PROVO -- The Cougars came up with a much-needed victory Wednesday night against the visiting Notre Dame Fighting Irish, winning an emotional five-game match in preparation for Saturday's showdown with No. 14 Utah.

"We refused to lose tonight," said sophomore Lindsy Hartsock, the nation's third-ranked blocker. "It was just not an option for us. We needed the momentum and we needed the win. We are ecstatic."

The win did not come easy as the Cougars had to fight through a tough Irish team that was coming off of a sweep of Utah the previous night. Both teams came out hungry in game one as the Cougars led early by as many as five but the Irish fought back to tie the game at 11. From there, the squads traded points until a Lauren Richards kill gave the Cougars their first lead since 13-12 at 28-27. However, Notre Dame proved to be too stubborn for BYU and took a 30-29 advantage. A long rally gave the Irish the victory at 31-29.

In game two, both teams once again stayed close with BYU leading most of the way. At 24-22, a kill by Erica Lott sparked a 7-1 run to end the game 30-23 in favor of the Cougars. Lindsy Hartsock recorded five blocks in the game after being shutdown in the first game.

Game three featured runs by both teams as they traded four and five point spurts. However, the second half was all Notre Dame as the Irish went on a 12-3 run to take the victory at 30-20. The Cougars recorded their lowest hitting percentage of the night in game three as they managed just 13 kills with eight errors to hit .139.

Another battle ensued in game four as the Cougars simply refused to go down to defeat. At .362 hitting on 21 kills, the Cougar offense fired on all cylinders in taking a 30-26 win. Kim Wilson and Erica Lott each notched six kills in the game while Lindsey Evans picked up six digs to force a fifth game.

With the energy high in the Smith Fieldhouse, Hartsock took control of game five early, recording three kills and three blocks in the first nine points of the game to give the Cougars a 7-2 lead. The Irish slowly climbed back into the game, at one point coming within two at 13-11. But BYU would not let go, pushing hard for the final two points and scoring a 15-11 victory.

"These girls deserve all the credit," said BYU head coach Karen Lamb. "We were especially committed to playing defense tonight and we refused to let the ball go down. I am extremely happy."

Several Cougars came up big in the win as four players recorded double-digit kills and four players recorded double-digit digs. Lott led all players with 19 kills, tying her career-high, while Wilson notched 18, Lexi Brown posted 16, tying her season-high, and Hartsock had 12 as well as leading the Cougars with a .478 hitting percentage. On the defensive side, Richards and Lindsey Metcalf each had 14 digs, tying Richards' season-high, with Evans contributing 13 and Stacie Powell adding 11. Richards also put up a season-high tying 62 assists to record her third-straight double-double. Finally, Hartsock, the nation's third-ranked blocker, tied her career-high with 12 blocks on the night.

