No. 15 Cougars Sweep Utah Valley to Improve to 16-0

PROVO -- BYU earned its sixth straight sweep Tuesday with a 30-21, 30-21, 30-27 victory over Utah Valley State on Elaine Michaelis Court. The 15th-ranked Cougars improved to 16-0 with the win, their best start since beginning the 1977 season 23-0.

"I thought we played well tonight," BYU coach Jason Watson said. "I thought over time we were able to exploit some things. Credit should go to Amy (Schlauder). I thought she ran a very balanced offense and was fairly mature and composed over the course of the match."

Wanting to provide his backup setter with more game experience, Watson played Schlauder, a redshirt freshman, in place of two-time All-Mountain West Conference senior Lauren Richards Evans. Playing in just her sixth match of the year, and only her third multi-game appearance, Schlauder guided the Cougars to a .381 attack percentage in the three-game victory.

"We tried to focus on one point at a time, not just the overall score," Schlauder said. "It's not necessarily the number of wins that determines our confidence level, it's how we play."

The first game was tightly contested during the early going, as the Wolverines were able to battle BYU point for point. Leading 11-10, BYU slowly started to pull away from Utah Valley State, pushing the lead to 16-12 and then 20-14 while building to a game-high advantage of 10 points at 26-16. Junior middle blocker Lindsy Hartsock recorded the game-winner for BYU, putting a kill down the middle for a 30-21 victory.

BYU continued to hold off the crosstown Wolverines in the second game, posting an identical 30-21 win. Sophomore outside hitter Chelsea Goodman brought the crowd of 1,059 out of their seats several times during the game with some high-flying, straight-down kills. All the Cougars were efficient in their attack, hitting a combined .406 compared to UVSC's .079 attack percentage. BYU outhit the Wolverines .400 to .100 in game one.

Up 2-0, Watson inserted freshman Bryn Porter and sophomores Annie Kemp and Jenna Judkins into the game-three lineup. The Wolverines took advantage while the Cougars adjusted, scoring the first six points of the game and eight of the first nine. UVSC setter Lacee Koelliker served the first six points, including four services aces.

"Utah Valley was able to get on a very nice run in the third game," Watson said. "Koelliker played incredibly well for them."

The Cougars started to battle back and got within three at 11-8, but the Wolverines continued to play well, earning four of the next seven points to hold a 15-11 edge. Four straight Cougar points, however, evened the tally at 15 and BYU took its first lead at 18-17.

"I was proud of how our team stayed composed and didn't panic when we got so far down," Watson said.

UVSC regained the advantage at 20-19 and built the lead to 23-20 before BYU fought back with four consecutive points. The Wolverines seemed on the threshold of a game-three win with a 27-26 lead before the Cougars ran off the last four points to earn their sixth straight sweep.

Goodman, Hartsock and Erica Lott shared match-high honors with 14 kills for BYU, while Brooke Adams and Anne Olsen led UVSC with seven kills each. Lott recorded her third double-double performance of the year with a match-best 10 digs.

BYU returns to MWC play Friday and Saturday. The Cougars host San Diego State Friday at 7 p.m. and UNLV Saturday at 7 p.m.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                                  BYU COUGARS
                   UVSC WOLVERINES vs #15 Brigham Young Univ.
                       (Oct 18, 2005 at Smith Fieldhouse)
    UVSC WOLVERINES        |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  ADAMS, Brooke.......  3|  7   5  16  .125|  1|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  2  0|  0|   8.0
 2  KOELLIKER, Lacee....  3|  3   0   8  .375| 30|  4   2|  0|  5| 0  0  0|  0|   7.0
 6  OLSEN, Anne.........  3|  7   8  25 -.040|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0|   7.0
 9  McFARLAND, Stephanie  3|  6   2  16  .250|  0|  0   2|  0|  1| 0  2  0|  0|   7.0
 11 ENDRES, Jessica.....  3|  5   0  17  .294|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  2  0|  1|   6.0
 14 MANWILL, Camie......  3|  6   6  18  .000|  0|  1   0|  4|  6| 0  2  0|  0|   8.0
 4  HEERS, Kari.........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 7  CARRON, Bethany.....  1|  1   0   3  .333|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 8  O'NEAL, Chelsea.....  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 12 HOYT, Maegan........  3|  0   2   2-1.000|  2|  0   1|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  1|   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 35  23 105  .114| 33|  5   8|  4| 24| 0  8  0|  2|  44.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 4.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  10  7  30  .100   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  11  8  38  .079   UVSC WOLVERINES..... (0) 21 21 27  8-10 IND
   3  14  8  37  .162   Brigham Young Univ.. (3) 30 30 30  16-0; 8-0 MWC
    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| 14   5  28  .321|  0|  0   2|  1|  5| 0  0  0|  0|  14.0
 9  PATTERSON, Lexi.....  2|  4   2   7  .286|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  1  0|  0|   4.5
 10 LOTT, Erica.........  3| 14   4  28  .357|  0|  0   3|  3| 10| 0  0  1|  0|  14.0
 14 HARTSOCK, Lindsy....  3| 14   2  21  .571|  1|  2   0|  0|  0| 0  3  0|  0|  17.5
 15 SCHLAUDER, Amy......  3|  1   0   4  .250| 44|  2   2|  0|  5| 0  4  0|  2|   5.0
 44 DYER, Rachel........  3|  5   2   7  .429|  0|  0   2|  0|  1| 0  3  0|  0|   6.5
 2  BEAUMONT, Janvier...  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   2|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 3  EVANS, Lindsey......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  1|  5| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 11 KEMP, Annie.........  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 13 PORTER, Bryn........  1|  0   0   2  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0|   0.5
 20 JUDKINS, Jenna......  2|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   1|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 52  15  97  .381| 47|  4  12|  5| 35| 0 12  1|  2|  62.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 6.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  17  5  30  .400   Site: Smith Fieldhouse (Elaine Michaelis)
   2  17  4  32  .406   Date: Oct 18, 2005   Attend: 1059   Time: 1 H 35 M
   3  18  6  35  .343   Referees: TOM GIVEN, BRUCE GRANT, KAREN MARSHALL
                                         1   2   3 Total
                        Tie scores       8   0   9    17
                        Lead changes     4   0   5     9