Together Again Equals Win For No. 17 BYU

PROVO -- In a match that saw all of BYU's starters for the first time since Sept. 7, the No. 17 Cougar women's volleyball team (19-2, 9-1 MWC) earned its 13th sweep of the season with a 30-15, 30-14, 30-23 win over Weber State Tuesday night in the Smith Fieldhouse.

"It was nice to have a line up back that has been missing for quite some time," said BYU head coach Jason Watson. "It was good to get our starters comfortable playing together again and build some confidence going into our match against Utah on Friday."

The return of starting middle blocker Rachel Dyer to the line up after missing two weeks with a foot injury marked the first time in 14 matches that the Cougars have had the services of their entire starting rotation. Starting setter Amy Schlauder missed eight matches with a broken finger suffered on Sept. 7 while starting rightside hitter Erica Lott missed two matches (Sept. 29 against Utah and Oct. 3 at UVSC) with a back injury. Dyer injured her foot the day before Lott and Schlauder returned to the starting line up on Oct. 6.

"It's great to get back on the court with my teammates," said Dyer. "It was really fun. I feel great, and I'm excited for Friday."

Schlauder took full advantage of having an intact starting line up as she spread the ball around offensively, allowing several Cougars to get in on the action. Senior outside hitter Kim Wilson Sorensen led BYU with 13 kills on a season-high .565 hitting, marking the seventh straight match in which she has reached double-digit kills. Erica Lott and Bryn Porter each added eight kills while Dyer posted five in two games and Goodman four in one game. Dyer also led BYU with a season-high seven blocks.

"I'm very happy for Kim (Sorensen)," said Watson. "I'm happy that she's found her identity and been able to have success lately. We're going to need her to do that as we get into the tail end of the season."

Dyer immediately announced her presence in the match with a kill on the first ball of game one, sparking a 6-1 BYU run to start things off. The smash off the slide set the tone for the rest of the game as the Cougars cruised to a 30-15 win in the opening period. Dyer recorded four kills and four blocks while Sorensen slammed home six kills on six swings.

The momentum continued in game two for the Cougars as they jumped out to an 8-2 lead and never looked back on the way to a 30-14 win. BYU's defense was stifling in the second stanza, putting up four team blocks, including three more from Dyer, and keeping Weber State completely out of its offense with a -.082 hitting percentage through the first two games.

"I thought we served and blocked particularly well, which enabled us to do a nice job defensively against Weber," said Watson.

Weber State came out firing in game three, posting a quick 8-3 lead on the Cougars, who went to their bench in the third period. BYU tied it up at 9-9 on the strength of Sorensen's swing, but could not manage to put the Wildcats away as the two teams battled back and forth. However, the Cougars kept their composure and continued fighting to find a way, finally getting the run they needed with a 6-0 spurt to go up 22-17. While the Wildcats continued applying pressure, the crowd and the momentum on BYU's side proved too much as the Cougars sealed the match with the 30-23 win.

The Cougars' next match will pit the No. 17 BYU squad against No. 9 Utah on Friday night at 7 p.m. in Salt Lake City. The Utes are just one match ahead of the Cougars in the league standings, having beaten BYU in four games in Provo earlier this season. The match can be heard live on BYU Radio.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                                  BYU Cougars
     Weber State Wildcats vs #17 BYU Cougars (Oct 24, 2006 at Provo, Utah)
    Weber State Wildcats   |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  Leah Burmeister.....  3|  7   8  23 -.043|  1|  1   3|  1|  8| 0  1  0|  0
 9  Brittney Bisaillon..  3|  3   1   9  .222|  1|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 11 Amy Dunford.........  3|  2   3   8 -.125|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  2  0|  0
 12 Kristi Lindley......  3|  0   0   0  .000| 15|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 13 Caitlyn Anderson....  3|  1   5  10 -.400|  0|  0   0|  2|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 14 Jenna Leggat........  3|  6   9  28 -.107|  2|  0   1|  0|  4| 0  1  0|  0
 2  Kellie Henry........  3|  3   1  13  .154|  0|  2   1|  1|  0| 0  0  0|  1
 5  Kaytie Thorpe.......  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0| 10| 0  0  0|  0
 6  Kolbie Murphey......  2|  5   2  11  .273|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 1  2  0|  0
 7  Keelee Kap..........  2|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   1|  1|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 8  Heather Spencer.....  3|  0   0   2  .000|  7|  0   2|  0|  3| 0  2  0|  2
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 27  29 104 -.019| 27|  3   9|  5| 36| 1  8  0|  3
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 5.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1   4 10  27 -.222   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  10  9  34  .029   Weber State Wildcats (0) 15 14 23  4-23
   3  13 10  43  .070   BYU Cougars......... (3) 30 30 30  19-2
    BYU Cougars            |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  GOODMAN, Chelsea....  1|  4   3  10  .100|  0|  0   2|  0|  3| 0  1  0|  0
 7  SORENSEN, Kim.......  3| 13   0  23  .565|  1|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  3  0|  0
 10 LOTT, Erica.........  3|  8   1  19  .368|  1|  2   2|  2|  7| 0  4  0|  0
 14 HARTSOCK, Lindsy....  2|  1   1   5  .000|  1|  1   1|  0|  1| 0  1  0|  0
 15 SCHLAUDER, Amy......  3|  1   0   3  .333| 34|  0   1|  0|  8| 0  3  1|  0
 44 DYER, Rachel........  2|  5   2  10  .300|  1|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  7  0|  0
 2  BEAUMONT, Janvier...  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  1|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 4  HANSEN, Ashton......  1|  0   0   3  .000|  1|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  2  0|  0
 8  VANDERSTEEN, Marisa.  1|  0   3   4 -.750|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  2  0|  0
 11 PINEGAR, Annie......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   0|  0| 11| 0  0  0|  0
 13 PORTER, Bryn........  2|  8   3  16  .312|  1|  1   1|  0|  4| 0  1  0|  0
 20 JUDKINS, Jenna......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 40  13  93  .290| 40|  5   7|  3| 37| 0 24  1|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 12.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  17  6  33  .333   Site: Provo, Utah (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2   8  1  16  .438   Date: Oct 24, 2006   Attend: 954   Time: 1h30m
   3  15  6  44  .205   Referees: Daphne Nelson, Tom Given, Ryan Mortensen