Cougars Make Early Exit From MWC Tournament

LAS -- The No. 20 BYU women's volleyball team made an early exit from the Mountain West Conference Tournament Thursday as the second-seeded Cougars fell to seventh-seeded San Diego State in the quarterfinals. After being down two games to none, BYU fought all the way back to force a decisive fifth game but could not complete the comeback bid, falling 27-30, 28-30, 30-28, 30-24, 12-15.

"We certainly didn't play with the persona that we have developed over the season," said BYU head coach Jason Watson. "I thought we had a chance when we pushed it to five, but it just wasn't there. San Diego State was good tonight, much better than us."

The loss marked the Cougars' first five-game loss of the season as BYU entered the Tournament 4-0 when going the distance. The defeat also marked the first time in MWC Tournament history that the Cougars have lost in the quarterfinals.

Three Cougars posted double-doubles in the match led by Chelsea Goodman's MWC-leading 17th of the season with 18 kills and 16 digs. BYU setter Amy Schlauder recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 62 assists and a career-high 18 digs in the match while Erica Lott added her ninth with 15 kills and 15 digs. Rachel Dyer led the BYU offense along with Goodman as she recorded a career-high 18 kills while adding a team-best five blocks. Annie Pinegar also notched a personal-best with 27 digs.

"They came out and stepped it up," said Goodman. "We never gave up and fought like crazy, but they did too."

As a team, the Cougars hit .163 while allowing the Aztecs a .181 hitting percentage. BYU was also outblocked by SDSU, 21.5-8.

After getting down 5-2 early in game one, the Cougars were off to the races with an 11-3 run to take a 13-8 lead. But the advantage was short-lived as the Aztecs ran off five straight points to spark an 8-1 spurt of their own resulting in a 16-14 SDSU lead. BYU returned the favor with six straights points, including a kill and an ace from Goodman, to go up 20-16. The two teams traded points from there with the Cougars maintaining a four-point cushion at 24-20. However, the momentum shifted once again with a 9-2 Aztec run to give SDSU game point at 29-26. Goodman staved off the first opportunity with a kill down the line, but the Aztecs only needed one more chance to put the game away, 30-27.

SDSU carried the momentum into game two with an early 7-2 lead. Lott got BYU going with an emphatic kill down the middle, sparking a 7-2 Cougar run that tied the score at 9-9. But the Aztecs weren't done yet as they scored eight straight points, five of which came on BYU errors, to go up 18-10. After the two teams traded service errors, Dyer took control, posting six kills and a block during a 13-3 BYU run that saw the Cougars claw their way back into the game and take a 24-22 lead. A battle ensued from there as the Aztecs regained the lead at 27-26 and the two teams fought to the finish. But it was SDSU that outlasted the BYU push, taking game two 30-28.

Dyer's hot hand continued in game three as she recorded two kills in the first three BYU points. After a 5-5 tie, the Cougars turned on the gas with a 5-1 spurt featuring back-to-back smashes from Lindsy Hartsock. But the Aztecs responded with a 14-5 run to take a 20-15 lead. Playing with their backs against the wall and down 23-18, the Cougars fought back with a 9-2 run, tying the game on a block by Dyer and Goodman and then taking a 26-25 lead on an Aztec hitting error. Four points later, Pinegar gave BYU game point with an ace on the left side. SDSU fought off the Cougars twice but surrendered the game 30-28 on a dump from Schlauder.

After letting BYU get one back in game three, the Aztecs came out firing in the fourth game with a 13-6 lead. Lott finally got the Cougars going at that point with back-to-back points on a kill and an ace, the first of seven straight BYU scores capped by a block from Schlauder and Dyer to tie the game up at 13-13. The two combined again on the block to knot the score once more at 15-15. After a point from SDSU, Goodman came up big for the Cougars after struggling for most of the match with three kills in the next four points to give BYU its first lead of the game at 19-16. The Aztecs got close again at 20-19 but could not convert the game-tying opportunity as the Cougars sprinted to the 30-24 finish.

