Click to watch the video.

PROVO -- Kayla Walker’s career night led BYU (5-6, 1-0) to a 3-2 win over Mountain West Conference opponent San Diego State (4-5, 0-1) in the Smith Fieldhouse Thursday night. The Cougars came out energized and looking for redemption after a 0-3 trip to the Ameritas Players Challenge in Nebraska last weekend.

"We won this match on aggression," said BYU head coach Shay Goulding. "The serve and receive is where we were able to get ahead of our opponent, especially with the serving of Morgan. Kayla had a phenomenal night and helped out-hit them."

Walker finished the match with her career high in hitting percentage with .500 and kills with 32. She added 12 digs to finish with a double-double. Casey Speredon Thurston also finished the match with her career high in kills with 13. Setter Kiana Rogers also broke her assist season high with 55 assists. Morgan Lloyd Sorensen posted 22 digs and Melissa Lake Wright added 18, tying a season high.

"It was a fun night of volleyball and we had a great turn out," said Walker. "There are nights when you feel like you are on and this was definitely one of them."

When asked if she knew how well she actually hit, she said, "I had no idea, I was just swinging away."

Despite BYU’s enthusiasm, the Aztecs dominated the Cougars early in the first set taking an 8-3 lead, forcing BYU head coach Shea Goulding to call two early timeouts. The timeouts proved to be effective as the combined attack of Christina Measom and Kayla Walker brought BYU back and forced SDSU head coach Deitre Collins-Parker to call a timeout.The timeout was not as beneficial for the Aztecs as the Cougars continued to thrive. Chelsea Goodsell served two aces and a flapjack by Melissa Lake-Wright went to Walker for the kill, putting the Cougars ahead 15-13. SDSU and BYU exchanged points but the Cougars would not back down going on a 6-0 run late in the first set to take a 24-16 lead. The Aztecs scored two consecutive points of their own but the Cougars would eventually defeat SDSU 25-18 in game one.

Game two was a game of timeouts. Although SDSU scored the first point of the second set they fell behind early as BYU went on an early 5-0 run which included two kills by Walker. The Aztecs continued to battle as they tied the score at eight, 10 and 11 before surging ahead to 13-11 lead. A kill by Measom could not stop SDSU as they continued to give the Cougars all they could take, forcing Coach Goulding to call another timeout. Once again Goulding’s words of wisdom inspired the team to come out strong bringing the score to 18-16. The Aztecs began to pull away once again taking a 20-16 lead as Coach Goulding called yet another timeout. Again, the Cougars came out of the huddle with renewed determination bringing the score to 23-21 and forcing SDSU Head Coach Collins-Parker to call another timeout. This set ended less satisfactory for the Cougars as the Aztecs won 25-21. One positive point for the Cougars at the conclusion of set two was the .500 hitting percentage for senior rightside hitter Walker.

The Aztecs took an early 6-4 lead in the third set but a combined team effort by BYU tied the score at 7-ALL. Strong hitting by Measom, Walker and Thurston kept the Cougars biting at the Aztec’s heels throughout the set. SDSU continued to give BYU a run for their money forcing the Cougars to take a timeout with the score 18-14. Walker took over following the timeout going on a 4-2 run single-handedly. With a score of 20-18 the Aztecs took a timeout of their own. Coming out of the huddle SDSU took a 22-18 lead but a strong kill by Nicole Warner reenergized BYU. A service error by Walker gave the Aztecs a 23-20 lead but SDSU would soon return the favor with a service error of their own making the score 24-21. Coach Goulding took her final timeout with the score 24-22. The Cougars tied the score at 24 but the Aztecs strong hitting soon defeated BYU 26-24.

The fourth set began strong for SDSU as the Aztecs took an early 10-5 lead causing Coach Goulding to take yet another timeout. A service error and three kills by Walker brought BYU within three, the score at 12-9. The Cougars and Aztecs exchanged points and strong hitting by Warner and Walker kept BYU in it. A controversial call made the score 18-13 but BYU did not let the call keep them down bringing the score to 18-15. Two consecutive kills by Thurston brought the Cougars within two at 19-17. BYU proved their determination tying the score at 21 thanks to continued strong hitting by Thurston and Measom. The enthusiasm grew in the Smith Fieldhouse as the Cougars continued their 7-0 run making the score 24-21. SDSU scored one final point before BYU won the game with a score of 25-22. Walker finished game four with eight kills and a hitting percentage of .667 with no hitting errors.

Even luck was on the Cougars side as Walker won the coin toss at the beginning of the fifth set electing to receive the serve. Walker began the set with three-consecutive kills and forcing SDSU to take a timeout. BYU could not be stopped as Sorensen came out of the huddle with an ace. The Aztecs would score their first point of the game five following the ace making the score 4-1. SDSU began to exchange points with Cougars but several costly errors by the Aztecs put BYU ahead 8-3. With the exception of a few errors the Cougars showed few weaknesses in set five and Walker finished off SDSU with one final kill.

This match will be rebroadcast on The Mtn. Sept. 19 at 12 p.m. and 6 p.m., Sept. 20 at 2 p.m. and 11 p.m. and Sept. 24 at 12 p.m. All times are Mountain Standard Time.

BYU will return to the court Saturday against Air Force at 1 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse.

 Volleyball Box Score
                           BYU Cougar Volleyball 2009
           SDSU Aztecs vs BYU Cougars (Sep 17, 2009 at BYU PROVO UT)
   SDSU Aztecs            |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 SP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1  HANNASCH, Andrea....  5|  7   2  24  .208|  0|  4   0|  0|  3| 0  5  0|  0|  13.5
2  PEARSON, Paije......  5|  7   8  20 -.050|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  1  0|  0|   7.5
3  SALISBURY, Lauren...  5| 13   2  24  .458|  1|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  1  1|  0|  13.5
5  VAN ORDEN, Lauren...  5|  6   0  10  .600| 47|  2   2|  0| 11| 0  0  2|  0|   8.0
8  SEXTON, Kyley.......  5| 15  10  51  .098|  0|  0   0|  1|  5| 1  2  0|  0|  17.0
10 MANASCO, Kelsey.....  4|  5   5  25  .000|  1|  1   0|  3|  5| 0  3  0|  0|   7.5
4  MCMILLAN, Caitlin...  5|  1   1   6  .000|  1|  0   2|  0|  6| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
6  EVANS, Hannah.......  2|  3   2  11  .091|  0|  0   0|  1|  3| 0  0  0|  0|   3.0
13 LAMPHIER, Courtney..  5|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  1|  8| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
17 JACKELS, Kristi.....  5|  0   0   0  .000|  4|  1   1|  0| 23| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  5| 57  30 171  .158| 55|  8   5|  6| 65| 1 12  3|  0|  72.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER SET                                            TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 7.0
 Set   K  E  TA   Pct Sideout Pct
   1   7  9  31 -.065   9-24  37%   SET SCORES                1  2  3  4  5  TEAM RECORDS
   2  15  6  47  .191  14-22  63%   SDSU Aztecs......... (2) 19 25 26 22  7  4-5, 0-1
   3  15  2  32  .406  17-24  70%   BYU Cougars......... (3) 25 21 24 25 15  5-6, 1-0
   4  17  7  40  .250  15-25  60%
   5   3  6  21 -.143   5-14  35%
   BYU Cougars            |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 SP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7  MEASOM, Christina...  5|  8   5  26  .115|  2|  0   1|  1|  1| 0  8  1|  0|  12.0
9  ROGERS, Kiana.......  5|  4   2   8  .250| 55|  0   1|  0| 11| 0  6  1|  1|   7.0
11 LAKE WRIGHT, Melissa  5|  0   0   2  .000|  5|  1   1|  0| 18| 0  0  0|  1|   1.0
12 WALKER, Kayla.......  5| 32   3  58  .500|  0|  1   1|  1| 12| 0  2  1|  0|  34.0
14 CARPENTER, Christie.  3|  2   2  11  .000|  0|  0   1|  1|  1| 0  1  1|  0|   2.5
15 WARNER, Nicole......  5|  8   3  21  .238|  0|  1   2|  0|  2| 0  5  1|  0|  11.5
1  LLOYD SORENSEN, Morg  5|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  1   2|  2| 22| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
6  GOODSELL, Chelsea...  5|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  2   1|  1|  8| 0  0  0|  0|   2.0
10 PHILLIPS, Camilla...  3|  0   2   5 -.400|  1|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0|   0.5
20 SPEREDON THURSTON,Ca  5| 13   5  30  .267|  0|  0   0|  2|  0| 1  4  0|  0|  16.0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  5| 67  22 162  .278| 64|  6  10|  8| 75| 1 27  5|  2|  87.5
 TEAM ATTACK PER SET                                            TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 14.5
 Set   K  E  TA   Pct Sideout Pct
   1  12  6  30  .200  10-20  50%   Site: BYU PROVO UT (SMITH FIELDHOUSE)
   2  15  4  41  .268  13-24  54%   Date: Sep 17, 2009   Attend: 1377   Time: 2H 21M
   3  17  6  41  .268  17-26  65%   Referees: BILL PEER, DAPHNE NELSON, CHELSEA NITTA
   4  17  3  32  .438  15-22  68%
   5   6  3  18  .167   6-8   75%
                                         1   2   3   4   5 Total
                        Tie scores       1   4   5   1   0    11
                        Lead changes     1   2   2   1   0     6

PROVO -- After going 0-3 at the Ameritas Players Challenge in Nebraska the BYU Cougars (4-6) will return home to open Mountain West Conference play against San Diego State (4-4) on Thursday in the Smith Fieldhouse at 7 p.m. and Saturday against Air Force (8-4) at 1 p.m.

“We have worked hard all preseason and competed with some incredible programs in order to prepare us to start our conference schedule this week,” said BYU head coach Shay Goulding. “I feel very confident in what we have learned and how we are coming together. Conference is where it counts and the entire team feels prepared to welcome SDSU and Air Force into the Smith Fieldhouse. We are looking forward to it.”

The Cougars lost to No. 8 UCLA, No. 5 Nebraska and Virginia in the Ameritas Players Challenge last week, all in four sets.

Kayla Walker led the Cougars in kills, being the only Cougar named to the All-Tournament team. She tallied 17 kills against Virginia, 14 kills against Nebraska and 15 against UCLA.

Some of the bright spots in the tournament included the team’s hitting percentage of .680 in the first set against No. 5 Nebraska. Also in the UCLA match the team posted 16 team blocks to the Bruins’ six.

After Thursday’s game the Cougars will also take on conference opponent, Air Force, at 1 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse. Thursday’s game will be broadcast live via BYUTV and Saturday’s game will be radio broadcast live on BYU Radio.