Lewis
University tops BYU, wins first NCAA championship
By Oscar Montealegre
On-line Forty-Niner
After
five games of fierce competition, Lewis
University was crowned champions of the
NCAA men’s national tournament by defeating
Brigham Young University in the fifth game,
15-12.
Lewis University was considered an underdog
in the tournament, but managed to beat Pepperdine
in the semifinals and shocked BYU by defeating
the Cougars in five games with the majority
of the crowd at the Pyramid supporting BYU.
“I am having a hard time to sink this in.
It does not get any better than this. Determination
is the only term that can describe my team,”
Lewis University head coach David Deuser
said.
Lewis University competes in the Mid-West
Intercollegiate Volleyball Association.
The Flyers are a division II school but
because of the lack of volleyball teams
throughout the university system Lewis University
and other division II schools compete in
leagues and tournaments with division I
teams.
“The key was emotion. Lewis is a team that
plays with a lot of emotion. On our team
we have a lot of heart. Deep down we knew
we were could win this game, we created
pressure on ourselves to win this game and
we did,” said Fabiano Barrreto, one of Lewis
University most valuable players.
BYU was the top seeded team going into the
NCAA Volleyball Championship and in the
semifinals game the Cougars showed their
dominance by defeating Penn State in four
games.
In the finals BYU won the first game 44-42
in an emotional game that indicated the
type of match the crowd was about to see.
With BYU fans overwhelming the Lewis University
supporters, BYU had total control and the
momentum after the first game. Most people
would have thought that Lewis University
would not be able to come back after losing
the grueling first game considering the
numerous opportunities the Flyers had squandered.
“Thank goodness my team had the faith, because
it enabled them to win tough games with
their backs on the wall. Our philosophy
this year is that we just execute, if we
execute then my team will be ok. Also, if
I could get a dime for every time I say
execute then I would be able to retire,”
Deuser said.
In the last game, which is played to 15
points [the first four games are to 30 points],
Lewis University jumped out to an early
lead after Barreto scored a kill that escalated
the Flyers lead to 8-3.
With the score 10-5, BYU mounted an incredible
comeback and was able to cut the deficit
to only two points after Luka Slabe executed
a ferocious spike delivered from the soft
hands of Brazilian Carlos Moreno.
Lewis did not fold, instead they answered
with two consecutive points and had game
and match point with the score 14-12. BYU’s
Rafael Pall then sent a kill attempt out
of bounds, committing an attack error, that
gave Lewis University its first NCAA men’s
volleyball championship.
“I am glad we had a few minutes to cool
off, this was an emotional Final Four tournament
and an emotional last match. Lewis has a
great team and they played very well. We
did have some valiant comeback, but we lost
to a great coach and a great team,” said
Tom Peterson, head coach of BYU.”
This season was Tom Peterson’s first season
as BYU volleyball’s head coach. Previously,
he had won the national title at Penn State
in 1994.
“I thank the guys in the locker room for
making the first season at BYU unbelievable,”
Peterson said.
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