OGDEN -- After a slow start, the BYU women's volleyball turned it up a notch to defeat instate rival Weber State 3-1 (27-30, 30-24, 30-20, 30-24) Tuesday night at the Dee Events Center. With the win, the Cougars improve to 52-0 all-time versus the Wildcats.

BYU improves to 13-4 overall, while WSU drops to 5-10.

"It's always hard to play here," BYU coach Karen Lamb said. "The surroundings are difficult to get used to and Weber is always fired up to play us."

April Varner posted her second consecutive double-double with a match-highs of 15 kills and 16 digs. Lauren Richards displayed her stellar all-around game by dishing out 46 assists and collecting seven kills, six digs, four blocks and three aces.

Defensively, BYU put up 67 digs. Four players recorded double-digit digs, led by Varner's 16. Melanie Togo put up a career-high 15, followed by Carrie Bowers and Uila Crabbe, who had 12 a piece. Laura Nielsen had a match-high six blocks.

WSU was led by Stephanie Birch, who had 15 kills.

"We weren't as sharp tonight as we've been, but we weren't awful either," Lamb said. "We were a little flat-footed to start, but we were more effective as the match wore on."

BYU will return to Mountain West Conference play on Friday, when it hosts Utah at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                       2003 BYU Women's Volleyball Stats
            BYU Cougars vs Weber State (Oct 07, 2003 at Ogden, Utah)
    BYU Cougars            |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  RICHARDS, Lauren....  4|  7   3  14  .286| 46|  3   5|  0|  6| 0  4  0|  7
 6  METCALF, Lindsey....  1|  0   2   8 -.250|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  1  0|  0
 7  WILSON, Kim.........  4| 12   5  28  .250|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 1  1  0|  0
 8  BOWERS, Carrie......  4| 12   7  34  .147|  2|  0   1|  0| 12| 0  5  0|  0
 14 HARTSOCK, Lindsy....  4|  4   1   6  .500|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  3  0|  0
 18 NIELSEN, Laura......  3|  4   1  10  .300|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  6  0|  0
 3  VARNER, April.......  4| 15   6  44  .205|  3|  0   2|  1| 16| 0  1  0|  0
 4  TOGO, Melanie.......  4|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  1   0|  1| 15| 0  0  0|  0
 9  BROWN, Lexi.........  3|  5   3  14  .143|  0|  0   1|  0|  2| 1  3  0|  0
 12 CRABBE, Uila........  4|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  0| 12| 0  0  0|  0
 15 CASTILLO, Sahara....  3|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   2|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 59  28 160  .194| 52|  4  12|  2| 67| 2 24  0|  7
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 14.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  16  8  45  .178   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2  14 12  50  .040   BYU Cougars......... 27 30 30 30  13-4
   3  13  2  29  .379   Weber State......... 30 24 20 24  5-10
   4  16  6  36  .278
    Weber State            |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  Lindsay B. Harris...  4|  8   3  32  .156|  1|  1   2|  0|  1| 1  4  0|  1
 4  Jamie Kartchner.....  4|  0   2   3 -.667| 22|  0   1|  0| 11| 0  0  0|  1
 6  Kris Hollingsworth..  4|  6   7  27 -.037|  3|  0   0|  0|  4| 0  2  0|  0
 11 Stephanie K. Birch..  4| 15   7  41  .195|  0|  0   0|  1| 11| 0  1  0|  0
 13 Penny W. Argyle.....  4|  2   4   8 -.250|  0|  1   0|  0|  0| 1  2  0|  0
 14 Michelle Smith......  4| 11  13  46 -.043|  1|  0   2|  1| 14| 1  2  0|  0
 2  Kaylie Kortsen......  4|  6   4  18  .111|  0|  0   0|  0|  4| 0  1  0|  1
 5  Lisa Lykins.........  1|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 7  Ashley Hesleph......  1|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 9  Jill Alsup..........  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 10 Stacy White.........  4|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   0|  2|  9| 0  0  0|  0
 12 Kayli H. Valenzuela.  4|  0   0   1  .000| 13|  0   1|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  3
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 48  40 179  .045| 40|  2   7|  4| 59| 3 12  0|  6
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 9.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  16  8  44  .182   Site: Ogden, Utah (Dee Events Center)
   2   8 12  52 -.077   Date: Oct 07, 2003   Attend: 712   Time: 1:57
   3  14 13  42  .024   Referees: Ann L. Fruechte, Maile Jewkes
   4  10  7  41  .073

PROVO -- The BYU women's volleyball team will take a break in its Mountain West Conference schedule to play an early week match at Weber State Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Dee Events Center.

With wins over New Mexico and Air Force last week, BYU is 12-4 overall and currently rides a three-match win streak. The Cougars will look to extend their flawless record against the Wildcats to 52-0.

Despite being on the road for matches on Thursday and Friday, BYU is ready for its match-up with WSU.

"It feels a lot better to have had Saturday off," BYU coach Karen Lamb said. "Weber is always a hard place to play at, and they always seem to play harder against us, so we'll have to be ready."

During their current win streak, the Cougars have hit over .300 in each match. Employing a balanced attack, five Cougars are averaging over two kills a game in that span. On the year, Kim Wilson leads the team with 202 kills (4.04 kills per game).

Defensively, Lexi Brown has emerged in the last two weeks as BYU's most effective blocking presence. Brown is averaging 1.62 blocks per game and is contributing offensively, holding the team's top attack percentage at .422.

As a team BYU is out hitting opponents .263 to .182 and remains one of the nation's most effective blocking teams, averaging 2.89 blocks per game.

WSU has struggled this year, in part to a struggling offense, which is hitting at a .171 clip. True freshman setter Jamie Kartchner quarterbacks the attack and is averaging 9.51 assists per game this season.

"We need to constantly work on ourselves to improve," Lamb said. "The biggest thing is consistency. We can be a dominant team, but we have to find ways to be more consistent."

In its other match of the week, BYU will return to MWC play as it entertains Utah on Friday at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse.