LOS -- No. 22 BYU had its season come to an end Friday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, falling to the host No. 6 USC Women of Troy at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, 25-30, 37-39, 19-30. The Cougars concluded their season with a 25-6 record while the Women of Troy advance to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen with a 27-4 mark.

"I thought we came out well, with purpose and resolve," BYU head coach Jason Watson said. "We fought diligently. USC is a very nice volleyball team and they played particularly well tonight."

Junior outside hitter Chelsea Goodman paced BYU with 14 kills while junior rightside hitter Erica Lott and sophomore middle blocker Rachel Dyer each added 12 kills. The Cougars hit .267 for the match while USC boasted a strong offensive attack at .333, led by outside hitter Diane Copenhagen's 16 kills.

USC took control of game one by breaking a 10-10 tie with an 8-3 run to take an 18-13 advantage. The Cougars were not able to get closer than three points the rest of the way before falling 30-25 after USC's Katelyn Bishop put down a kill off a Cougar overpass.

Fueled by four Erica Lott kills, the Cougars scored eight of game two's first 11 points and kept that margin while building a 15-10 lead. USC then responded with five straight scores to even the tally, but it wasn't until a second five-point Women of Troy run that USC was able to take its first lead of the game at 26-25. But the two teams were just getting going, as neither side could outdistance the other while the score pushed well into the 30s. BYU had three game-point chances but was unable to put one away, and USC was unsuccessful on five game-winning opportunities before finally converting for the 39-37 triumph.

BYU's 37 points are the most ever scored by a BYU team in a game loss during rally scoring.

The sixth-ranked Women of Troy came out strong in game three to take a commanding 18-10 lead and never looked back to earn the 30-19 win. USC hit .300 in the decisive game while holding BYU to a .029 attack.

BYU seniors Lindsy Hartsock and Kim Sorensen played in their final match as Cougars with Hartsock hitting .667 with six kills in nine attempts, while Sorensen added eight scoring swings for BYU. Hartsock led BYU with four blocks. Junior Annie Pinegar led BYU with 15 digs to finish the season with a 384 total, which ranks fourth all-time on BYU's single-season list.

The Cougars completed the season in the NCAA Tournament for the 23rd time in the 26-year existence of the NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship. The Cougars rank 11th all-time for the most NCAA wins with a 28-23 tournament record.

"The season we were able to put together was representative of the direction we want the program to go," Watson said. "We feel like we have work to do but we are going to get better."

                              Volleyball Box Score
                                  BYU Cougars
        #23 BYU Cougars vs #6 USC (Dec 01, 2006 at Los Angeles, Calif.)
    BYU Cougars            |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  GOODMAN, Chelsea....  3| 14   5  33  .273|  2|  0   1|  3|  8| 1  2  1|  0
 7  SORENSEN, Kim.......  3|  8   5  24  .125|  0|  0   0|  1|  1| 0  2  1|  0
 10 LOTT, Erica.........  3| 12   5  27  .259|  0|  0   3|  2|  4| 0  3  1|  0
 14 HARTSOCK, Lindsy....  3|  6   0   9  .667|  1|  1   2|  1|  0| 0  4  0|  0
 15 SCHLAUDER, Amy......  3|  0   0   0  .000| 45|  0   1|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  1
 44 DYER, Rachel........  3| 12   6  23  .261|  1|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  3  0|  0
 2  BEAUMONT, Janvier...  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   0|  1|  6| 0  0  0|  0
 11 PINEGAR, Annie......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   1|  2| 15| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 52  21 116  .267| 51|  2   8| 10| 38| 1 14  3|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 8.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  16  4  30  .400   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  24  6  52  .346   BYU Cougars......... (0) 25 37 19  25-6
   3  12 11  34  .029   USC................. (3) 30 39 30  27-4
    USC                    |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  Gysin, Jessica......  3| 12   2  20  .500|  2|  0   0|  2|  4| 2  0  1|  0
 6  Bishop, Katelyn.....  3|  6   4  13  .154|  0|  3   1|  0|  3| 1  3  1|  0
 7  Kaczor, Asia........  3| 15   6  32  .281|  1|  3   1|  0|  2| 0  1  0|  0
 9  Carico, Taylor......  3|  5   0   7  .714| 44|  1   1|  0|  3| 2  2  1|  2
 10 Johansen, Bethany...  3|  5   3  11  .182|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  1  0|  0
 12 Copenhagen, Diane...  3| 16   3  40  .325|  2|  1   0|  0|  6| 0  1  0|  1
 2  Seilhamer, Debora...  3|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  2   0|  0| 17| 0  0  0|  1
 32 Dillon, Alli........  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 59  18 123  .333| 51| 10   3|  2| 36| 5  8  3|  4
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 9.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  17  6  32  .344   Site: Los Angeles, Calif. (Galen Center)
   2  29  8  61  .344   Date: Dec 01, 2006   Attend: 389   Time: 1:40
   3  13  4  30  .300   Referees: Rick Olmstead, Eric Asami
                        ID-516737

