SALT LAKE CITY -- The University of Utah's hold BYU continued Saturday afternoon as the No. 14 Utes defeated the Cougars in three games to mark the tenth straight Ute victory over BYU.

"I thought we had a good game plan," said head coach Karen Lamb. "They didn't do anything we didn't anticipate; we just needed to make more plays."

Despite a valiant effort by BYU, the balls simply did not fall in the Cougars' favor. BYU was outdug, 33-49, for just the third time this season and is 1-2 in those matches. Service errors were also a problem for BYU as the Cougars failed to put the ball in play 14 times compared to the Utes' five service errors.

"When you play such close games and have as many service errors as we have lately, it's tough to win," Lamb said. "We've been working on it but we absolutely have to change that."

While the match was just the second three-game defeat of the year for the Cougars, BYU did not go down without a fight. The two squads stuck close in game one with neither team gaining more than a two-point advantage through most of the game. An Erica Lott kill followed by a Ute service error gave the Cougars a three-point advantage at 22-19. But Utah proved too tough, putting together an 11-2 run to send BYU to a 24-30 defeat.

Game two belonged to Utah as the Utes came out strong and forced BYU to play catch-up the entire way. The Cougars had their worst hitting efficiency of the day in game two as they managed just .161 percent on 10 kills and five errors.

BYU found its rhythm in game three as Jenna Judkins saw significant playing time at the setter position and the Cougars fought their way back into the match. BYU took a 23-22 lead on back-to-back kills by true freshman Chelsea Goodman and then came up with a kill by April Varner on a Utah game point to tie the score at 29-29. However, a Cougar service error gave the Utes a second game point, which was enough to give Utah the 31-29 game three win.

Junior Lexi Brown led the Cougars with 10 kills on the match while Utah's Liana Bortoto led all players with 19. Varner came off the bench to lead the Cougars in hitting percentage with a .429 mark on seven kills and one error. BYU's Lindsy Hartsock, the nation's No. 1 blocker, continued her dominance with seven blocks on the afternoon. Lindsey Evans led the Cougars in digs with nine.

With the loss, the Cougars now drop to 11-9 on the season and 4-4 in the Mountain West Conference. BYU will step out of conference play for a Tuesday matchup at Utah Valley State College at 7 p.m. before returning home to play Air Force and New Mexico on Friday and Saturday nights.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                        Brigham Young University Cougars
   Brigham Young vs #14 Univ. of Utah (Oct 23, 2004 at Salt Lake City, 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|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  RICHARDS, Lauren....  3|  1   1   8  .000| 32|  1   4|  0|  4| 0  3  1|  0|   3.5
 6  METCALF, Lindsey....  3|  6   1  14  .357|  1|  0   2|  0|  6| 1  2  1|  0|   8.0
 7  WILSON, Kim.........  2|  2   3  19 -.053|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0|   2.0
 9  BROWN, Lexi.........  3| 10   3  17  .412|  0|  2   1|  0|  2| 0  1  1|  0|  12.5
 10 LOTT, Erica.........  3|  7   4  22  .136|  0|  0   3|  1|  0| 0  1  0|  0|   7.5
 14 HARTSOCK, Lindsy....  3|  5   2  10  .300|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  7  1|  0|   8.5
 1  GOODMAN, Chelsea....  3|  3   2   8  .125|  0|  0   2|  2|  4| 0  0  0|  0|   3.0
 3  VARNER, April.......  2|  7   1  14  .429|  0|  0   1|  0|  3| 0  2  0|  0|   8.0
 16 EVANS, Lindsey......  3|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   0|  1|  9| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 17 POWELL, Stacie......  3|  1   0   1 1.000|  1|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 20 JUDKINS, Jenna......  1|  0   0   1  .000|  5|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 42  17 115  .217| 39|  3  14|  4| 33| 1 16  4|  0|  54.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 9.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  15  7  48  .167   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  10  5  31  .161   Brigham Young....... (0) 24 20 29  11-9, 4-4 MWC
   3  17  5  36  .333   Univ. of Utah....... (3) 30 30 31  16-3, 8-0 MWC
    Univ. of Utah          |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  TOONE, Amie.........  3|  1   2   6 -.167|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  3  0|  0|   2.5
 5  BORTOTO, Liana......  3| 19   7  37  .324|  0|  1   1|  0| 11| 0  0  0|  0|  20.0
 6  KARTCHNER, Kelsie...  3|  6   2  15  .267| 23|  0   2|  0|  7| 0  3  1|  0|   7.5
 8  NEUMEIER, Tracy.....  3|  0   0   4  .000| 27|  0   1|  0|  6| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 9  LEICHLITER, Danielle  3|  0   1   1-1.000|  1|  1   0|  1|  4| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 16 HENDERSON, Lyndsey..  3| 15   6  28  .321|  0|  1   1|  0|  4| 0  4  0|  0|  18.0
 4  SOMMERFELDT, Shelly.  3| 13   3  21  .476|  0|  0   0|  0|  4| 1  1  0|  0|  14.5
 12 ELLETT, Katrena.....  1|  1   0   1 1.000|  1|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 14 DANGERFIELD, Connie.  3|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  1   0|  2| 12| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 15 TOONE, Emillie......  3|  1   2   5 -.200|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 1  3  0|  0|   3.5
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 56  23 119  .277| 52|  4   5|  3| 49| 2 14  1|  0|  69.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 9.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  17  8  44  .205   Site: Salt Lake City, Utah (Crimson Court)
   2  20  8  36  .333   Date: Oct 23, 2004   Attend: 908   Time: 1:28
   3  19  7  39  .308   Referees: Verna KLUBNIKIN, Bruce GRANT, Quinette DUNN
                                         1   2   3 Total
                        Tie scores      14   2  18    34
                        Lead changes     6   3   8    17

