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Struggling through his first year of college, Kamehameha alumnus Jaylen Reyes reached out to a lifetime friend.

The son of longtime Hawaii men’s volleyball assistant Tino Reyes, Jaylen, who was a freshman at Cal State Northridge, called up former UH head coach Mike Wilton, who was working at Brigham Young after leaving Hawaii in 2009.

With some help, Reyes decided to transfer to BYU in 2011 and will play in his second consecutive NCAA final four on Thursday.

After losing in the NCAA final last year to UC Irvine, BYU is back in the national semifinals as the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation champions.

The Cougars, who lost two All-Americans from last year’s team, will play the winner of a match between third-seeded Stanford and No. 6 seed Erskine.

"Going to college, you just dream of getting one chance to play in it and now it’s so cool that I get to go back and do it again," Reyes said moments after landing in Chicago on Tuesday. "A lot of people didn’t think we’d get to come back."

The Cougars (21-8) are the No. 2 seed after sweeping their way through the MPSF tournament, culminating in a dominating performance in a win over Stanford, which earned the league’s at-large bid.

It was a stunning turnaround from a four-match losing streak the Cougars had to end the regular season, beginning with two losses in Hawaii.

BYU was 18-2 in conference when it lost in five sets to a Rainbow Warriors team fighting for a playoff berth.

The Cougars came back and were swept the next night against UH before losing two the following week against UC Santa Barbara and UCLA to finish in a tie for first with Pepperdine.

"I think it was a whole bunch of things," said Reyes, the team’s starting libero. "Those teams were playing for their playoff lives and we clinched (the league) right before we got to Honolulu, so maybe it was just us taking our foot off the gas.

"When adversity hit, I don’t think we stayed together like we normally do. I felt like when we lost those games there was some inner conflict with all of us."

The Cougars were still where they wanted to be as the No. 1 seed going into the MPSF tournament and played like it.

BYU didn’t drop a set in beating USC, Santa Barbara and Stanford.

"We had this little skid and I think everyone started doubting us," Reyes said.

That doubt is a common theme that drives this BYU volleyball team, according to Reyes.

It was the same doubt the team felt after getting all the way to the national championship game last season before getting swept by the Anteaters.

"It was heartbreaking at the time and it was kind of weird because we all went our separate ways after the game because we’re already done with school at that point," Reyes said. "We didn’t come together as a team until our first meeting in August, but I think we all knew that a lot of people didn’t expect us to get back there."

Reyes has totaled 530 digs and 159 assists in 326 sets played over the past three years.

He sat out his only season at Cal State Northridge and thanks Wilton for getting him to transfer to BYU, which fits his personality a lot more.

"I’ve known (Wilton) since I was born and I knew he was going to be on the staff here, which made it more comfortable," Reyes said. "The way BYU coaches volleyball is the way I grew up playing volleyball and it’s worked out great."