FORT COLLINS -- BYU's Mountain West Conference title hopes were dashed Friday afternoon in a four-game semifinal loss to tournament host and second seed Colorado State. The 30-19, 22-30, 17-30, 25-30 defeat leaves the Cougars at 18-11 overall for the year and hoping for an at-large NCAA tournament invitation.

"We did our best, but came up short tonight," said BYU head coach Karen Lamb. "Colorado State played very well and is a good team. I'm disappointed in the loss but not in the heart this team has shown. We had a high level of play with good teamwork and chemistry. We just didn't get it done."

BYU came out of the locker room fired up and ready to take on the No. 8 Rams, whom the Cougars took to the wire last Friday night in Provo, falling in five tight games. BYU controlled game one the entire way, dominating Colorado State with 7.5 blocks while holding the Rams to -.056 hitting enroute to the 30-19 victory.

But starting with a service error on the first point of game two, the Cougars could not find their rhythm as the Rams improved their serving and passing and began stifling BYU on both sides of the ball. While still owning the overall blocking advantage for the match, the Cougars posted only nine blocks in the second, third and fourth games while the Rams recorded 15. Colorado State's offensive production also improved as the Rams hit over .300 in each of the last three games while the Cougars hit .229, .000 and .133 respectively.

Perhaps the biggest difference came in the digs category. While BYU outdug the Rams by 16 in last week's nail-biter, CSU was all over the floor in the semifinal match and seemed to dig every ball the Cougars sent over the net, ending up with a 13-dig advantage.

All-MWC sophomore Lindsy Hartsock led BYU with 12 kills while combining with All-MWC senior Lindsey Metcalf for a match-leading nine blocks apiece. Lindsey Evans led the defense for the Cougars with 15 digs while senior April Varner and All-MWC junior Kim Wilson each recorded 11.

Several Cougars also achieved milestones in the MWC tournament as Erica Lott recorded her 300th career kill, Hartsock posted her 400th career kill and 300th career block, Wilson notched her 300th kill for the season and Varner picked up her 500th career dig. With 44 assists in the match, All-MWC setter Lauren Richards reached 2,711 career assists, moving her into sixth place all-time at BYU.

The Cougars now return home for their final match against Eastern Washington on Friday, Nov. 26 at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse.

"This team has really come together," Lamb said. "We still have another match to play and then we'll see what happens."

                              Volleyball Box Score
                        Brigham Young University Cougars
    Brigham Young vs #8 Colorado State (Nov 19, 2004 at Fort Collins, Colo.)
    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
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  VARNER, April.......  4|  7   5  27  .074|  0|  0   0|  1| 11| 0  1  0|  0|   7.5
 5  RICHARDS, Lauren....  4|  3   0   9  .333| 44|  2   1|  0|  3| 1  3  0|  1|   7.5
 6  METCALF, Lindsey....  4|  2   5  17 -.176|  1|  0   0|  0|  5| 0  9  1|  0|   6.5
 7  WILSON, Kim.........  4|  9   6  35  .086|  3|  0   2|  0| 11| 0  2  0|  0|  10.0
 9  BROWN, Lexi.........  4|  9   5  20  .200|  0|  0   1|  0|  4| 0  6  0|  0|  12.0
 14 HARTSOCK, Lindsy....  4| 12   2  24  .417|  0|  0   1|  0|  4| 0  9  0|  0|  16.5
 1  GOODMAN, Chelsea....  1|  0   0   2  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 2  KIHOLM, Mandi.......  2|  2   2   6  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0|   2.5
 10 LOTT, Erica.........  3|  8   3  20  .250|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   8.0
 16 EVANS, Lindsey......  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0| 15| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 17 POWELL, Stacie......  1|  0   1   1-1.000|  0|  0   0|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
    TEAM................   |                 |   |       |  1|   |        |   |   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 52  29 161  .143| 48|  2   5|  2| 57| 1 31  1|  1|  70.5
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 16.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  13  4  36  .250   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2  14  6  35  .229   Brigham Young....... (1) 30 22 17 25  18-11
   3  12 12  45  .000   Colorado State...... (3) 19 30 30 30  24-3
   4  13  7  45  .133
    Colorado State         |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  ROGERS, Tess........  4| 14  13  44  .023|  0|  0   1|  0| 10| 2  0  0|  0|  16.0
 9  COURTNEY, Melissa...  4|  6   0  10  .600| 57|  0   1|  0| 11| 1  0  0|  1|   7.0
 10 SARAUER, Becky......  4| 15  10  45  .111|  0|  1   1|  0|  6| 1  2  0|  0|  18.0
 11 SHIRLEY-CAHOON,Katie  4| 13   2  26  .423|  1|  0   1|  0|  7| 0  2  0|  0|  14.0
 15 FRECH, Bri..........  4| 12   1  19  .579|  2|  1   1|  1| 13| 1  5  0|  1|  16.5
 17 DOWNS, Dre..........  4| 11   4  25  .280|  1|  0   0|  0|  0| 3  5  0|  0|  16.5
 1  WHITNEY, Katherine..  4|  0   0   1  .000|  3|  0   3|  0|  8| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 16 KARLIK, Kristen.....  4|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   0|  0| 15| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
    TEAM................   |                 |   |       |  1|   |        |   |   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 71  30 170  .241| 66|  2   8|  2| 70| 8 14  0|  2|  88.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 15.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  11 13  36 -.056   Site: Fort Collins, Colo. (Moby Arena)
   2  19  7  39  .308   Date: Nov 19, 2004   Attend: 910   Time: 2:09
   3  18  3  42  .357   Referees: Verna Klubnikin, Patsy Malta
   4  23  7  53  .302   ID-316322
                                         1   2   3   4 Total
                        Tie scores       3   7   1   0    11
                        Lead changes     1   3   2   1     7

