PROVO -- In one of the toughest matches of the year against an undefeated team listed No. 26, the BYU Cougars dropped a five-game match to visiting Saint Mary's in front of the largest home crowd this season.

"We made some service errors, which really made the difference in the third game," said BYU head coach Karen Lamb. "We just need to be more consistent. We got a nice effort from some of our younger players. We are playing some tough teams, and I am encouraged about our prospects as they gain more experience."

Several Cougars had marquee nights as three players posted double-digit kills. Erica Lott notched 16 kills, her second-highest kills output of her career, as did Kim Wilson, the seventh time she has recorded double digits. Lindsy Hartsock had a career-high 12 blocks on the night and Stacie Powell, in just her second collegiate start, posted a career-high 12 digs.

BYU won everything but the game as the Cougars out-dug Saint Mary's 60-47, out-blocked them 15-10 and had 71 kills and a .308 combined hitting percentage compared to the Gaels' 55 kills and .110 hitting mark. But service aces once again, proved disastrous as BYU committed 16 while Saint Mary's only recorded 10. The Cougars have posted more service errors than their opponents in every game this season.

The Cougars dominated in game one, out-playing the Gaels in every aspect of the game to earn the 30-17 victory. BYU maintained its trademark offensive production as the Cougars posted a .323 hitting percentage and exhibited stifling defense in holding Saint Mary's to a -.029 percentage with 11 kills and 12 errors as well as posting five blocks.

The match only got better for the Cougars from there with game two being all BYU in a 30-14 victory, one of their most lopsided wins of the season. The Cougars picked up 19 kills in the game with only two errors to record an amazing .586 hitting percentage. On the other side of the net, the Gaels managed just seven kills and eight errors to once again post a negative hitting percentage (-.036).

Game three was tight as the Gaels tried to stave off the loss and climb back into the match. After getting down 13-9, Saint Mary's put together a 5-1 run to tie the game at 14. The two teams traded points from there with the Gaels maintaining a slight advantage, which proved to be enough to take game three 30-28.

In a huge role reversal, game four belonged solely to the Gaels as they held the Cougars to a dismal .025 hitting percentage and led by as many as 10 points. Despite fighting off four game points, the Cougars fell 30-23.

However, the Cougars were not about to give in. They roared back in game five and, in front of 1,775 screaming fans, took a 12-8 lead. But that would be all for BYU as the Gaels scored the next seven straight points to post a 15-12 victory.

With the loss, the Cougars drop to 5-3 on the season and will next be in action Saturday evening against No. 6 UCLA. At 6-2, the Bruins are coming off a five-game loss at Utah Friday night. The match will begin at 5 p.m. and conclude in time for kick-off of the BYU-USC football game at 8:15. Live stats will be available by going to the Schedule page of the BYU Women's Volleyball home page at byucougars.com.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                     Brigham Young University - Volleyball
  Saint Mary's College vs Brigham Young Univ. (Sep 17, 2004 at BYU PROVO, UT)
    Saint Mary's College   |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  BOGASON, Lindsey....  5| 17   8  42  .214|  4|  0   1|  0|  5| 0  1  0|  0
 5  BIBLE, Mandy........  5|  0   2   4 -.500| 48|  0   1|  0| 13| 0  2  0|  0
 11 SALZMAN, Kaui.......  5| 13   6  36  .194|  0|  0   3|  2|  7| 1  3  0|  0
 18 O'CONNOR, Stacey....  2|  2   1  11  .091|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0
 21 KOLKKA, Cassandra...  5|  3   7  14 -.286|  0|  2   0|  1| 10| 0  1  0|  0
 22 COVERDALE, Mariko...  5|  6   5  19  .053|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 1  2  0|  0
 2  STIDHAM, Melissa....  5|  6   7  23 -.043|  1|  3   5|  1| 10| 0  0  0|  0
 9  HOLLAND, Lauren.....  1|  0   1   2 -.500|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 10 KIRK, Christina.....  5|  8   0  13  .615|  0|  2   0|  0|  1| 2  2  0|  0
 13 HAYES, Chelsea......  2|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  1
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  5| 55  37 164  .110| 54|  7  10|  4| 47| 4 12  0|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 10.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  11 12  34 -.029   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  4  5  TEAM RECORDS
   2   7  8  28 -.036   Saint Mary's College (3) 17 14 30 30 15  9-0
   3  15  7  39  .205   Brigham Young Univ.. (2) 30 30 28 23 12  5-3
   4  13  8  42  .119
   5   9  2  21  .333
    Brigham Young Univ.    |     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....  5|  7   4  16  .188| 56|  2   6|  0|  8| 0  4  2|  3
 6  METCALF, Lindsey....  5|  9   3  19  .316|  4|  1   1|  2| 14| 0  5  1|  0
 7  WILSON, Kim.........  5| 16   3  37  .351|  4|  0   3|  2|  9| 0  3  0|  0
 9  BROWN, Lexi.........  5| 14   5  33  .273|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  3  0|  0
 10 LOTT, Erica.........  5| 16   6  33  .303|  1|  1   5|  0|  2| 0  1  0|  0
 14 HARTSOCK, Lindsy....  5|  9   1  21  .381|  1|  0   1|  0|  4| 2 10  0|  0
 16 EVANS, Lindsey......  5|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  9| 0  0  0|  0
 17 POWELL, Stacie......  5|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  3| 12| 0  0  0|  1
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  5| 71  22 159  .308| 66|  4  16|  7| 60| 2 26  3|  4
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 15.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  14  4  31  .323   Site: BYU PROVO, UT (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  19  2  29  .586   Date: Sep 17, 2004   Attend: 1775   Time: 2H 20M
   3  21  5  40  .400   Referees: DAPHNE NELSON, TERRI JACKSON, KAREN MARSHALL
   4   9  8  40  .025
   5   8  3  19  .263

