Lewis Beats Brigham Young to Win First Championship

Lewis University outlasted Brigham Young in five tense games Saturday to win the NCAA men’s volleyball title at Long Beach State.

The 42-44, 30-27, 30-21, 23-30, 15-12 victory in front of 4,317 at the Pyramid lasted 2 hours 45 minutes.

It was the first NCAA title for Lewis, a Division II school in Illinois, in any sport.

The match-winning point -- a service error by Brigham Young outside hitter Rafael Paal -- was typical of the way the match went as fatigue and concentration became major factors. The teams combined for 44 service errors and hit a collective .236.

Gustavo Meyer of Lewis, the tournament’s most valuable player, had a match-high 21 kills.

The first game, which took nearly an hour to complete, was the longest game in NCAA playoff history since rally scoring was introduced three seasons ago.

Brigham Young (23-7) was top-seeded and a big favorite to win its third national title since 1999.

Lewis, which was making its first title appearance, is only the second team from outside the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation to win a national men’s volleyball title.

-- Paul McLeod