Cougars Power Past Aztecs

PROVO -- Powering over a solid San Diego State team, No. 15 BYU hit .414 and recorded a season-high 14 blocks to sweep the Aztecs Friday night on Elaine Michaelis Court. The Cougars improved to 17-0 on the year and 9-0 in Mountain West Conference action with the 30-22, 30-27, 30-25 win.

The Cougars' .414 attack percentage was their second-best offensive performance of the season while the team's 14 blocks was a new season best for a three-game match. BYU has only needed three games to log its last seven victories.

"San Diego State hit well against us and put pressure on our defense," BYU coach Jason Watson said of an Aztec squad that managed a productive .223 attack efficiency. "But we stayed composed and stayed in our systems. It was a nice win for our team."

BYU led throughout the first game while cruising to a 30-22 win. The ease of the victory was much more a reflection of BYU's outstanding play than lack of performance by the Aztecs, as the Cougars boasted a sizzling .475 attack percentage to start the match. Cougar senior Lexi Brown Patterson was nearly perfect from the right side, putting down five kills in six attempts, while sophomores Erica Lott and Chelsea Goodman combined for eight kills on the left side and junior Lindsy Hartsock and freshman Rachel Dyer teamed for seven kills in the middle.

The Aztecs took their first lead of the match at 6-5 in the second game and proved to be a much tougher opponent in the second stanza. BYU trailed until regaining the lead at 14-13 when Lott found a seam down the middle. The Cougars built the lead to 22-18 before the Aztecs scored five straight points during a 7-1 run to erase the deficit and grab a two-point edge at 25-23.

The momentum changed, however, with Lott, Hartsock and Patterson in rotation on the front row for BYU. The Cougar block proved to be a significant obstacle as several Aztec attempts were sent back at the San Diego State attackers. Patterson and Hartsock teamed for a block that gave BYU the lead at 26-25, which senior setter Lauren Richards Evans followed with a service ace. The Cougars held on with Goodman putting away the 30th point from an outside attack. BYU outblocked the Aztecs 6-2 during the game to make the difference as the SDSU managed a slight .289 to .286 hitting edge.

"I was pleased with how our blocking system was able to get on San Diego State's tendencies," Watson said. "We were very persistent. Our middles had good direction and kept our system intact."

BYU put the Aztecs away in game three by hitting a match-best .500 attack percentage for the 30-25 win. Hartsock ended the match emphatically, smashing a perfectly placed Evans set straight down just over the Aztec side of the net. The 2,043 Cougar faithful in attendance responded to the powerful kill with an ovation.

"Our fans are great," Watson said. "We really appreciate the support we get from our fans."

Every Cougar hit over .300 for the match in the well-balanced attack. Lott and Goodman each posted 15 kills to pace BYU. Dyer and Hartsock both recorded a match-high 7 blocks, and libero Lindsey Evans came up with a team-leading 11 digs while Goodman added 10. Lindsey Noll's 10 kills and .381 attack percentage led San Diego State, which falls to 12-8 on the year and 4-3 in MWC play.

BYU puts its perfect record on the line Saturday when the Cougars host UNLV at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                                  BYU COUGARS
   SDSU AZTECS vs #15 Brigham Young Univ. (Oct 21, 2005 at Smith Fieldhouse)
    SDSU AZTECS            |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 6  CASTILLO, Kristen...  3|  0   0   1  .000| 22|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  1|   0.0
 8  MAHAN, Lindsey......  3|  7   4  15  .200|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  3  2|  0|   8.5
 10 DENT, Audra.........  3|  9   5  20  .200|  1|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0|   9.5
 11 GREENE, Melaine.....  3|  9   4  27  .185|  0|  0   1|  2|  5| 0  0  0|  0|   9.0
 12 NOLL, Lindsey.......  3| 10   2  21  .381|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  1|  0|  10.0
 22 WALLER, Alicia......  3|  3   2   9  .111|  0|  0   2|  0|  6| 0  1  0|  0|   3.5
 1  VERDENACCI, Angela..  1|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 2  LATHROP, Leah.......  3|  0   0   0  .000| 18|  0   1|  0|  6| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 5  CORDEIRO, Aime......  3|  1   0   1 1.000|  0|  0   1|  1| 17| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 9  STAPLEY, Melissa....  3|  4   1   9  .333|  2|  0   0|  0|  1| 1  1  0|  0|   5.5
 23 MOLNAR, Brandice....  2|  3   3   9  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0|   3.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 46  21 112  .223| 44|  0   5|  3| 41| 1  6  3|  1|  50.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 4.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  13  7  37  .162   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  17  6  38  .289   SDSU AZTECS......... (0) 22 27 25  12-8; 4-3 MWC
   3  16  8  37  .216   Brigham Young Univ.. (3) 30 30 30  17-0; 9-0 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| 15   4  29  .379|  0|  0   1|  0| 10| 0  3  0|  0|  16.5
 5  EVANS, Lauren.......  3|  4   0   5  .800| 45|  1   4|  0|  2| 0  3  0|  5|   6.5
 9  PATTERSON, Lexi.....  3|  6   2  13  .308|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  4  0|  0|   8.0
 10 LOTT, Erica.........  3| 15   2  37  .351|  1|  1   2|  0|  9| 0  4  0|  0|  18.0
 14 HARTSOCK, Lindsy....  3|  9   1  15  .533|  0|  0   1|  0|  3| 0  7  0|  0|  12.5
 44 DYER, Rachel........  3| 10   2  17  .471|  0|  0   3|  0|  0| 0  7  1|  0|  13.5
 2  BEAUMONT, Janvier...  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  1   1|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 3  EVANS, Lindsey......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  4|  0   0|  0| 11| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 59  11 116  .414| 51|  3  12|  0| 39| 0 28  1|  5|  76.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 14.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  20  1  40  .475   Site: Smith Fieldhouse (Elaine Michaelis)
   2  18  6  42  .286   Date: Oct 21, 2005   Attend: 2043   Time: 1h 48m
   3  21  4  34  .500   Referees: VERNA KLUBNIKIN, BRUCE GRANT, KAREN MARSHALL
                                         1   2   3 Total
                        Tie scores       0  14   1    15
                        Lead changes     0   5   1     6