"I'm so happy," BYU outside hitter Fernando Pessoa said. "It's so unbelievable. It's been a great year. A finish like that, oh, my gosh, it's so beautiful."

The Cougars entered the NCAA final four as the top-ranked team and carrying the painful memory of last year's loss to Lewis in the title match.

"That was such a tough loss," BYU setter Carlos Moreno said. "I feel sick thinking about it. I said to myself, 'There's no way we're going to lose again. No way.' I did not want to think about going through such pain again."

The Cougars had won the three previous meetings between the teams this season, including last week's title match of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament.

But the second-seeded 49ers, behind opposite hitter Scott Touzinsky's sizzling serves, dominated Games 1 and 3. In the first-to-15 fifth game (which must be won by two points), the 49ers led 10-6 and 13-11, and served for championship point two times.

"You can't get any closer to it and not win it," Long Beach coach Alan Knipe said. "You can't make it any more difficult."

And yet the Cougars, as they have done the entire season, showed that even at sea level, they could pull a miracle out of thick air.

"Maybe it's because we've been through this before or maybe it's a team of destiny or whatever it is," BYU coach Tom Peterson said. "But it sure doesn't show up in stats what you have inside."

After the score was tied at 17, BYU's Moreno parlayed a shanked pass into a long set to left-side hitter Jonathan Alleman, who ricocheted a kill off a double-block.

At match point, Long Beach's Touzinsky's line shot struck the right antenna. Touzinsky, fighting back tears and frustration, buried his face in the net.

Meanwhile, the Cougars began to celebrate. Libero Shawn Olmstead raised the wooden championship trophy over his head and raced in circles.

Victor Batista, whose demonstrative motions induced jeers the entire tournament, stood in dazed silence.

"Sometimes when things go wrong, I'll smile, to give the team hope," Batista said. "This smile" — he pointed to his face — is because I'm so happy."

BYU's Pessoa said: "We put a lot on the line. We sacrificed a lot. ... We weren't going to let a championship slip away. If we had to hit our heads against the wall to save a ball, we would."

But the Cougars' third national title did not come easily. Last week's match between the teams was in the high altitude of Provo, Utah. The 49er jump servers — Touzinsky and outside hitters Jeff Wootton and Nathan Hagstrom — admittedly were cautious in that match, wary of hitting hard in conditions in which the ball sailed.

But at Honolulu's sea level, the 49ers promised the strategy would change. In Game 1, Touzinsky blasted his jump serves. He ripped four aces; the 49ers scored 11 points when he was serving. Most alarming for the Cougars was their two best passers — Olmstead and Pessoa, a converted libero — were deep when Touzinsky served.

Said Pessoa: "The ball was coming with all types of curves. ... What can you do? The point is: Can Touzinsky serve like that for five games?"

In the first play of Game 2, Pessoa passed Touzinsky's serve, leading to Michael Burke's slam — and the tone had changed.

"We're a team that didn't give up once this season," Olmstead said. "We've always believed in each other. Your word here for family is 'ohana. We're a family."