PROVO -- Led by a strong middle attack, the BYU women's volleyball team downed Weber State Tuesday in the Smith Fieldhouse to achieve its third straight three-game sweep. The Cougars posted dominating 30-15, 30-17, 30-16 scores in the non-league match against the Wildcats.

"I am very pleased with they way we played tonight," BYU coach Karen Lamb said. "We played loose but were aggressive. Offensively, we had a great night, especially in the middle."

The Cougars hit a season-high .489 as a team led by the middle-hitting duo of Lindsy Hartsock and Lexi Brown. Hartsock put down 10 kills on 13 attempts without making an error while Brown recorded 11 kills on 15 attempts with only one error. Hartsock's .769 attack percentage is a new season high while Brown's .667 success rate equaled her season best.

"Lauren (Richards) set us really well, giving us holes to hit through," Hartsock said. "We were able to establish the middle, which opened things up for the outsides."

Setter Lauren Richards put up 41 assists and had a team-leading four service aces. Freshman outside hitter Erica Lott took advantage of her sets with a match-high 15 kills and solid .357 hitting percentage. Senior April Varner led the team with nine digs while starting her third straight match at libero.

Each of the three games started with the Wildcats putting up some resistance before BYU broke away to claim the momentum. In game one, the Cougars turned an 11-7 lead into a 27-12 advantage on the way to the win. The Wildcats trailed by only one at 10-9 in game two before BYU went on a 10-1 run with Kim Wilson and Hartsock at the service line. The Cougars held an 11-8 edge in the third game before again pulling away.

BYU scored the last six points of the final game, with Richards earning her fourth ace on the final play. The Cougar serve game was strong, totaling 12 aces and only 13 service errors. The 12 aces equal the team's high for the season.

Weber State had only 22 kills compared to the Cougars' 56 while being held to a.077 team attack percentage. Kolbie Murphey led the Wildcats, who fall to 2-15 on the year, with five kills.

The Cougars will now return to Mountain West Conference action, hosting San Diego State Friday at 5 p.m. and UNLV Saturday at 7 p.m. The Cougars are 8-6 on the year and 2-1 in MWC play.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                        Brigham Young University Cougars
                  Weber State Wildcats vs Brigham Young Cougar
                     (Oct 05, 2004 at BYU  Provo Ut 84602)
    Weber State Wildcats   |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  KORTSEN, Kaylie.....  3|  4   2  16  .125|  0|  0   0|  2|  3| 0  2  0|  0|   5.0
 3  HARRIS, Lindsay.....  3|  2   2  11  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  3  0|  0|   3.5
 6  MURPHEY, Kolbie.....  3|  5   5  18  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  2  0|  0|   6.0
 10 WHITE, Stacy........  2|  3   3   9  .000|  0|  0   1|  2|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   3.0
 11 HENRY, Ashley.......  3|  3   3  11  .000|  0|  0   0|  3|  5| 0  3  0|  0|   4.5
 12 VALENZUELA, Kayliann  3|  0   0   0  .000| 19|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  1  1|  1|   0.5
 5  THORPE, Kaytie......  2|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  1|  2| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 7  GAVIN, Erin.........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   1|  2|  4| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 8  NIELSEN, Melissa....  2|  1   0   6  .167|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0|   1.5
 14 ELLIS, Kim..........  1|  1   1   2  .000|  0|  0   0|  1|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 15 WEBSTER, Brittnee...  2|  3   0   5  .600|  0|  0   2|  1|  3| 0  0  0|  0|   3.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 22  16  78  .077| 20|  1   5| 12| 19| 0 12  1|  1|  29.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 6.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1   8  6  28  .071   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2   7  6  29  .034   Weber State Wildcats (0) 15 17 16  2-15; 1-3 BSC
   3   7  4  21  .143   Brigham Young Cougar (3) 30 30 30  8-6; 2-1  MWC
    Brigham Young Cougar   |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  RICHARDS, Lauren....  3|  4   1   7  .429| 41|  4   3|  0|  8| 0  1  1|  1|   8.5
 6  METCALF, Lindsey....  3|  5   0  11  .455|  6|  3   3|  0|  0| 0  2  1|  0|   9.0
 7  WILSON, Kim.........  2|  6   4  13  .154|  0|  2   2|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0|   8.0
 9  BROWN, Lexi.........  3| 11   1  15  .667|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  3  0|  0|  12.5
 10 LOTT, Erica.........  3| 15   5  28  .357|  0|  0   2|  0|  2| 0  2  0|  0|  16.0
 14 HARTSOCK, Lindsy....  3| 10   0  13  .769|  0|  2   0|  0|  1| 0  2  0|  0|  13.0
 1  GOODMAN, Chelsea....  2|  4   0   4 1.000|  0|  1   3|  0|  3| 0  1  0|  0|   5.5
 2  KIHOLM, Mandi.......  1|  1   0   1 1.000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 3  VARNER, April.......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  1|  9| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 12 PARKER, Catherine...  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0|   0.5
 16 EVANS, Lindsey......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  0|  7| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 56  11  92  .489| 49| 12  13|  1| 32| 0 12  2|  1|  74.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 6.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  20  3  32  .531   Site: BYU  Provo Ut 84602 (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  20  4  35  .457   Date: Oct 05, 2004   Attend: 1120   Time: 1h 25m
   3  16  4  25  .480   Referees: Bruce Grant, Teri Jackson, Karen Marshall
                                         1   2   3 Total
                        Tie scores       1   0   0     1
                        Lead changes     2   1   1     4

