BYU Sweeps in Home-Opener

PROVO -- Home sweet home was an appropriate phrase Thursday night as the Cougars won their home-opener against Montana State, sweeping the Bobcats 30-21, 30-20, 30-28 to begin the BYU/UVSC Invitational.

"We had some concerns about handling the distractions of playing at home for the first time, but I think we did a nice job overall," said BYU Head Coach Jason Watson. "We had a very balanced attack, which we haven't had in a while. Both of our middle blockers did a very nice job, which is also a credit to our setter, Lauren Richards Evans."

BYU was led by its blocking duo of junior Lindsy Hartsock and redshirt freshman Rachel Dyer, who had a career-high 11 kills on .526 hitting. Sophomore Erica Lott led the Cougars with 15 kills while fellow sophomore Chelsea Goodman tied her career-high with 13, the second straight match in which she has tallied that number. Dyer and Richards Evans paced BYU with four blocks each, and sophomore Lindsey Evans recorded a team-high 10 digs.

Despite a tight third game, the Cougars dominated most of the match, holding the Bobcats to just .071 hitting on 26 total kills. BYU posted a .326 hitting percentage while tallying 59 kills. The fifth-best blocking team in the nation in 2004, the Cougars outblocked Montana State 8.5 to 5.0.

"It's easy for the middles to look good when our passing and setting is on, and it was awesome tonight," said Dyer. "Lauren (Richards Evans) and the back row were great."

Montana State came out hot in game one, eventually building an 18-16 lead. But the Cougar offense woke up with three straight kills from Lott to spark a 14-3 run that took BYU to the 30-21 win. Game two began much the same way as game one but quickly became a Cougar rout as the offense took control and dominated on every point. Facing a sweep, the Bobcats fought back into the match in game three, making the Cougars earn every point. But their efforts were in vain as BYU pulled out the win.

With a perfect 2-0 record, the Cougars will now face Kansas Friday night. The match will take place after the ceremony honoring former BYU head coach Elaine Michaelis and naming the Smith Fieldhouse court in her honor, which begins at 6:45 p.m.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                            The Automated ScoreBook
        Montana State vs Brigham Young Univ. (Sep 01, 2005 at Provo, UT)
    Montana State          |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  BUETTNER,Kami.......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  4|  0   1|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 5  MALYUREK,Meggie.....  3|  4   3  19  .053|  0|  2   2|  2|  5| 0  1  0|  0|   6.5
 8  WIEBE,Angela........  3|  5   2  18  .167|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  2  0|  0|   6.0
 9  ZANTO, Megan........  3|  4   0   9  .444|  0|  1   0|  0|  1| 0  2  0|  0|   6.0
 10 VIREN, Laura........  3|  1   3   7 -.286|  0|  0   0|  2|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 11 STONEHOUSE, Kim.....  3|  7   5  27  .074|  1|  1   1|  1|  5| 0  0  0|  0|   8.0
 3  SESLER,Brittni......  3|  1   1   2  .000| 17|  0   0|  0|  4| 1  1  0|  0|   2.5
 6  PURNELL,Raelene.....  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 14 KELLY, Kandice......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  2| 16| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 16 ANDERSON, Kandice...  3|  4   5  17 -.059|  3|  1   0|  0|  6| 0  2  1|  0|   6.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 26  19  99  .071| 25|  5   4|  7| 40| 1  8  1|  0|  36.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 5.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1   7  4  33  .091   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2   8  7  33  .030   Montana State....... (0) 21 20 28  2-2
   3  11  8  33  .091   Brigham Young Univ.. (3) 30 30 30  2-0
    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|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  GOODMAN, Chelsea....  3| 13   4  30  .300|  2|  2   2|  1|  8| 0  2  0|  0|  16.0
 5  EVANS, Lauren.......  3|  3   1   6  .333| 45|  1   4|  0|  9| 0  4  0|  0|   6.0
 9  PATTERSON, Lexi.....  3|  8   1  16  .438|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  2  0|  0|   9.0
 10 LOTT, Erica.........  3| 15   9  36  .167|  1|  4   6|  0|  4| 1  0  2|  0|  20.0
 14 HARTSOCK, Lindsy....  3|  9   1  20  .400|  0|  0   2|  0|  6| 0  3  0|  0|  10.5
 44 DYER, Rachel........  3| 11   1  19  .526|  1|  0   3|  0|  2| 0  4  0|  0|  13.0
 2  BEAUMONT, Janvier...  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   2|  1|  4| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 3  EVANS, Lindsey......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  3| 10| 0  0  0|  1|   0.0
 11 KEMP, Annie.........  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 13 PORTER, Bryn........  1|  0   0   2  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 59  17 129  .326| 50|  7  19|  5| 44| 1 15  2|  1|  74.5
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 8.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  19  7  41  .293   Site: Provo, UT (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  21  3  39  .462   Date: Sep 01, 2005   Attend: 1510   Time: 1h 40m
   3  19  7  49  .245   Referees: ANNETTE COTTLE, MAILE JEWKES, KAREN MARSHALL
                                         1   2   3 Total
                        Tie scores       8   3  11    22
                        Lead changes     2   1   2     5