PROVO -- BYU will stick close to home for its next two matches, meeting up with No. 14 Utah on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Salt Lake City before heading down the road to face-off against the Utah Valley State College Wolverines Tuesday at 7 p.m. Both matches will be important for the Cougars to keep their Mountain West Conference championship hopes alive.

"We have to take everything one match at a time and get the win," said BYU head coach Karen Lamb. "Right now, it doesn't matter who we play, only that we know who we are and play like it."

The Cougars are coming off a very emotional five-game victory over the visiting Notre Dame Fighting Irish Wednesday night, a team that had swept the Utes the night before. The win required a Herculean effort from everyone on the team, proving that the Cougars are capable of winning in clutch situations.

At 11-8 overall and 4-3 in the MWC, this week will be crucial for BYU as the Cougars take on the conference's top team and then travel to UVSC hoping to avoid a letdown.

The Utes have dominated the rivalry lately, winning the last nine straight meetings, including a September matchup in Provo that ended with a four-game Utah victory. BYU swept UVSC in 2003, but will have to be prepared for a tough squad that has been steadily improving in just its second year of Division I qualification.

Several BYU players will be counted on to help lift the Cougars to victory. Lindsy Hartsock, the nation's top blocker after a 12-block effort against Notre Dame, will be key for BYU as will setter Lauren Richards, who has recorded double-doubles in the last three consecutive matches. Several Cougars matched milestones in the Notre Dame victory as Erica Lott and Lexi Brown each tied their season-highs in kills with 19 and 16 respectively, Richards tied her season-highs with 62 assists and 14 digs and Hartsock's 12 blocks tied her career-high.

"The only acceptable outcome for us against Notre dame was a win and we got it," Lamb said. "That's the kind of resolve we will have to have for every other match we play. We have to go out there and get the job done every time. That's our goal."

Fans can find a link to live video for the Utah match by going to the schedule page of the BYU Women's Volleyball homepage at http://www.byucougars.com/volleyball_w/.

Here's a look at the teams the Cougars will face this week:

UTAH

At 15-3 overall and 7-0 in the Mountain West Conference, the No. 14 Utes are the team to beat this season. They have before a surprising sweep by visiting Notre Dame Tuesday night, the Utes had won 12 straight matches, including seven at home and wins over No. 7 Colorado State, No. 12 UCLA and No. 15 Saint Mary's.

The Utes currently lead the MWC in opponent hitting percentage (.135) and blocks per game (3,38), taking over the top spot in both categories from the Cougars last weekend. Utah is also ranked eighth in the nation in blocks per game, just ahead of the Cougars. Middle blocker Lyndsey Henderson is tied with BYU's Lindsy Hartsock at the third spot nationally in blocks per game with 1.78.

BYU has dropped the last nine straight matches to the Utes dating all the way back to the 2001 season. However, the Cougars still hold a commanding 61-16 overall series advantage.

UVSC

In just their second year of Division I qualification, the Wolverines are 8-9 in 2004, having played 15 of their first 17 matches on the road. UVSC also participated in BYU's Mizuno Classic in September, going 2-1 with wins against Central Florida and Memphis and a loss versus Oklahoma.

The Wolverines are led by Deise Borghetti, a two-time Division I Independent Player of the Week award winner who averages 4.27 kills per game. Setter Lacee Koelliker averages 10.82 assists per game and has been named the Division I Independent Setter of the Week twice.