Another Incredible Comeback For BYU

OGDEN -- In the first of four in-state matches this season, the No. 17 BYU women's volleyball proved its penchant for drama at Weber State Tuesday night, recording its second straight five-game win (28-30, 30-25, 28-30, 30-15, 19-17) to improve to 8-3 on the year.

"I'm very proud of our team," said BYU head coach Jason Watson. "I'm proud of the resolve they showed playing in a difficult environment under difficult circumstances. We've proven time and again that we know how to handle ourselves in five-game situations. There are valuable lessons to learn now with the competitive nature of our remaining schedule."

Senior rightside hitter Erica Lott led the way for BYU with a season-best 23 kills while adding six blocks. Junior middle blocker Rachel Dyer also came up big for the Cougars with 17 kills and 11 blocks, her first double-double of the season and the most rejections posted by a Cougar this year. Bryn Porter also recorded double-digit winner with 13 while Amy Schlauder tallied her first double-double of the year with 62 assists and 11 digs. Annie Pinegar led the Cougar defense with 20 digs.

Making the first start of her career in place of the resting Chelsea Goodman, true freshman Christy Carpenter scored the first point of the match for BYU with a kill through the seam after a 2-0 Wildcat lead. Weber State kept the pressure on and managed to cling to a slim lead at 13-10 until Dyer got the Cougars going with two kills and a block to tie things up at 13-13. Carpenter then gave BYU its first lead of the night at 14-13 with a cross-court winner that left the Wildcats playing catch up. However, after trailing 20-16, the Wildcats made their push, scoring nine of the next 13 points to retake the lead at 25-24. WSU then rode the momentum and the home crowd to take the opening game, 30-28.

Carpenter once again got BYU on the board to begin game two as BYU built an early 9-4 lead. However, the Wildcats once again responded with force, putting together an 8-3 run to tie the game at 12-12. But the talent and experience of the Cougars proved too much as they quickly re-established their lead at 22-16. A 5-0 WSU run had the Wildcats back in it, but they were unable to complete the comeback as Lott scored three of the last four Cougar points to seal the 30-25 victory.

Game three was a battle from the start as both teams fought to take the two-game match lead. The Cougars built a 10-7 advantage only to watch it disappear with three straight WSU points. BYU quickly got back on track with solid play all around and pushed the lead up to 21-17, but the Wildcats stormed back with a 12-4 run to get to game point at 29-25. BYU fought off the game-ender for the next three points before eventually falling 30-28.

With their backs against the wall for the second straight match, the Cougars fought relentlessly in game four, tying their most lopsided game victory of the season at 30-15. Porter served nine straight points for the Cougars during a dominating 10-0 BYU run that saw the lead stretch to 20-7. Lott led the way for BYU, recording five winners and two blocks to force a fifth game.

Despite BYU's strong showing in game four, it was Weber State who came out hot to start the decisive frame, going up 5-2 early in the shortened game. However, the Cougars fought back with a 5-1 run behind two kills from Dyer to take a 7-6 lead. After trading points to 8-7, the momentum shifted the other way with three straight winners from the Wildcats. From there, the two teams traded points until WSU earned a pair of match points at 14-12. Porter saved the first one with a cross-court kill from the left, and the Wildcats hit long on the next ball to extend the game. BYU saved three more match points before finally earning one of its own on a block from Lott and Ashton Hansen. Stephanie Lau then stepped to the service line and delivered the win for the Cougars with an ace.

"I honestly didn't think the serve was going over," said Lau. "There aren't even words to describe how I felt when it did. I was so excited."

The Cougars will now return home for the first time since Sept. 1 to host the Colorado State Rams (7-3, 2-0 Mountain West Conference) on Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse. Former players and coaches will be honored in a special ceremony between games two and three commemorating the program's 1,000th all-time victory.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                                  BYU Cougars
          #17 BYU Cougars vs Weber State (Sep 18, 2007 at Ogden, Utah)
    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
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  HANSEN, Ashton......  5|  9   4  18  .278|  1|  0   0|  0|  0| 2  3  0|  0|  12.5
 10 LOTT, Erica.........  5| 23  10  54  .241|  1|  1   3|  2|  6| 1  5  1|  0|  27.5
 13 PORTER, Bryn........  5| 13   5  39  .205|  3|  1   1|  1|  9| 0  3  0|  0|  15.5
 14 CARPENTER, Christy..  5|  8   6  34  .059|  2|  0   0|  0|  5| 0  2  0|  1|   9.0
 15 SCHLAUDER, Amy......  5|  3   0   4  .750| 62|  0   2|  0| 11| 0  3  0|  3|   4.5
 44 DYER, Rachel........  5| 17   4  28  .464|  0|  2   2|  0|  6| 1 10  0|  0|  25.0
 11 PINEGAR, Annie......  5|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   1|  3| 20| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 16 LAU, Stephanie......  5|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   4|  2|  8| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  5| 73  29 177  .249| 69|  6  13|  8| 65| 4 26  1|  4|  96.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 17.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  18  7  43  .256   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  4  5  TEAM RECORDS
   2  11  9  36  .056   BYU Cougars......... (3) 28 30 28 30 19  8-3
   3  19  8  47  .234   Weber State......... (2) 30 25 30 15 17  4-6
   4  17  2  32  .469
   5   8  3  19  .263
    Weber 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  Chelsea Bair........  5| 12   8  28  .143|  0|  0   3|  0|  4| 0  1  0|  0|  12.5
 3  Leah Burmeister.....  5| 11   4  35  .200|  1|  3   4|  2|  9| 1  3  0|  0|  16.5
 6  Kolbie Murphey......  5|  9   3  26  .231|  0|  0   0|  1|  1| 0  5  0|  0|  11.5
 7  Micah Lines.........  5| 13  10  40  .075|  1|  3   1|  3| 13| 0  2  0|  0|  17.0
 10 Jenna Leggat........  5|  4   5  19 -.053|  1|  1   3|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  2|   5.0
 15 Sierra Clark........  5|  0   1   1-1.000| 25|  1   1|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 2  Kim Lissinna........  5|  0   0   0  .000| 28|  0   0|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  1|   0.0
 5  Kambria Kinsey......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 9  Brittney Bisaillon..  5| 11   2  21  .429|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 1  1  0|  0|  12.5
 11 Amy Dunford.........  3|  1   2   6 -.167|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 1  0  0|  0|   2.0
 13 Caitlyn Anderson....  5|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0| 21| 0  0  0|  1|   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  5| 61  35 176  .148| 56|  8  12|  6| 60| 3 12  0|  4|  78.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 9.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  16  6  35  .286   Site: Ogden, Utah (Swenson Gym)
   2   7 10  33 -.091   Date: Sep 18, 2007   Attend: 908   Time: 2:35
   3  17  7  45  .222   Referees: Daphne Nelson, Tom Given
   4  10  7  40  .075
   5  11  5  23  .261