PROVO -- The Cougars return home this weekend for a busy schedule that includes instate rival Weber State on Tuesday and Mountain West Conference foes San Diego State and UNLV on Friday and Saturday. At 2-1 in the league, tied for third, and 0-2 against instate squads, BYU hopes to make a statement against all three teams.

"We want to keep getting better at everything we're doing," said BYU head coach Karen Lamb. "All of these teams are pretty good, but if we take care of things on our side of the net, we'll have a successful week."

BYU went 2-1 on the road last week as they fell in five games to Utah State on Tuesday but rebounded to sweep both New Mexico and Air Force Thursday and Saturday respectively. The 3-0 victory over the Lobos marked the 19th straight sweep BYU has recorded against New Mexico, dating back to 1995.

Junior Lexi Brown recorded double-digit kills in all three matches while sophomore Lindsy Hartsock put up 11 blocks against both Utah State and New Mexico. In fact, BYU's 21 team blocks against the Lobos rank as the eighth-highest single-match blocking total in BYU history. Lauren Richards also excelled last week as she recorded a career-high .700 hitting percentage against Air Force.

"We're really working on winning that third game and putting the match away early," said Lamb. "We want to take care of the basics and not let the match get out of control."

Nationally, the Cougars continue to make their presence known as they are 23rd in the nation in blocking and 25th in hitting percentage as of the latest rankings released on Sept. 26. BYU leads the MWC in the blocking category and is second only to Colorado State in offensive efficiency.

The Weber State match-up will begin Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. The Cougars will take on the Aztecs Friday evening at 5 p.m. before the BYU home football game and then face off against the Rebels Saturday night at 7 p.m. Live stats for all three matches can be accessed by going to the schedule page of the BYU Women's Volleyball home page at http://www.byucougars.com/volleyball_w/. Despite a 3-4 home record this season, the Cougars are optimistic about their chances in this week's match-ups. Here's a look at the teams that will take the floor against BYU:

WEBER STATE

The 'Cats are now 2-14 on the season and 1-3 in Big Sky play after being swept last week, falling in four games to No. 22 Utah and losing conference road matches at Eastern Washington and Portland State. They have lost four straight matches heading into this week.

Injuries have plagued the Wildcats all season long, contributing to their tough year. Setter Shelby Walford will miss the rest of the season with a broken toe. Outside hitter Lindsay Phillips missed four straight matches with an knee injury. Sophomore Kim Ellis played in all three matches. Ellis, has now played in the last five matches, after sitting out the first 11 with an injury.

The Wildcats are led by senior middle blocker Lindsey Harris who averages 2.33 kills per game. BYU has never lost a match to the Wildcats, owning a 52-0 series advantage.

SAN DIEGO STATE

The Aztecs have had a rough start in 2004, losing their first 14 straight matches before finally coming up with a win last week against Wyoming to move to 1-14 on the year and 1-2 in the Mountain West Conference. However, three of their losses came at the hands of ranked teams as they fell to then-No. 17 Arizona to open the season, then-No. 18 UC Santa Barbara and then-No. 9 Colorado State.

San Diego State is led by sophomore outside hitter Melissa Stapley who averages 3.26 kills per game, good enough for ninth in the MWC. Junior Ashley Bowker is fourth in the Conference with 1.31 blocks per game and freshman Aime Cordeiro ranks fifth in digs (3.60).

BYU owns a 27-15 series advantage over the Aztecs.

UNLV

At 2-1 in MWC play , the Rebels are currently tied with BYU for third in the Mountain West. UNLV split in two matches last week, defeating the Wyoming Cowgirls in five but losing to Colorado State in four to move to 8-5 on the season.

The Rebels are led by Bulgarian freshman Maria Aladjova, who averages 4.04 kills per game, leading the MWC. Freshman Jada Walker also leads the league with 4.61 digs per game. UNLV currently tops the Conference in service aces per game (1.90) and digs per game (18.96) while coming in second in assists (14.73) and kills (16.08).

The Cougars are 13-2 all-time against the Rebels.