BYU Sweeps to Clinch Share of MWC Title

Seniors, Goodman lead Cougars over Wyoming

PROVO -- Sophomore outside hitter Chelsea Goodman put down a career-high 22 kills to power BYU to a three-game sweep over Wyoming Saturday in the Marriott Center. The Cougars hit .351 to overcome the Cowgirls, 30-24, 32-30 and 30-24.

With the win, BYU improves to 21-2 on the year and gets back in the winning column after starting the year with 20 consecutive wins. The victory, coupled with Utah's four-game loss to Colorado State Saturday, guarantees the Cougars at least a share of the Mountain West Conference title with a 12-2 record entering the final week of the regular season.

"This was a very emotional night. I'm really impressed that we were able to stay composed for a large portion of the match," BYU coach Jason Watson said. "A win like this helps us get back to the confidence level we want after our two losses. This was also an important night because our seniors have been a significant part of our success this year."

BYU's two seniors both had significant performances in their final regular-season match in front of the Cougar fans. Rightside hitter Lexi Brown Patterson had a season-high 10 kills while hitting .556, her third highest percentage of the season. Setter Lauren Richards Evans tossed up 50 assists and had 12 digs to record her seventh double-double of the year.

Goodman also had a double-double with 12 digs complementing her match-high 22 kills. Sophomore outside hitter Erica Lott added 12 kills, and sophomore libero Lindsey Evans recorded a match-best 17 digs.

The Cougars trailed early in game one but they soon gained the momentum and never trailed after breaking a 5-5 tie with a Goodman service ace. Wyoming got within one again at 12-11 but BYU ran off four straight points and were never seriously threatened the rest of the way. Goodman led the Cougars with eight kills in the game as BYU earned the 30-24 victory.

Goodman and Lott provided the offensive firepower for BYU in the second game. Eighteen of BYU's 26 kills during the game came from their left-side attack as Goodman recorded 11 kills while Lott added seven.

The second game was tied on seven different occasions and had four lead changes, the last of which came when BYU scored the final three points for the come-from-behind win. Wyoming had game point at 29-26 but the Cougars managed to stay alive with Goodman and Richards Evans putting down kills before Lindsy Hartsock's service ace evened the game at 29. Wyoming again set up a game-point opportunity with a kill to lead 30-29 before Goodman recorded back-to-back kills and Dyer put down the game winner to rally the Cougars.

Goodman's kill to give the Cougars a 17-14 lead in the third game tied her previous career-best performance of 21 kills in BYU's win at nationally ranked Ohio State. Saturday's effort was easily her most dominating of the season, however, as she pounded out her kills in just three games compared to five games at Ohio State. Her final kill of the match was part of a four-point run that propelled BYU from a 21-19 lead to a six-point advantage that proved to be the final margin in the 30-24 triumph.

Rachel Smith's 19 kills led Wyoming. She was the only Wyoming player to record double-figure kills. The Cowgirls, now 9-15 on the season and 4-9 in MWC play, hit .231 for the match.

BYU travels to San Diego State and UNLV for matches Friday and Saturday to close out the regular season. The Cougars will then return to Las Vegas for the MWC Tournament, Nov. 24-26.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                                  BYU COUGARS
   Wyoming Cowgirls vs #16 Brigham Young Univ. (Nov 12, 2005 at BYU PROVO UT)
    Wyoming Cowgirls       |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  SEELE, Andrea.......  3|  9   2  16  .438|  1|  0   0|  0|  1| 1  0  0|  0|  10.0
 7  SMITH, Rachel.......  3| 19   2  46  .370|  0|  0   1|  2| 12| 0  0  0|  0|  19.0
 9  WEISHAHN, Tasha.....  3|  1   0   5  .200| 42|  1   3|  0|  8| 0  1  1|  0|   2.5
 11 LEE, Carissa........  3|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  1   0|  0|  5| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 15 SCOTT, Lauren.......  3|  4   4  13  .000|  1|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  1  0|  0|   4.5
 16 ELEY, Samantha......  3|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  1   1|  1|  7| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 1  LOOP, Kelsey........  3|  5   4  24  .042|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0|   5.0
 2  WEYDERT, Michelle...  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  2   1|  2| 13| 0  0  0|  0|   2.0
 4  VEENKER, Emily......  1|  0   1   1-1.000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 6  CARLSON, Jessie.....  2|  1   0   3  .333|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  2  0|  0|   2.0
 10 HELLBAUM, Angie.....  3|  8   1  33  .212|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  2  0|  0|   9.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 47  14 143  .231| 44|  5   6|  5| 52| 1  6  1|  0|  56.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 4.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  14  6  40  .200   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  21  3  55  .327   Wyoming Cowgirls.... (0) 24 30 24  9-15;  4-9; MWC
   3  12  5  48  .146   Brigham Young Univ.. (3) 30 32 30  21-2; 12-2; 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| 22   6  56  .286|  1|  1   3|  2| 10| 0  0  0|  0|  23.0
 5  EVANS, Lauren.......  3|  5   1  10  .400| 50|  0   3|  0| 12| 1  3  1|  2|   7.5
 9  PATTERSON, Lexi.....  3| 10   0  18  .556|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 1  0  0|  0|  11.0
 11 KEMP, Annie.........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   0|  1|  7| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 14 HARTSOCK, Lindsy....  3|  8   0  16  .500|  3|  2   1|  0|  2| 0  2  0|  0|  11.0
 44 DYER, Rachel........  3|  9   2  20  .350|  3|  1   3|  0|  4| 0  3  0|  0|  11.5
 2  BEAUMONT, Janvier...  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   0|  1|  6| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 3  EVANS, Lindsey......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   0|  1| 16| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 10 LOTT, Erica.........  3| 12   5  28  .250|  1|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  2  0|  0|  13.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 66  14 148  .351| 62|  5  10|  5| 59| 2 10  1|  2|  78.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 7.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  20  5  42  .357   Site: BYU PROVO UT (MARRIOTT CENTER)
   2  26  5  59  .356   Date: Nov 12, 2005   Attend: 1420   Time: 1H 40M
   3  20  4  47  .340   Referees: TANA MARTIN, DAPHNE NELSON, KAREN MARSHALL
                                         1   2   3 Total
                        Tie scores       4   7   2    13
                        Lead changes     2   3   1     6