Both teams laid it all on the line in game five as the two squads fought for their tournament lives. A 5-5 tie turned into an 8-6 Aztec lead at the change that quickly became a 13-9 advantage as the shortened game entered the home stretch. Back-to-back BYU kills got the Cougars within two points at 13-11, but an SDSU kill on the next point found BYU facing match-point at 14-11. A kill by Goodman kept the Cougars alive for one more serve but the comeback attempt was not to be as an Aztec kill on the next point sealed the match 15-12.

The Cougars (25-4) now must await the decision of the NCAA Tournament selection committee to see if their season will continue. The 64-team NCAA field will be announced on Sunday between 1 and 1:30 p.m. MT on ESPNNews.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                                  BYU Cougars
        San Diego State vs BYU Cougars (Nov 23, 2006 at Las Vegas, Nev.)
    San Diego State        |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  DARNALL, Stephanie..  5| 16   7  45  .200|  2|  0   0|  2| 19| 0  1  1|  0
 6  CASTILLO, Kristen...  5|  2   0   2 1.000| 32|  2   3|  0|  7| 0  0  1|  2
 7  WAHLIN, Kelley......  5|  7   4  25  .120|  1|  0   0|  0|  1| 2 12  1|  0
 8  MAHAN, Lindsey......  5| 12   3  24  .375|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 1  6  1|  0
 10 DENT, Audra.........  5| 15  10  47  .106|  3|  0   0|  0|  2| 1  8  0|  0
 11 GREENE, Melanie.....  5| 15   7  50  .160|  1|  0   1|  4| 13| 0  3  0|  1
 2  LATHROP, Leah.......  5|  0   0   1  .000| 22|  0   0|  0|  5| 0  0  0|  2
 5  CORDEIRO, Aime......  5|  1   0   8  .125|  1|  0   0|  2| 33| 0  0  0|  0
 9  HELLWIG, Bailee.....  5|  5   3  14  .143|  2|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  5  0|  0
 18 FERRER, Michelle....  5|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  5| 73  34 216  .181| 64|  2   4|  8| 87| 4 35  4|  5
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 21.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  16  5  42  .262   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  4  5  TEAM RECORDS
   2  13  7  45  .133   San Diego State..... (3) 30 30 28 24 15  12-17
   3  17 10  51  .137   BYU Cougars......... (2) 27 28 30 30 12  24-5
   4  16  9  51  .137
   5  11  3  27  .296
    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....  5| 18  13  54  .093|  1|  1   1|  0| 16| 0  4  0|  0
 2  BEAUMONT, Janvier...  5|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  2   0|  0|  7| 0  0  0|  0
 10 LOTT, Erica.........  5| 15  10  55  .091|  0|  2   3|  0| 15| 0  1  1|  0
 14 HARTSOCK, Lindsy....  5|  8   2  22  .273|  2|  1   0|  0|  4| 0  3  0|  1
 15 SCHLAUDER, Amy......  5|  4   1   6  .500| 62|  0   0|  0| 18| 0  2  0|  2
 44 DYER, Rachel........  5| 18   3  35  .429|  1|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  5  0|  2
 7  SORENSEN, Kim.......  5| 12  10  39  .051|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  1  0|  0
 11 PINEGAR, Annie......  5|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  2   0|  1| 27| 0  0  0|  0
 13 PORTER, Bryn........  1|  0   1   4 -.250|  0|  0   1|  1|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  5| 75  40 215  .163| 68|  8   5|  2| 93| 0 16  1|  5
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 8.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  14 10  41  .098   Site: Las Vegas, Nev. (Cox Pavilion)
   2  18 12  54  .111   Date: Nov 23, 2006   Attend:     Time: 1h 48m
   3  16  9  49  .143   Referees: Ken Taylor, Verna Klubnikin, Trish Mehringer
   4  18  6  46  .261   ID-502338
   5   9  3  25  .240