PROVO -- The Cougars head to Fort Collins, Colo., this week to the campus of Colorado State University for the 2004 Mountain West Conference Championships. Seeded No. 3 in the league, BYU will face No. 6 San Diego State in the quarterfinals Thursday at 4 p.m. before a possible semifinal matchup with second-seeded CSU, ranked No. 8 nationally, or seventh-seeded Wyoming. At 17-10 overall, the Cougars' NCAA tournament hopes ride on their performance this week, with the winner of the MWC crown earning an automatic NCAA bid.

"We think we need to win the conference tournament to get into the NCAAs," said BYU head coach Karen Lamb. "We control our future by winning the tournament and that's our plan. We're playing pretty well and we're just going to take it one match at a time."

For the fifth straight year, the MWC Volleyball Championship will be televised, with this season's tournament marking the first time ever that all seven championship matches will be made available to a national audience by College Sports Television (CSTV). The MWC will be the only conference to have all matches from its conference championship nationally televised.

Fans of the Cougars can catch the action with programming provided by KBYU and BYUTV. The Cougars' first match, against San Diego State, will be shown live nationally on BYUTV and then shown tape-delayed at 9:30 p.m. on CSTV and 10:30 p.m. on KBYU. If the Cougars advance to Friday's semi-final match, that match will also be broadcast live on BYUTV and tape-delayed at 6 p.m. on KBYU. Saturday's championship match may also be broadcast. Fans can contact KBYU for further details regarding the precise broadcast schedule.

BYU's first round opponent could prove tough as everyone vies for the automatic bid. The Aztecs are 4-23 overall and 4-10 in the MWC with wins over Wyoming, New Mexico and Air Force. SDSU is fifth in the league in blocks with 2.55 per game and is led by senior Kara Moriarty, who is fourth in the league in kills (3.48), junior Ashley Bowker, fourth in blocks (1.33), and freshman Aime Cordeiro, fourth in digs (3.52). The Cougars are 29-15 all-time against the Aztecs, including two sweeps this season. The two teams have never met in the MWC tournament.

In both of their possible semifinal matchups, the Cougars will be facing familiar opponents, having ended the regular-season last weekend with home matches against the Rams and the Cowgirls. BYU suffered a heart-breaking five-game loss to then-No. 10 Colorado State 30-18, 25-30, 34-36, 30-25, 15-17 and recorded a sweep of the Wyoming Cowgirls, 30-18, 30-20, 30-23.

Several Cougars shined in the CSU loss as Lauren Richards and Lindsy Hartsock each recorded career-highs in blocks with 13 apiece and Lindsey Metcalf hit a season-high 15 kills. Adding 48 assists in the match, Richards recorded her team and MWC-leading eleventh double-double while Metcalf posted back-to-back double-doubles on the weekend with 15 kills and 17 digs against the Rams and 12 kills and 12 digs versus the Cowgirls. The senior hitter also recorded a career-high hitting percentage with a .611 mark against Wyoming.

The Cougars are certainly not strangers to Moby Arena on the campus of Colorado State. The Rams have hosted the MWC tournament in two previous years, 2000 and 2002. BYU is 5-1 in those years, winning the title in 2000 and losing in the championship match in 2002. The Cougars defeated the Rams on their home court in both tournaments.