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PROVO -- The BYU Cougars (9-7, 4-1) took on and defeated Mountain West Conference opponent, the New Mexico Lobos (11-6, 3-3) in three games Thursday night in the Smith Field house (25-16, 25-17, 25-23). The Cougars came out of the locker room ready to play, took a convincing lead early in the first game and never looked back.

“I was very proud with the way that we played tonight,” said BYU head coach Shay Goulding. “We were able to block really well and a big tribute goes to our serving. We deserve to be in the top of the Mountain West Conference.”

BYU was led by Kayla Walker who had 14 kills followed by Christie Carpenter and Christina Measom with nine kills each. Carpenter had a career high hitting percentage with .350 as well a career-best nine digs. Measom has her season best hitting percentage with .533. Setter Kiana Rogers assisted on 35 points. Junior outside hitter, Camilla Phillips, also contributed six kills and had a .364 hitting percentage.

“Camilla and Christie’s hitting was huge factor in tonight's game and they will help our team be well rounded the rest of the season,” Goulding said. “Overall, I think New Mexico is a very good team and we caught them off-guard tonight.”

New Mexico’s attack was led by Ashley Rhoades with 11 kills and Anna Lehne with nine kills.

The Cougars got off to a strong start in the first game. In the first play of the game Kiana Rogers prevented the Lobos from scoring with a block. The next few plays BYU exchanged points with New Mexico, but kills by Walker and Nicole Warner put the Cougars ahead 4-2. The Lobos fought back and pulled ahead after going on a five-point run making the score 8-5. The Cougars would then go on a six point run due in large part to three kills by Christie Carpenter putting BYU ahead 11-8.

New Mexico continued to give the Cougars their best but two blocks by Measom helped BYU stay ahead with the score 13-11. A service error along with a kill and a block by Rogers gave BYU a 16-11 lead. With Rogers serving, the combined attack of Walker, Warner and Phillips put the Cougars ahead 24-13. However, the Lobos would not go down without a fight going on a three-point run before Warner scored the match point with BYU defeating New Mexico 25-16 in the first game.

The second set started out much like the first with Rogers scoring the first point for the Cougars. Kills by Measom and Walker along with a hitting error gave BYU a 4-2 lead. The Lobos responded with two kills of their own but a block and a kill by Phillips, a junior who has seen significant minutes for the Cougars as a result of the loss of Casey Speredon Thurston due to injury, gave BYU a 6-4 lead.

Once again, the Cougars would go back and forth exchanging serves and points with New Mexico but two kills a piece for Carpenter and Rogers kept the Cougars ahead 10-9. The Lobos would then score two-straight points to take their first lead of the match, ahead of BYU 11-9. After both teams scored one point each, Walker led a four-point run for the Cougars with her first and only solo block of the match putting BYU ahead 15-10.

New Mexico responded with several points of their own. However, kills by Phillips, Walker and Measom along with a service error put the Cougars ahead 20-14. The Lobos continued to battle, scoring two-straight points but again BYU retaliated with kills by Measom and Walker. New Mexico would score once more before the Cougars were the beneficiaries of a service error and ended the match with kills by Walker and Warner defeating the Lobos 25-17.

Things looked more optimistic for New Mexico at the beginning of game three after they scored the first point of the game and proceeded to take a 4-1 lead. Two kills by Christina Measom early kept BYU contending early in the game. It became evident early on that this would be a game of ties and a higher intensity level. A kill by Rogers was followed by a kill for the Lobos, and a block by Nicole Warner was followed by yet another New Mexico kill.

The Lobos then committed a service error giving BYU a point and tying the score at five. New Mexico would bounce back with a kill but a Carpenter kill tied the score once again at six. Once again, the Lobos scored and the Cougars responded again with a kill from Carpenter tying the score at seven. The score was tied again at eight, nine, 10 and 11. It appeared that BYU might be able to pull away after three consecutive points but the Lobos battled back to take a 15-14 lead.

Following a timeout, Walker had her second kill of the game tying the score at 15. Again ties began to take over with the score being tied at 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20, the Cougars being led by Walker with two kills. New Mexico would then take a 21-20 lead before a timeout on the floor. A service error by the Lobos would tie the score once again at 21. The Cougars would then take a 22-21 lead before a timeout was called.

New Mexico came out of the huddle looking to take the lead and did just that after a kill. Phillips then responded with a kill of her but the Lobos tied the score again at 23, the 21st tie of game 3. A kill by Walker forced New Mexico to use their final timeout with the score 24-23. With the fans in the Smith Fieldhouse on their feet, Walker would have one final kill leading BYU to victory beating the Lobos 25-23.

Serving was key in the Cougars victory and Goulding said BYU’s accurate serving made the game fun for her as a coach.

“It was fun for me to tell our players to serve in a certain area of the court and for the most part they were very accurate,” Goulding said.

The Cougars return to action again at home on Saturday at 6 p.m. against yet another conference opponent, TCU.

Both games will be shown on BYUTV and BYU LIVE video. BYU LIVE video can be viewed by clicking HERE

The BYU Women’s Volleyball team is promoting Breast Cancer Awareness the whole month of October and encourages fans to wear pink with your Cougar blue all month.

