LOGAN -- The Cougars once again failed to capitalize on an early lead as they fell in five games to instate rival Utah State Tuesday night in Logan, dropping to 5-6 on the season.

BYU jumped out to an early lead in the match, winning the first two games 32-30 and 30-26. Despite hitting just .045 percent in the first game, the Cougar offense picked up in the second game, hitting .222 while the defense stifled the Aggies, allowing Utah State to hit a dismal .098 in the first game and .000 in the second.

However, the Cougars could not hold on to the two-game advantage as the Aggies came roaring back on their home court to win games four and five, 30-27 and 30-25, and force a fifth game, the fourth five-game match of the season for BYU. The Cougars are 1-3 in those matches.

Game five was a nail-biter as both teams battled for the victory. Though the game featured only one lead change, it was enough to give Utah State the 17-15 win.

"We did lots of good things tonight," said BYU head coach Karen Lamb. "We've just got to figure out how to win the third game and put a team away. We fought hard, but it's always hard to play here and it just didn't come together for us tonight."

Several Cougars had career nights in the loss. Junior Kim Wilson set a new career-high in digs with 20 as she led BYU in that category. Wilson also led the Cougars in kills for the eighth time this season and with 20 on the night, came within one kill of equaling her season high. Erica Lott also came within a single kill of matching her career high as she put down 18 for the Cougars.

True freshman Chelsea Goodman saw her first significant playing time this season as she played in the libero spot and picked up nine digs, a career-high. Setter Lauren Richards, along with quarterbacking the Cougar attack with 61 assists, set a career-high in blocks as she tallied seven.

Other Cougars contributors included Lindsey Metcalf with 15 digs, Lexi Brown with 11 kills and Lindsy Hartsock with 11 blocks. Overall, the Cougars stuffed the Aggies 21 times, the eighth-best single match blocking total in BYU's storied history.

"Kim (Wilson) started off cold but fought back into it and had a great night," said Lamb. "Lindsy (Hartsock) also gave us 11 blocks, which is awesome."

Despite the tough night, the Cougars will not have much time to contemplate the loss as they now travel to New Mexico for a Thursday night matchup with the Lobos. BYU has not lost a single game to New Mexico since 1995, piling up 18 straight sweeps of its Mountain West Conference foe. Game time for that match is set for 7 p.m.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                    Brigham Young Univ. Cougars - Volleyball
           Brigham Young vs Utah State (Sep 28, 2004 at Logan, Utah)
    Brigham Young          |     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  23  .130| 61|  4   5|  0|  6| 1  6  2|  4
 6  Metcalf, Lindsey....  5|  8   3  24  .208|  1|  0   1|  3| 15| 0  7  1|  0
 7  Wilson, Kimberly....  5| 20   9  57  .193|  0|  2   3|  0| 20| 1  3  2|  0
 9  Brown, Lexi.........  5| 11   4  32  .219|  0|  1   3|  0|  2| 0  6  1|  0
 10 Lott, Erica.........  5| 18   9  47  .191|  0|  1   1|  0|  5| 1  3  3|  0
 14 Hartsock, Lindsy....  5|  7   6  17  .059|  0|  0   1|  0|  4| 0 11  0|  0
 1  Goodman, Chelsea....  5|  0   1   1-1.000|  2|  0   0|  0|  9| 0  0  0|  1
 16 Evans, Lindsey......  5|  1   0   1 1.000|  1|  0   0|  2| 14| 0  0  0|  0
 20 Judkins, Jenna......  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
    TEAM................   |                 |   |       |  1|   |        |
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  5| 72  36 202  .178| 65|  8  14|  6| 76| 3 36  9|  5
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 21.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  13 11  44  .045   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  4  5  TEAM RECORDS
   2  15  7  36  .222   Brigham Young....... (2) 32 30 27 25 15  5-6
   3  19  8  50  .220   Utah State.......... (3) 30 26 30 30 17  3-7
   4  15  7  43  .186
   5  10  3  29  .241
    Utah State             |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  Orgill, Amanda......  5| 10   5  25  .200|  1|  3   1|  0|  6| 0  3  2|  0
 4  Arsenault, Dominique  5|  5   2  12  .250| 61|  1   1|  0| 12| 0  3  1|  2
 5  Forbush, Carolyn....  5| 11  10  40  .025|  0|  0   1|  3|  9| 0  0  0|  0
 7  Roth, Ingrid........  5| 14   2  28  .429|  0|  1   1|  0|  1| 0  5  2|  0
 11 Graybill, Erin......  5| 14   4  37  .270|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 1  4  1|  0
 16 Cernianska, Zuzana..  5| 15  10  56  .089|  0|  0   3|  3| 17| 0  3  1|  0
 1  Ale, Monarisa.......  5|  0   1   1-1.000|  0|  0   1|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  1
 3  Peterson, Kindy.....  4|  3   2  11  .091|  0|  0   0|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  0
 8  Fahnestock, Amanda..  1|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  1   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 12 Thoman, Kelsi.......  5|  0   0   1  .000|  5|  0   1|  2| 19| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  5| 72  36 212  .170| 67|  6   9|  8| 72| 1 18  7|  3
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 10.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  14 10  41  .098   Site: Logan, Utah (Smith Spectrum)
   2  10 10  42  .000   Date: Sep 28, 2004   Attend: 473   Time: 2:35
   3  18  6  51  .235   Referees: Daphne Nelson, Tom Givens
   4  19  7  50  .240
   5  11  3  28  .286

