BYU Snaps Four-Match Skid

ALBUQUERQUE -- History smiled on the Cougars Thursday night as they swept the New Mexico Lobos for the 19th straight time, earning a 30-17, 30-12, 30-27 win over the Lobos in Albuquerque. The victory snapped a four-match BYU losing streak and evened out the season for the Cougars at 6-6 overall and 1-1 in the Mountain West Conference.

"I'm very happy with the way we played tonight," said BYU head coach Karen Lamb. "We played with a lot of confidence and optimism. We came on this trip looking to put things behind us and we did. I think this win turns our season around."

BYU's middle-blocking duo of Lindsy Hartsock and Lexi Brown once again dominated on the court as they led the Cougars to their 11th double-digit blocking effort of the year with 15. The pair also led the Cougars offensively, with Hartsock putting down 11 kills on .500 hitting and Brown picking up 10 kills on .667 hitting.

Kim Wilson recorded nine kills on the night as the Cougars hit a combined .372 while holding the Lobos to a .037 hitting percentage. Lindsey Metcalf led the Cougars in digs with eight while senior April Varner got her first start of the season at the libero spot and picked up four digs.

"I was really proud of our middles tonight," said Lamb. "They made a huge difference for us in this match."

On the season, the Cougars rank 23rd in the nation in blocks per game and 27th in hitting percentage while Hartsock individually holds the 13th spot in blocks per game and the 25th spot in hitting percentage nationally.

The victory snapped a four-match losing streak for the Cougars, which equaled the longest losing streak in BYU history. The Cougars will seek to go one-up in the victory column Saturday when they face Air Force in Colorado Springs, Colo. The match will begin at 7 p.m. and live stats will be available on the schedule page of the BYU Women's Volleyball home page at www.byucougars.com/volleyball_w.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                    Brigham Young Univ. Cougars - Volleyball
     Brigham Young Univ. vs New Mexico (Sep 30, 2004 at Albuquerque, N.M.)
    Brigham Young Univ.    |     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....  3|  2   0   5  .400| 37|  2   1|  0|  5| 1  4  1|  3
 6  METCALF, Lindsey....  3|  6   2  11  .364|  1|  1   2|  0|  8| 0  5  1|  0
 7  WILSON, Kim.........  3|  9   3  25  .240|  0|  0   2|  0|  7| 0  2  0|  0
 9  BROWN, Lexi.........  3| 10   0  15  .667|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  2  1|  0
 10 LOTT, Erica.........  3|  6   2  20  .200|  0|  0   1|  1|  0| 0  2  0|  0
 14 HARTSOCK, Lindsy....  3| 11   2  18  .500|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 2  9  0|  0
 3  VARNER, April.......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   2|  1|  4| 0  0  0|  0
 16 EVANS, Lindsey......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 44   9  94  .372| 40|  4   8|  2| 29| 3 24  3|  3
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 15.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  15  2  32  .406   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  15  3  26  .462   Brigham Young Univ.. (3) 30 30 30  6-6 (1-1 MWC)
   3  14  4  36  .278   New Mexico.......... (0) 17 12 27  6-7 (0-3 MWC)
    New Mexico             |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  THERKELSEN, Kelly...  3|  8   5  20  .150|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  2  0|  0
 5  MEIHACK, Monica.....  3|  1   2   7 -.143| 29|  0   2|  0|  4| 1  0  2|  3
 6  RYAN, Nicole........  3| 13   5  34  .235|  0|  0   1|  0|  7| 0  0  0|  0
 8  SONDRUP, Chelsea....  3|  5   5  13  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 1  3  1|  1
 9  WEBER, Samie........  3|  3   5  16 -.125|  0|  0   2|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  1
 14 CONKLIN, Laura......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   0|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 2  COX, Kim............  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   1|  1|  4| 0  0  0|  0
 7  BURKE, Adah.........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  3| 16| 0  0  0|  0
 15 HEASTY, Jennifer....  3|  3   7  17 -.235|  1|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  2  1|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 33  29 107  .037| 30|  2   7|  4| 35| 2  7  4|  5
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 5.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  13 12  37  .027   Site: Albuquerque, N.M. (Johnson Center)
   2   7 10  30 -.100   Date: Sep 30, 2004   Attend: 411   Time: 1:25
   3  13  7  40  .150   Referees: Cedric Allrunner, Marvin Hall