Up next for the Cougars is No. 14 Utah in Salt Lake on Saturday, whom the Cougars lost to in four games in Provo at the end of September. BYU is 4-3 in the Mountain West Conference while Utah leads the MWC at 7-0. Start time for that match is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Crimson Court. Fans can find a link for live video on the BYU Women's Volleyball home page at http://www.byucougars.com/volleyball_w/.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                        Brigham Young University Cougars
            Notre Dame vs Brigham Young (Oct 20, 2004 at Provo, UT)
    Notre Dame             |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  LOOMIS, Emily.......  5| 13   2  33  .333|  0|  0   0|  1|  0| 2  1  0|  0|  15.5
 6  KELBLEY, Lauren.....  5| 12  11  39  .026|  0|  0   1|  0|  4| 1  1  0|  0|  13.5
 8  TARUTIS, Ashley.....  5|  2   0   5  .400| 38|  2   2|  1|  3| 0  0  0|  2|   4.0
 10 STASIUK, Adrianna...  5| 13   5  40  .200|  1|  3   5|  3| 13| 0  2  0|  0|  17.0
 11 HERNDON, Danielle...  5|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   1|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 12 BREWSTER, Lauren....  5| 14   5  35  .257|  2|  1   3|  0| 11| 1  2  0|  0|  17.0
 3  BURRELL, Kelly......  5|  0   0   1  .000|  9|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  3  0|  0|   1.5
 4  HENICAN, Meg........  5|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   1|  0| 15| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 5  HEINTZMAN, Ellen....  1|  0   2   2-1.000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 9  COOPER, Carolyn.....  5|  5   5  21  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 1  5  1|  0|   8.5
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  5| 59  30 176  .165| 53|  6  13|  5| 51| 5 14  1|  2|  77.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 12.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  14  2  32  .375   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  4  5  TEAM RECORDS
   2   9 10  43 -.023   Notre Dame.......... (2) 31 23 30 26 11  10-6
   3  14  5  34  .265   Brigham Young....... (3) 29 30 20 30 15  11-8, 4-3
   4  16  8  48  .167
   5   6  5  19  .053
    Brigham Young          |     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....  5|  6   4  20  .100| 62|  1   3|  0| 14| 0  6  0|  3|  10.0
 6  METCALF, Lindsey....  5|  3   1  12  .167|  5|  0   1|  1| 14| 1  2  0|  1|   5.0
 7  WILSON, Kim.........  5| 18   6  37  .324|  0|  1   2|  3|  5| 0  2  0|  0|  20.0
 9  BROWN, Lexi.........  5| 16   6  32  .312|  0|  1   3|  0|  3| 0  2  0|  0|  18.0
 10 LOTT, Erica.........  5| 19  11  45  .178|  0|  1   5|  0|  3| 1  4  1|  0|  23.0
 14 HARTSOCK, Lindsy....  5| 12   1  23  .478|  1|  0   3|  0|  3| 0 12  1|  0|  18.0
 1  GOODMAN, Chelsea....  5|  0   0   1  .000|  1|  1   1|  0|  7| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 2  KIHOLM, Mandi.......  1|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 3  VARNER, April.......  1|  0   1   2 -.500|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 16 EVANS, Lindsey......  5|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  2| 13| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 17 POWELL, Stacie......  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   2|  0| 11| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  5| 74  30 173  .254| 69|  5  20|  6| 74| 2 28  2|  4|  95.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 16.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  18  7  38  .289   Site: Provo, UT (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  14  8  37  .162   Date: Oct 20, 2004   Attend: 1693   Time: 2h 30m
   3  13  8  36  .139   Referees: ANNETTE KOTTLE, MAILE JEWKES, KAREN MARSHALL
   4  21  4  47  .362
   5   8  3  15  .333
                                         1   2   3   4   5 Total
                        Tie scores      13   6   9   6   1    35
                        Lead changes     8   4   4   2   2    20

PROVO -- The Cougars will step out of Mountain West Conference play this week to host an unfamiliar foe as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish come to town Wednesday night for only the second time in the program's history. At 10-8 overall and 4-3 in the MWC, BYU hopes to gain some momentum before heading to No. 14 Utah on Saturday.

"Notre Dame is always a good team," said BYU head coach Karen Lamb. "We need to keep improving, be more disciplined and take care of the details. Our focus is on playing consistently."

Match time for the Cougar-Irish battle is set for 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse. Fans of the Cougars can see the action live on KBYU or BYUTV, available on the Dish Network and DirecTV Plus. Live stats will be available on the BYU Women's Volleyball home page at http://www.byucougars.com/volleyball_w/.

BYU and Notre Dame have faced off only three times previous to this week's contest, with the last matchup coming in 2000. The Cougars hold a 2-1 series advantage in those matches, including a 1-0 record at home.

The 9-5 Fighting Irish, ranked No. 23 in the preseason poll, will be a tough test for the Cougars. Notre Dame is one of only two Division I teams to return three AVCA All-Region and Honorable Mention All-America honorees. Emily Loomis is now 12th all-time at Notre Dame with 1,139 career kills. Lauren Brewster, who led the nation in blocking last year with 1.68 per game, has recorded double-digit kills in the last 12 straight matches. Lauren Kelbley leads the Irish in kills with 3.91 per game and has recorded 20-plus kills on four separate occasions so far this season.

Notre Dame also welcomes the contributions of freshman Adrianna Stasiuk, who has been named the Big East Rookie of the Week the past two weeks.

The midweek matchup is a chance for the Cougars to rebound from a tough weekend on the road. BYU dropped two MWC matches with losses at Wyoming and at then-No. 7 Colorado State. BYU came out strong against the Cowgirls, taking the first game 30-27 but could not capitalize on the early lead, losing the next three games, 28-30, 31-29, 27-30. Lexi Brown and Erica Lott led the Cougars with 16 kills apiece while Lauren Richards recorded her fifth double-double on the year with 10 kills and 55 assists.

In the second half of the Front Range trip, BYU was swept in Fort Collins by the Rams, the first three-game loss of the year for the Cougars. BYU managed just .147 hitting and was out-blocked for only the second time this season. Lott was the only Cougar to record double-digit kills with 13 while Richards once again doubled up with 28 assists and 10 digs.