Cougars Open Weekend With Victory

Provo, UT -- Sparked by an impressive hitting and blocking effort, the Cougars opened up the weekend with a four-game win over visiting Northern Colorado.

"We slowed down a little in the third game as I tried to put more people in, but overall we played very well," said BYU head coach Karen Lamb. "I'm especially pleased with our blocking and hitting."

Everyone contributed in the win for BYU, which dropped the Bears to 5-4 on the year and elevated the Cougars to 5-2. Four Cougars had double-digit kills in the match as Kim Wilson and Erica Lott recorded 13 apiece while Lindsey Metcalf had 12 and Lindsy Hartsock had 10 enroute to a .304 team hitting percentage.

Cougar defense also dominated as BYU out-dug the Bears 47-38 and out-blocked them 15-9. In her first collegiate start, redshirt freshman libero Stacie Powell recorded eight digs. In the team effort, Wilson also contributed eight digs. Lexi Brown, coming off an ankle injury that kept her out of last week's Mizuno Classic tournament, notched seven blocks for the Cougars, as did Metcalf. The Cougars' defense held the Bears to .047 hitting in the match.

"Everyone is playing well and we're getting more parody in the offense," said Lamb. "We've found a comfortable spot for Lindsey (Metcalf), Stacie (Powell) had a solid game and Lexi (Brown) had a nice match coming off her injury. We're finding the line-ups that work."

Game one was all BYU. The Cougars were firing on all cylinders as they took control of the match from the start, jumping out to an early 12-3 lead. From there, the Cougars never looked back, winning 30-19 and hitting an amazing .533 for the game on 18 kills and only two errors.

The Bears kept the Cougars on their toes early in game two, going down 8-3 but coming back to tie it up at 11-11. But it would not be enough as a kill by Hartsock put the Cougars up 16-13 and sparked a 6-1 BYU run. The Cougars easily closed out the match at 30-20 and held Northern Colorado to a .000 hitting percentage.

BYU struggled in game three as the younger Cougars saw increased action. The Bears took an early lead and never let the Cougars get within three points as they help BYU to just .048 hitting. A 5-0 BYU run was too little too late as Northern Colorado took game three, 30-25.

But the Cougars regained their composure in game four, proving their dominance in a lopsided 30-15 victory. BYU actually held the Bears to a -.194 hitting percentage on just five kills while racking up 17 kills, 14 digs and four blocks of their own in the course of the game.

Up next for the Cougars is 8-0 Saint Mary's. The Gaels are off to their best start in school history and have won their last six consecutive non-conference tournaments dating back to the 2003 season. That game will be played Friday evening at 7:30 in the Smith Fieldhouse. Live audio will be available on BYU Radio and fans can also access live stats at http://www.byucougars.com/Schedule.jsp?SP=202&YR=2004.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                     Brigham Young University - Volleyball
        Northern Colorado vs BYU Cougars (Sep 17, 2004 at BYU PROVO, UT)
    Northern Colorado      |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  DEFFENBAUGH, Erin...  4| 12   7  42  .119|  0|  2   2|  4|  9| 0  2  0|  0
 10 CASSELMAN, Amy......  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  5| 0  0  0|  0
 11 WIGGINS, Amanda.....  3|  3   5  16 -.125|  0|  1   1|  1|  5| 0  2  0|  0
 14 ANGUS, Danelle......  4|  7   5  16  .125|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  6  0|  0
 15 CHAPIN, Corrinne....  4|  0   2   6 -.333| 30|  0   0|  1|  5| 0  3  0|  0
 20 VEAL, Danni.........  2|  0   3   4 -.750|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 1  PAGEL, Ashley.......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  1   3|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 2  MAYNE, Abby.........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   2|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  0
 3  LEDALL, Maggie......  4|  9   4  20  .250|  1|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  1  0|  0
 4  LEDALL, Terin.......  4|  3   1  12  .167|  1|  0   1|  2|  7| 1  0  0|  0
 8  KLIEN, Meredith.....  1|  0   1   2 -.500|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 19 RHODES, Lizzy.......  4|  3   3   9  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  2  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 37  31 127  .047| 33|  4  11|  8| 38| 1 16  0|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 9.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1   9  8  28  .036   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2   7  7  28  .000   Northern Colorado... (1) 19 20 30 15  5-4
   3  16  5  40  .275   BYU Cougars......... (3) 30 30 25 30  5-2
   4   5 11  31 -.194
    BYU Cougars            |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  RICHARDS, Lauren....  4|  4   4   9  .000| 52|  2   5|  0|  6| 0  2  1|  2
 6  METCALF, Lindsey....  4| 12   5  23  .304|  4|  1   1|  0|  7| 0  7  0|  0
 7  WILSON, Kim.........  4| 13   2  26  .423|  0|  2   6|  0|  8| 1  1  0|  0
 9  BROWN, Lexi.........  4|  9   3  18  .333|  0|  0   1|  0|  3| 0  7  0|  0
 10 LOTT, Erica.........  4| 13   1  27  .444|  0|  0   3|  0|  2| 1  2  0|  0
 14 HARTSOCK, Lindsy....  4| 10   2  17  .471|  0|  3   3|  0|  3| 0  5  0|  0
 1  GOODMAN, Chelsea....  1|  1   0   2  .500|  1|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 3  VARNER, April.......  1|  2   3  12 -.083|  0|  0   0|  1|  0| 1  0  0|  0
 12 PARKER, Catherine...  1|  0   1   3 -.333|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 16 EVANS, Lindsey......  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  1|  7| 0  0  0|  0
 17 POWELL, Stacie......  3|  0   1   1-1.000|  0|  0   0|  2|  8| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 64  22 138  .304| 57|  8  19|  4| 47| 3 24  1|  2
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 15.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  18  2  30  .533   Site: BYU PROVO, UT (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  16  5  36  .306   Date: Sep 17, 2004   Attend: 302   Time: 1H 45M
   3  13 11  42  .048   Referees: BRUCE GRANT, ANNETTE COTTLE, KAREN MARSHALL
   4  17  4  30  .433