PROVO -- The Cougars are heading out of town this week hoping to improve on their 5-5 record with matchups against instate rival Utah State and Mountain West Conference foes New Mexico and Air Force.

BYU will first face the Aggies Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Logan, Utah, before playing at New Mexico on Thursday at 7 p.m. and at Air Force on Saturday at 7 p.m.

"We like to play all the Utah schools and win those instate rivalries," said BYU head coach Karen Lamb. "All three of these schools have good programs even though they're a little down this year. We know these will be competitive matches."

The battle for instate bragging rights actually began last Friday as BYU dropped its first Mountain West Conference game to then-No. 23 Utah in the Smith Fieldhouse despite a career-high night for Lindsey Evans, who recorded 21 digs, and a powerful performance by Kim Wilson, who led all players with 19 kills on .395 hitting.

Individual highlights are many for the Cougars so far this season as both veterans and newcomers have contributed to BYU's quest for victory.

A total of four Cougars currently rank in the top five in several MWC statistical categories. Sophomore middle blocker Lindsy Hartsock leads the Cougars and is second in the MWC in both hitting percentage (.410) and blocks per game (1.68). Wilson's all-star efforts have placed her third in the conference in kills per game with 3.63 and fifth in hitting percentage with a .345 mark. Returning All-MWC setter Lauren Richards currently tops the charts with 0.60 aces per game while redshirt freshman Erica Lott is tied for the third spot with 0.42 aces per game.

Wilson, Richards and Lott have also earned All-Tournament honors during the Cougar preseason at the Penn State Classic and BYU Mizuno Invitational.

Still, the Cougars are anxious to prove that they are better than their record.

"We're kind of frustrated right now, especially with our play at the end of matches," said Lamb. "The key for us is figuring out how to do great things without pushing too hard. We just need to play our game and not worry about trying to do too much."

This week BYU is looking to get back on the winning track. The Cougars have not lost consecutive conference matches since the 2002 season and are 0-1 on the road so far in 2004. The following is a look at the teams that will take the floor against the Cougars this week.

UTAH STATE

At 2-7, the Aggies are suffering through their worst start to a season since they began 1-8 in 1999. Utah State split its two matches last week, losing at Idaho but defeating UC Davis. Over the last five years, the Aggies are 40-16 at home but are 0-2 so far this season. Junior Zuzana Cernianska ranks fourth all-time in kills at Utah State.

BYU holds a 46-12 series advantage over the Aggies all-time. The Cougars barely escaped with the win last year in a tight five-game contest in Provo (26-30, 29-31, 30-24, 30-28, 15-12). Lauren Richards, Lexi Brown and Lindsey Metcalf all recorded double-doubles in the match.

NEW MEXICO

The Lobos return five starters from last year's 4-25 squad and at 6-6 have already won more games in 2004 than in the entire 2003 season. Senior Adah Burke leads the Mountain West Conference in digs per game with 4.71.

The Cougars are 54-7 all-time versus the Lobos, including wins in both meetings last season. In fact, the Cougars have not dropped a single game to New Mexico since 1995.

AIR FORCE

The Falcons return 10 letterwinners and four starters and are 4-6 overall in 2004. Last week, Air Force defeated Texas Pan-American in straight games but lost to Wyoming in four games and Colorado State in three to begin Mountain West Conference play 0-2.

BYU leads the relatively new series with a 12-1 overall record. The Cougars won both regular season matchups in 2003 and then defeated the Falcons again in the first round of the MWC Tournament.