SALT LAKE CITY (Sept. 10, 2011)—The BYU women’s volleyball team cranked up the energy Saturday to shatter Eastern Michigan’s win streak with a 3-1 (25-19, 25-23, 16-25, 25-8) Cougar victory in the third match of the Utah Invitational.

The win increased BYU’s win streak to seven and broke Easter Michigan’s eight-match streak. Eastern Michigan (8-2) defeated host Utah 3-2 Friday night following a BYU (8-2) victory against UC Riverside.

“We had some heart and guts at the end,” BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said. “Technically and tactically we made some mistakes. A few players struggled through the first couple games. But we just had determination. It was a gutsy win. After losing the third set, it was good to be able to come back and win.”

Senior outside hitter Christie Carpenter led the Cougars with 17 kills and 12 digs for a double-double. Opposite hitter Jennifer Hamson followed up with 13 kills and Kendalyn Hartsock totaled 21 digs, a season high. Setter Heather Hannemann recorded her third double-double of the season with 32 assists and 13 digs.

“Carpenter did very well,” Olmstead said. “She had some big swings and made crucial plays when we needed it.”

The Eagles forced a 5-2 run as play began, but the undeterred Cougars responded with three kills to get back in the game. A kill by Katie Vaughn tied the set 6-6.

A Carpenter kill took the Cougars’ first lead of the set 8-7. BYU kept the flustered Eagles off their game with a 5-1 streak. Hamson took the three-point lead on a kill and increased it to five with Nicole Warner on a block for a score of 15-10.

A narrow save put Kathryn LeCheminant in line for a block with Vaughn to push BYU to a 21-15 lead. Keeping up the momentum, the Cougars wrapped up the first set 25-19.

BYU came out on fire to open the second set, punching out four quick points before the Eagles could react. Eastern Michigan kills momentarily broke the Cougars’ stride, but they managed to stay on top despite an 8-8 tie. Warner helped the Cougars maintain a two-point lead on a kill and a block before errors tied the set at 14-14. The score tied two more times before Eastern Michigan took its first lead of the set 17-16 on a block by Megan Crawshaw and Ashley Mason.

A determined Hamson tied the score at 17-17 with a kill and Eastern Michigan errors returned the two-point lead to the Cougars. A block from Eagles Crawshaw and Erin Short tied the set once more and Eastern Michigan took a 21-19 lead on a kill from Rachel Iaquaniello.

Christie Carpenter turned up the heat with back-to-back kills to tie the set 21-21. An attack error by Easter Michigan gave BYU the final lead. Hamson settled the second set with a block and a kill for the 25-23 win. Hamson recorded five kills and three blocks in the set.

Eastern Michigan took control of the third set with an 8-2 streak to start. Senior outside hitter Casey Thurston renewed BYU’s energy with two kills to cut the lead to 11-8, but he Eagles broke away on an 8-1 run that turned into a 20-10 lead on Cougar errors. A valiant comeback effort cut the Eagles’ lead to 20-16, but BYU couldn’t hold on and dropped the third set to Eastern Michigan 25-16. Thurston led the Cougars’ attack with four kills at .300 hitting.

Carpenter launched the fourth set with a kill and Hamson followed with a block that brought back the Cougar intensity from the first two sets. The Cougars proved too much for the Eagles as BYU broke away from a 3-3 tie on a 15-2 run. Eastern Michigan didn’t even make it into double-figures as the Cougars finished out the match 25-8 on a Carpenter kill.

The Cougars take on rival Utah tonight at 7 p.m. at the Crimson Court, seeking to take home the Utah Invitational crown.

BYU vs. Eastern Michigan Box

PROVO, Utah—After securing first place in the Varney’s Invitational, the BYU women’s volleyball team takes on BYU-Hawaii Wednesday before setting out for the Utah Invitational in Salt Lake City.

“This is an exciting week for us in that we have a chance to compete against four different opponents in four days,” BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said. “Our focus will be on each individual opponent as things progress.  We look forward to the challenge this presents and can’t wait to get going.”

The Cougars (5-2) will compete against UC Riverside (1-6) at 5 p.m. Friday, Eastern Michigan (6-1) at 10 a.m. Saturday and will face Utah (4-2) in the Deseret First Duel match at 7 p.m. Saturday. The match is the second Duel event of the year. BYU took a 3-0 lead with a win in women’s soccer.

BYU is ready for action and seeking to continue its four-match winning streak after defeating Kansas State for the Varney’s Invitational title. Sophomore opposite hitter Jennifer Hamson recorded 50 kills on the weekend at .306 hitting, earning her the tournament MVP selection. She and junior middle blocker Nicole Warner were named to the all-tournament team.

Starting off the week, the Cougars welcome the Seasiders to the Smith Fieldhouse at 7 p.m. Wednesday for a BYUtv-televised match. The Seasiders are 3-0 on the season, with wins against Alaska-Anchorage, Alaska-Fairbanks and Weber State. Shih Ting Chen leads the Seasiders in kills with 52 on the season and digs with 50.

UC Riverside is led in kills by Amanda Vialpando with 86 and 65 digs. Megan Patterson leads in digs with 74. The Highlanders enter the tournament on a four-match losing streak after a tough USD Invitational in San Diego over the weekend.

Six straight victories, including four sweeps, make Eastern Michigan the team to beat in the invitational after taking second in the Notre Dame Invitational and first in the IUPUI Tournament. Rachel Iaquaniello leads the Eagles with 112 kills. Last season Iaquaniello recorded the second-highest season kills in Eastern Michigan history with 515. Haley Stein leads in digs with 149 and Kristen Baker leads in blocks with 26.

The Utes claimed first place in last weekend’s Yale Invitational after defeating the host 3-1 in the final match of the tournament. Leading Utah, Morgan Odale has recorded 74 kills so far and Yale Invitational co-MVP Erin Redd has 56 with 32 blocks.

For links to BYUtv’s website and live stats, click HERE.

Tournament Notes