Volleyball Box Score
                           BYU Cougar Volleyball 2009
            New Mexico vs BYU Cougars (Oct 08, 2009 at Provo, Utah)
   New Mexico             |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 SP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2  MEETER, Lisa........  3|  4   7  19 -.158|  0|  0   0|  3|  7| 0  0  0|  0|   4.0
4  RHOADES, Ashley.....  3| 11   1  17  .588|  0|  0   2|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0|  11.5
6  MORRIS, Rose........  3|  3   5  14 -.143|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0|   3.0
7  MICHAELSEN, Jade....  3|  0   0   2  .000| 30|  0   1|  0|  2| 0  1  0|  0|   0.5
12 HADFIELD, Taylor....  3|  5   2  14  .214|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  1  0|  0|   5.5
14 LEHNE, Anna.........  3|  9   2  20  .350|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 2  1  1|  0|  11.5
3  ROHR, Melissa.......  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  6| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
5  RUSSELL, Jordan.....  2|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
8  BUCK, Allison.......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   0|  0| 11| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
9  SUITER, Allie.......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
11 WONG, Amy...........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  1   2|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
13 WILLIAMSON, Kelly...  2|  3   1   6  .333|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   3.0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  3| 35  18  92  .185| 32|  2   5|  3| 34| 2  4  1|  0|  41.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER SET                                            TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 4.0
 Set   K  E  TA   Pct Sideout Pct
   1  12 10  34  .059   9-25  36%   SET SCORES                1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2   7  4  28  .107  13-24  54%   New Mexico.......... (0) 16 17 23  11-6, 3-3 MWC
   3  16  4  30  .400  18-25  72%   BYU Cougars......... (3) 25 25 25  9-7, 4-1 MWC
   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
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6  GOODSELL, Chelsea...  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
7  MEASOM, Christina...  3|  9   1  15  .533|  2|  0   0|  0|  1| 1  4  0|  0|  12.0
9  ROGERS, Kiana.......  3|  4   0   6  .667| 35|  1   2|  1|  3| 0  4  0|  0|   7.0
11 LAKE WRIGHT, Melissa  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   1|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
12 WALKER, Kayla.......  3| 14   1  33  .394|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 1  2  0|  0|  16.0
15 WARNER, Nicole......  3|  7   3  13  .308|  1|  1   2|  0|  3| 0  6  0|  0|  11.0
1  LLOYD SORENSEN, Morg  3|  0   0   1  .000|  2|  0   1|  0|  5| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
10 PHILLIPS, Camilla...  3|  6   2  11  .364|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  5  0|  0|   8.5
14 CARPENTER, Christie.  3|  9   2  20  .350|  0|  0   4|  1|  9| 0  1  0|  0|   9.5
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  3| 49   9  99  .404| 41|  3  10|  2| 30| 2 22  0|  0|  65.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER SET                                            TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 13.0
 Set   K  E  TA   Pct Sideout Pct
   1  13  2  30  .367   9-16  56%   Site: Provo, Utah (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  19  4  39  .385  14-18  77%   Date: Oct 08, 2009   Attend: 961   Time: 1h 21m
   3  17  3  30  .467  18-23  78%   Referees: Michael Blalock, Tom Given, Chelsa ,MF,KS
                                         1   2   3 Total
                        Tie scores       5   3  21    29
                        Lead changes     2   0   7     9

PROVO -- After winning two-straight matches, BYU (8-7, 3-1) will return to its home court to take on MWC conference opponents, New Mexico and TCU this week.

"I believe this is a very crucial week for us in terms of the Mountain West Conference Championship,” BYU head coach Shay Goulding said Tuesday. “We will play our matches this week one ball at a time and one match at time, but certainly it is pertinent that we get two wins in order to keep us in a good position for our goals in the conference.”

They will first face New Mexico Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse. New Mexico State has an 11-5 overall record with a 3-2 conference record thus far this season. In the history of the matchup with New Mexico, BYU leads 62-11.

“New Mexico lost some significant players from last year,” Goulding said. “But they are a well-coached team and a very competitive program so I expect them to be very good.”

Saturday the Cougars will look to defend their home court once again as they take on TCU at 6 p.m. TCU has a 15-4 overall record this season and is currently 4-1 in conference play. In the all-time series record against TCU, BYU leads 12-1.

“TCU is similar in strength only they are returning more players from last year and so they will also be strong,” Goulding said. “We are prepared and committed to bringing our best out to meet both these teams this week in order to defend the Smith Fieldhouse and to continue to pursue our 2009 goals.”

In the Cougars' last outing they defeated the UNLV Rebels 3-0 (25-17,20-17, 25-21). Senior rightside hitter Kayla Walker led the Cougars with 14 kills, nine digs and seven blocks – including two solo blocks. Christina Measom, Christie Carpenter and Camilla Phillips also contributed six kills each while Nicole Warner had five. Setter Kiana Rogers had 30 assists and nine digs while Morgan Lloyd Sorensen had 10 digs.

Both games will be shown on BYUTV and BYU LIVE video. BYU LIVE video can be viewed online by visiting the schedule page HERE.

The BYU Women's Volleyball team is promoting Breast Cancer Awareness the whole month of October and encourages fans to wear pink with your Cougar blue all month.