Call it a short-term memory loss. Or, rather, call it BYU.
The Special Events Arena crowd loudly vocalized its anti-Cougar sentiments in the first semifinal of the Mountain Regional last night, rallying behind the Tigers.
It wasn't enough to prevent BYU from prevailing over UOP, 15-7, 8-15, 15-4, 13-15, 15-13, to set up a rematch of the WAC Tournament championship between the Cougars and the Wahine tonight.
"I would think they (the crowd) would like a WAC team," said Gale Oborn Johnson, whose 19 kills and 13 digs helped carry the team to within a step of next week's final four.
That was about the only thing Johnson misread during the 2 hour, 16 minute match. Thanks to the tough serving of Andrea Petrilli and the big block of 6-foot-2 Amy Steele and 5-11 Caroline Steuer during the 17-minute Game 5, the Cougars ran their national-best winning streak to 25.
"Back at the end of September, after we took a little trip to San Diego that wasn't very good for us, Gale told the team we were not going to lose again," said BYU coach Elaine Michaelis. "The team took up the challenge and Gale has led us to that competitive drive and belief that we could do it."
The Cougars lost on consecutive nights to San Diego State and the University of San Diego. They haven't lost since.
As they did when playing Hawaii two weeks ago, the Cougars let Game 4 slip away and trailed in the rally scoring Game 5. Petrilli served for four points for an 11-8 lead.
Two weeks ago, Pacific beat Long Beach State in Game 5 by scoring seven straight points after falling behind, 13-8. This time, the Tigers got as close as 13-13 but saw a hitting error and a net violation end their season at 26-7.
"I don't think we ever felt we were in control," said Pacific coach John Dunning, whose last final four appearance was a loss in the 1990 final to UCLA. "I thought they kept the pressure on us pretty well for the whole game. The difference from when we last saw them (a 3-1 UOP win on Sept. 6) has to do with confidence."
The Cougars (27-6) are also a lot healthier. BYU opened the year 2-6, struggling with a freshman setter and the recuperating Johnson (broken foot) and Steele (shoulder surgery).
"I knew that we would be good but that it would take us a while to get there," said Johnson, MVP of the WAC Tournament. "We had the potential, it was just a matter of putting it all together."
Steele finished with match-highs of 22 kills and seven blocks. Steuer added 15 kills to go with her five blocks.
UOP got 19 kills from Addie Hauschild and 17 from Liina Veidemann.
"Two weeks ago, we weren't even ranked in the Top 25," said Michaelis. "For us to be in the Elite 8 is a great tribute to this team."
As for the crowd rooting for Pacific, Michaelis said, "Being BYU, we're used to that here."
Kills-BYU (72): Amy Steele 22, Gale Oborn Johnson 19, Caroline Steuer 15. UOP (74): Addie Hauschild 19, Liina Veidemann 17, Elsa Stegemann 14, Tracy Chambers 10.
Digs-BYU (54): G. Johnson 13, Korie Rogers 10, Anna-Lena Smith 10. UOP (53): E. Stegemann 12, L. Veidemann 10.
Blocks-BYU (4 solo/22 assist): A. Steele 1/6, C. Steuer 1/4, K. Rogers 0/5, Rachel Green 0/5, G. Johnson 2/1. UOP (1 solo/14 assist): A. Hauschild 0/4, Jennica Smith 1/1.
Aces-BYU (7): K Rogers 3. UOP (6): J. Smith 3, T. Chambers 2.
Assists-BYU (64): A.L. Smith 59. UOP (65): Sacha Caldemeyer 64.
T-2:16