PROVO -- For the 23rd time in the 26-year existence of the NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship, the BYU women's volleyball team has qualified for the annual postseason tournament. The No. 22-ranked Cougars received one of 33 at-large selections Sunday after achieving a 24-5 overall record.

"We feel very good about getting back to the NCAA Tournament," BYU head coach Jason Watson said. "BYU has a rich history of competing in the NCAA Championship. Our athletes worked extremely hard this season to put us in a position to continue the legacy our program has achieved over the years."

The Cougars will play UC Santa Barbara (19-11, 8-6 Big West Conference) Thursday at 5 p.m. PST (6 p.m. MST) in a first-round matchup hosted by the University of Southern California at the Galen Center in Los Angeles. The winner of the BYU-UCSB match will play Friday night at 7 p.m. PST against the winner of the No. 5-seeded USC and Mississippi contest slated for 7 p.m. PST Thursday.

"UCSB is a team that has competed well this year and is very deserving of its selection," said Watson. "We have a lot of work to do between now and Thursday, but we look forward to the challenge."

The Gauchos finished the regular season 19-11 overall, including three-game losses at Stanford and at UNLV, and 8-6 in the Big West Conference. UCSB has received an invitation to all 26 NCAA Tournaments and enters this year's contest having won its last five matches. The Gaucho are led by senior outside hitter Jamie Garbisch with 3.98 kills per game, while senior middle blocker Olivia Waldowski adds 3.53 kpg on .401 hitting - 17th in the nation - in addition to 0.98 blocks per game. Junior middle blocker Brett Quirarte leads the team with 1.10 bpg and hits .321 with 2.80 kpg. Senior libero Emily Hendrickson puts up 5.28 digs per game. As a team, the Guachos are hitting .223 while allowing opponents to hit .188. UCSB averages 15.55 kpg and 2.31 bpg.

Thursday's match will be the 17th meeting between BYU and UCSB and their second NCAA Tournament matchup. BYU holds a 9-6-1 advantage in the overall series, including a regional-round loss to the Gauchos in Provo during the 1981 NCAA Tournament. UCSB, along with Penn State and Stanford, holds the distinction of making the most NCAA Tournament appearances at 26.

BYU played against four schools this year that qualified for the 64-team field, earning a 4-2 record against those teams, including a four-game victory over No. 2-seeded Stanford. BYU also defeated tournament teams Arkansas (3-0) and Colorado State (3-3, 3-2) while going 0-2 against the Utah Utes (1-3, 0-3).

BYU is tied for ninth in all-time appearances with its 23rd selection this season and is the 11th-winningest team in NCAA Tournament history with a 27-22 record. BYU's last appearance in the NCAA Tournament was last season when the Cougars lost to Pepperdine, who advanced to the Sweet Sixteen, in the first round also in Los Angeles.

The Cougars have advanced to the second round in 17 of their prior 22 appearances, with a 12-5 first-round record and five automatic byes. The Cougars have made 14 Sweet Sixteen appearances in their 22 bids and advanced to eight Elite Eight Regional Finals. BYU's top finish in the NCAA Tournament came in 1993 when the Cougars advanced to the NCAA Final Four before losing in the national semifinals to Penn State.