BYU Welcomes #6 UCLA Into Provo

PROVO -- The Cougars continue a seven-game homestand this weekend as they co-host the BYU/Utah Challenge. With matches against Northern Colorado, Saint Mary's and #6 UCLA, BYU will look to improve its 4-2 season record.

"Each team we play this weekend will be good," said BYU head coach Karen Lamb. "We are going to have to be consistently good in every phase of the game. That's what good teams do -- they play their best game every night."

BYU is 2-1 at home this season after a Mizuno Classic showing in which the Cougars defeated Memphis and Central Florida but lost in five games to Oklahoma.

Redshirt freshman Erica Lott and junior Kim Wilson, both outside hitters, earned BYU Mizuno Classic All-Tournament Team honors over the weekend. Lott recorded double-digit kills in two of the three Mizuno matches with 13 against Memphis and a career-high 19 against Oklahoma. She also notched ten service aces for the Tournament. Wilson, who leads the Cougars in kills per game with 3.86, also recorded 13 kills against Memphis and 20 against Oklahoma, marking the second straight weekend that Wilson has recorded 20 or more kills in a match.

BYU will open the Challenge against Northern Colorado Friday morning at 10 a.m. All Provo District students will receive free admission to the match as school is not in session and a 2-for-1 pass for one of the two remaining weekend games.

The Cougars will then take on Saint Mary's Friday night at 7:30 p.m. and UCLA Saturday evening at 5 p.m. The Saint Mary's matchup will be featured on BYU Radio and live stats will be available for all matches by going to the schedule page of the BYU Women's Volleyball homepage at byucougars.com/volleyball_w.

The following is a look at the teams that will take the floor against BYU this weekend:

In just their second year of Division I status, the Northern Colorado Bears are 5-3 to start the 2004 season. The reigning Division I Independent National Champions have notched wins over BYU Mountain West Conference rivals Air Force and Wyoming while falling to New Mexico. Outside hitter Erin Deffenbaugh earned AVCA Independent National Player of the Week Honors along with Bears setter Corrinne Chapin, who picked up Setter of the Week accolades.

Saint Mary's comes to Provo a perfect 8-0 to start the 2004 season, the best start in school history, after notching wins over BYU opponent Utah State and then-No. 6 Stanford. The Gaels have won six consecutive non-conference tournaments dating back to the 2003 season and are listed No. 26 in this week's USA Today / CSTV Top 25 Coaches Poll.

The UCLA Bruins are looking to bounce back from a five-game loss at #11 Hawai'i last week after starting the season 6-0. The Bruins swept then-No. 15 Texas A&M and then-No. 17 Santa Clara and were ranked as high as No. 3 before suffering a setback at the hands of the Rainbow Wahine. UCLA is the only team the Cougars will face this season with which they have a losing series record at 5-22-1. Bruins head coach Andy Banachowski will be looking for his 970th win this weekend and is the NCAA Division I leader in overall victories, ahead of former BYU head coach Elaine Michaelis. BYU is 116-123 all-time against ranked opponents.