LONG BEACH, Calif. -- After taking the first two games of the MPSF championship match, the BYU men's volleyball team fell apart as Pepperdine rallied to earn the conference's automatic NCAA Tournament berth on Saturday.

The Waves (16-10) scored the first four points and six of the first seven points of the deciding Game 5. Pepperdine was up 8-3 when the teams traded sides of the net. After the Waves took a 14-8 lead, the Cougars (25-5) could only score two more points before Pepperdine scored the final point to win, 15-8.

BYU must now hope to earn the at-large bid to the NCAA Men's Volleyball Final Four, which begins Thursday at UC Irvine. Penn State and Ohio State have already qualified for the tournament by winning their respective conference tournaments, along with Pepperdine. The at-large bid will be announced today, along with seedings and match times.

Senior All-MPSF First Team honorees Ivan Perez and Russell Holmes were named to the all-tournament team. Perez tallied his team-leading 10th double-double of the season with 20 kills and 12 digs. Holmes had 13 kills and five blocks and senior Jonathan Charette also had 20 kills.

"I was proud of my boys tonight," BYU head coach Shawn Patchell said. "It wasn't clicking for us, but we found ways to win the first two sets and never quit trying. I told them in the locker room that I was proud of the way they competed for such a long time."

BYU struggled from the service line in the first game, knocking eight serves into the net. The Cougars trailed most of the game, trailing by as many as five points, but tied it for the first time at 27-27 on a hitting error from Paul Carroll. BYU took its first lead of the game at 28-27 on Perez's second service ace.

Pepperdine tied the set again at 28-28, but the Cougars sided out and subsequently won the set 30-28 on a Charette kill off the Waves' block. The Cougars has no blocks in the set and hit .256 as a team, compared to Pepperdine's 3.5 total team blocks and .233 attack percentage.

The Cougars fell behind early again in the second game, trailing 9-3, but tied the game at 12-all. The Waves built another steady three-point lead, but BYU tied the game again at 24 and took the lead on the next point.

The two teams were tied for the last time at 27, but the Cougars won three of the next points to earn their second come-from-behind game win on the night.

Defensively, BYU produced much more with 5.5 total team blocks in the set, led by Trent Sorensen's four block assists. The Cougars hit .128 in the set, but held Pepperdine to .111.

Game 3 was different from the first two, only in that the scales tipped the Waves' way at the end. Pepperdine held a steady three-point lead midway through the game, but BYU came back to knot it up at 18-18.

Neither team took much of an advantage down the stretch, though. Down 28-27, the Cougars won the next two points to earn a match-point opportunity. BYU did not close the match on that chance and Pepperdine won the game 32-30, hitting .350 as a team to BYU's .381.

Again, the Cougars fell behind by five points in the fourth game, going down 16-11. Sophomore setter Reed Chilton checked into the match in an attempt to change the pace of play and shift momentum back in BYU's direction. The two teams traded sideouts through the heart of the game to as Pepperdine built a 24-19 lead. The Waves remained in control of the game and had six set points before winning 30-27.

Those interested in purchasing tickets to the NCAA Men's Volleyball Final Four can visit the official tournament Web site at http://ucirvinesports.cstv.com/sports/m-volley/spec-rel/ucir-08-ncaa-mvolley.html