BYU Posts Incredible Comeback For 1,000 Win

SAN -- The No. 12 BYU women's volleyball team became just the fourth program in NCAA volleyball history to record at least 1,000 wins Saturday night with an incredible come-from-behind five-game victory at San Diego State (24-30, 25-30, 30-26, 30-24, 15-7). The Cougars, who have now won their last three five-game matches coming from an 0-2 deficit, improved to 7-3 on the year, 1-1 in the Mountain West Conference and 1,000-277-5 in the program's 39-year recorded history.

"We're learning very valuable lessons," said BYU head coach Jason Watson, who has done 57-13 in his three years at the helm. "We learned tonight that our emotional commitment has to match our physical commitment in order for us to be what we need to be on the road. We're going to get back in the gym and keep getting better."

Erica Lott led BYU with 22 kills while Chelsea Goodman (19), Rachel Dyer (17), Bryn Porter (12) and Ashton Hansen (10) each posted double-digit winners. Goodman also recorded her 41st career double-double and seventh of the season with 14 digs while Porter posted her first with an additional 13 digs. Annie Pinegar led BYU on the first ball with 17 digs, and Kiana Rogers added career bests of 72 assists and 16 digs. In addition to tying her career high in kills, Hansen paced the Cougar blocking effort with six rejections. On the night, BYU posted a .306 hitting percentage while besting the Aztecs in kills (83-67), aces (7-5) and digs (72-53).

BYU started slow in game one as the Aztecs jumped out to a 6-3 lead with all three Cougar points coming by virtue of SDSU errors. After finding themselves still trailing at 10-7, the Cougars took control, putting together a 7-1 run to take their first lead of the night at 14-11. BYU kept SDSU at bay for the next several points until a 6-1 Aztec spurt left the Cougars down 21-18. BYU came back to within one at 23-22 on a kill from Porter but would never lead again as SDSU scored seven of the last nine points to take game one 30-24.

Dyer got things started in the right direction for the Cougars in game two with an ace on the first serve. From there, BYU raced out to a 5-2 lead, but the Aztecs stayed close, eventually taking the lead at 12-10 after five straight points. Goodman ended the run with a cross-court winner, but it wasn't enough to stop SDSU as the Aztecs steadily built a 22-18 lead. BYU twice cut the lead to two points twice but could get no closer, falling 30-25.

Goodman began game three showing why she is the preseason MWC Player of the Year with three tremendous kills, helping BYU keep the game tied at 3-3. After the Cougars took a 10-9 advantage, a battle ensued as the lead see-sawed between the two teams until a 6-1 Aztec run gave SDSU a 22-17 advantage. SDSU fans began to celebrate, but the euphoria was premature as the Cougars fought back with an identical 6-1 run to tie the game at 23-23. Minutes later, a 25-23 Aztec lead was erased by back-to-back kills from Lott to put BYU in front 26-25. The momentum shift proved huge as the Cougars took the third frame 30-26, riding a 13-4 run to the end.

San Diego State put up the first three points of game four while building an early 8-4 lead. BYU tried to erase the deficit and had the opportunity to tie things up three times before Goodman slammed home an overpass to make it 14-14. A back-row attack call and an ace from Rogers on the next two plays capped the Cougar comeback and had BYU in the lead at 16-14. The Aztecs continued to pressure relentlessly on every ball, but the Cougars could not be stopped, clawing their way to the 30-24 victory with great play from Goodman and Dyer, who scored the game-winner.

BYU got on the board first in game five as Hansen and Lott recorded back-to-back winners. After the Cougars took an early 4-1 lead in the shortened game, SDSU fought back to get to 3-4, but BYU would have none of it, going on a 4-0 run capped to go up 8-3. Three straight Aztec points cut the lead to just two, but the night belonged to the Cougars, who won going away at 15-7.

The Cougars have one more road match before returning home next weekend. BYU will travel up the road to Ogden, Utah, to face the Weber State Wildcats on Tuesday at 7 p.m. before continuing MWC play on Saturday hosting Colorado State at 7 p.m.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                                  BYU Cougars
       BYU Cougars vs San Diego State (Sep 15, 2007 at San Diego, Calif.)
    BYU Cougars            |     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....  5| 19   8  53  .208|  0|  2   1|  0| 14| 0  1  1|  1|  21.5
 4  HANSEN, Ashton......  5| 10   2  17  .471|  2|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  6  0|  0|  13.0
 9  ROGERS, Kiana.......  5|  3   1   6  .333| 72|  3   2|  0| 16| 0  2  0|  1|   7.0
 10 LOTT, Erica.........  5| 22   8  44  .318|  0|  0   3|  1|  9| 0  4  0|  0|  24.0
 13 PORTER, Bryn........  5| 12   5  36  .194|  2|  0   2|  3| 13| 0  4  0|  0|  14.0
 44 DYER, Rachel........  5| 17   4  24  .542|  1|  1   1|  0|  3| 0  4  0|  0|  20.0
 11 PINEGAR, Annie......  5|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  1   1|  1| 17| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  5| 83  28 180  .306| 79|  7  10|  5| 72| 0 21  1|  2| 100.5
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 10.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  15  4  37  .297   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  4  5  TEAM RECORDS
   2  18  8  47  .213   BYU Cougars......... (3) 24 25 30 30 15  7-3 (1-1 MWC)
   3  20  6  40  .350   San Diego State..... (2) 30 30 26 24  7  9-3 (1-1 MWC)
   4  22  8  43  .326
   5   8  2  13  .462
    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|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  DARNALL, Stephanie..  5| 12   9  38  .079|  0|  1   0|  2|  7| 0  2  0|  0|  14.0
 2  LATHROP, Leah.......  5|  1   0   1 1.000| 31|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  1|   1.0
 3  SALISBURY, Lauren...  5| 10   4  24  .250|  1|  0   0|  0|  0| 1  6  4|  0|  14.0
 8  MAHAN, Lindsey......  5| 10   2  25  .320|  1|  2   0|  0|  2| 3  4  0|  0|  17.0
 15 EVANS, Hannah.......  5| 16   3  47  .277|  0|  1   4|  2|  9| 0  1  1|  0|  17.5
 20 DE TURK, Sydney.....  5| 12   4  24  .333|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 1  8  0|  0|  17.0
 5  CORDEIRO, Aime......  5|  1   0   1 1.000|  3|  1   2|  0| 24| 0  0  0|  0|   2.0
 6  CASTILLO, Kristen...  5|  1   0   2  .500| 21|  0   1|  0|  6| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 7  WAHLIN, Kelley......  5|  4   0  16  .250|  1|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  1|   4.5
 10 MANASCO, Kelsey.....  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 11 FERRER, Michelle....  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
    TEAM................   |                 |   |       |  3|   |        |   |   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  5| 67  22 178  .253| 58|  5   8|  7| 53| 5 22  5|  2|  88.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 16.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  19  3  44  .364   Site: San Diego, Calif. (Peterson Gym)
   2  19  3  42  .381   Date: Sep 15, 2007   Attend: 562   Time: 2:33
   3  13  6  35  .200   Referees: Verna Klubnikin, Tom Saunders
   4  12  4  34  .235
   5   4  6  23 -.087