Cougars Shutdown the Tigers

PROVO -- After a slow start the BYU Cougars pulled away from the Memphis Tigers, winning 3-0 (30-25, 30-20, 30-17) in their first match of the Mizuno Classic Saturday.

"I was really pleased with our play tonight, especially our offensive production," coach Karen Lamb said. "It was a combination of getting to know that team and playing our style of volleyball."

BYU dominated the Tigers in all aspects of the game, out-hitting, out-blocking, and out-serving Memphis. The Cougars hit .392 on the night while holding Memphis to a .081 percentage and adding nine service aces and 20 blocks.

In the first game the Cougars came out slow, falling behind 15-18. Outside hitter Kim Wilson came alive collecting three kills while Erica Lott added another to tie the match at 20. On the next play, Wilson and Catherine Parker teamed up for a block, giving BYU its first lead since early in the game. From there the Cougars outscored the Tigers 9-5, ending the game on a Lott kill.

Game two started out much like the first as the teams traded points until it was tied at eight. With setter Lauren Richards serving, BYU reeled off six straight points to go ahead 14-8, including two aces by Richards. Memphis would not go away easily, however, as they cut the lead to three at 14-11, but a kill by Lindsay Metcalf, who started her first game at opposite hitter, put the Cougars up 15-11. The rest of the game was all BYU as the Cougars went on a 15-9 run to end the match. Lott had three kills during the run and Lindsey Evans had two aces to close out the game at 30-20.

BYU finished off the match with an easy win in game three by a score of 30-17. Lindsay Hartsock Lott came alive in the game with six kills each. The Cougars sprinted out to an early 5-0 lead, which included kills by Lott, Parker and Wilson.

Overall, BYU was led by Wilson who had 13 kills while hitting .524. Hartsock added ten kills on 14 attempts for a .643 percentage while contributing six blocks. Freshman Erica Lott tied her career high with 13 kills.

Richards credited the teams intensity and ability to keep Memphis out of the game as the keys to the win.

"The difference for us was that we didn't stop," Richards said. "We came out and went for it and didn't slow down or let them get into the game."

Ashley Liford had a team-high of nine kills for the Tigers while Nancy Nellans added seven.

BYU improved to 3-1 with the win while Memphis fell to 5-2. The Cougars will continue with the Mizuno Classic tomorrow as they take on the University of Oklahoma at 2:30 and the University of Central Florida at 7:30 p.m.

"Oklahoma is similar to us in a lot of ways, so we just have to play our game," Lamb said. "When we pass well and run our offense, we can get them into a lot of trouble."

                              Volleyball Box Score
                                  BYU Cougars
      Memphis Tigers vs BYU Cougars (Sep 10, 2004 at Brigham Young Univ.)
    Memphis Tigers         |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  LIFORD, Ashley......  3|  9   5  25  .160|  0|  0   0|  1|  1| 0  1  0|  0|   9.5
 5  GILKEY, Tiara.......  3|  5   7  18 -.111|  2|  0   0|  1|  2| 0  2  1|  1|   6.0
 7  TUIVAI, Fehi........  3|  5   5  16  .000|  1|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  4  0|  0|   7.0
 9  NELLANS, Nancy......  3|  7   4  23  .130|  1|  0   0|  1|  6| 0  1  0|  1|   7.5
 10 NANCE, Melissa......  3|  3   3  10  .000|  0|  0   2|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0|   3.5
 12 WATTS, Heather......  3|  3   0   4  .750| 26|  0   0|  0|  7| 0  2  0|  0|   4.0
 1  STECKEL, Emily......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   1|  3|  4| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 6  TORONTO, Jennie.....  1|  0   1   1-1.000|  1|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 8  BURTON, Shelby......  3|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 11 CLAYTON, Christen...  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   1|  3|  5| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 24 HARDEE, Kristen.....  2|  1   0   1 1.000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 33  25  99  .081| 31|  2   5|  9| 26| 0 11  1|  2|  40.5
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 5.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  13  8  37  .135   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  12 10  27  .074   Memphis Tigers...... 25 20 17  5-2
   3   8  7  35  .029   BYU Cougars......... 30 30 30  3-1
    BYU Cougars            |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  RICHARDS, Lauren....  3|  1   2   3 -.333| 40|  2   5|  0|  4| 0  3  0|  1|   4.5
 6  METCALF, Lindsey....  3|  6   0  16  .375|  2|  0   1|  0|  6| 0  4  0|  0|   8.0
 7  WILSON, Kim.........  3| 13   2  21  .524|  0|  2   1|  1|  3| 0  1  0|  0|  15.5
 10 LOTT, Erica.........  3| 13   4  27  .333|  0|  1   3|  1|  2| 0  2  0|  0|  15.0
 12 PARKER, Catherine...  3|  5   2  14  .214|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  4  0|  0|   7.0
 14 HARTSOCK, Lindsy....  3| 10   1  14  .643|  1|  1   1|  0|  2| 0  6  0|  0|  14.0
 1  GOODMAN, Chelsea....  1|  1   0   2  .500|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 16 EVANS, Lindsey......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  3   1|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  0|   3.0
 17 POWELL, Stacie......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 21 KEMP, Annie.........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  7| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 49  11  97  .392| 44|  9  13|  2| 29| 0 20  0|  1|  68.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 10.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  15  6  37  .243   Site: Brigham Young Univ. (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  16  4  31  .387   Date: Sep 10, 2004   Attend: 1877   Time: 1H 35M
   3  18  1  29  .586   Referees: MAILEE JEWKES, ANNETTE COTTLE, KAREN MARSHALL