Balanced Effort Leads to Ninth Sweep

PROVO -- The BYU women's volleyball team made quick work of Air Force Friday night as the Cougars recorded their ninth sweep of the season with a 30-19, 30-13, 30-15 victory in the Smith Fieldhouse. The win improves BYU's record to 14-6, including a 6-4 mark in the Mountain West Conference.

"I was pleased with the result we got tonight," said BYU head coach Jason Watson. "We were consistent in key areas that we could control, especially at the service line. Our serving was a big factor that allowed us to dictate some things. I was happy to see that."

Serving was indeed key for the Cougars as they posted a season-high 13 aces, led by four from Chelsea Goodman and three each from Stephanie Lau and Rachel Dyer, tying her career high. BYU's game kept Air Force consistently out of system, resulting in a -.072 hitting percentage for the Falcons, the first time this year the Cougars have held an opponent to a negative attack efficiency. The BYU attack was led by 10 kills from Goodman and nine from Dyer as a balanced offense reigned, and 11 Cougars saw time on the court.

Goodman got the Cougars started to begin the match with a kill that found the back corner, the first of four straight BYU points. Air Force finally got on the board with a Cougar service error but did not record its first offensive point until putting down a kill to get to within six at 5-11. True freshmen Christina Measom and Christy Carpenter, who both received the starting nod from Watson, got on the board with kills for BYU's 16th and 17th points, respectively, helping the Cougars run out to a 20-11 lead. BYU eventually took the game, 30-19, with three of its last five points coming off the arm of Erica Lott.

Air Force kept it close early in game two until the serving of Cougar senior Jenna Judkins sparked a 5-0 BYU run to a 9-3 lead. A Cougar hitting error ended Judkins' stay at the service line, but then it was Lau's turn as she posted two aces during four straight BYU points to push the lead to 13-4. From there, it was all Cougars as they tied their most lopsided game victory of the season with a 30-13 win.

With their backs against the wall in game three, the Falcons came out firing and took their first lead of the match at 2-0 and again at 5-3. But a 6-0 run the other way sparked by two kills from senior Catherine Parker quickly had BYU up 9-5 and thinking sweep. Air Force stormed back to cut the lead to two points at 11-9, but the Cougars responded with a 10-2 spurt to go up 21-11. BYU never looked back while posting the 30-15 win.

BYU will continue its homestand Saturday night facing Wyoming at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                                  BYU Cougars
             Air Force vs BYU Cougars (Oct 26, 2007 at Provo, Utah)
    Air Force              |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  BATCHELDER, Katie...  3|  2   4  12 -.167|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  2  0|  0|   3.0
 9  STEWART, Kristina...  3|  4   6  24 -.083|  0|  0   1|  1|  1| 0  1  0|  0|   4.5
 11 KALLABIS, Kim.......  3|  0   0   1  .000| 11|  0   2|  0|  8| 0  0  0|  1|   0.0
 13 KURTZ, Caroline.....  3|  4   7  21 -.143|  0|  1   0|  5|  8| 0  0  0|  0|   5.0
 21 HARRINGTON, Michelle  3|  5   2  11  .273|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 1  3  0|  0|   7.5
 23 STILWELL, Nichole...  3|  3   5  12 -.167|  1|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  1  0|  0|   3.5
 2  BINA, Ellen.........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 3  SPENCER, Kelly......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 7  DOLAN, Morgan.......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  6| 13| 0  0  0|  1|   0.0
 15 PETTIE, Jasamine....  2|  3   1   8  .250|  1|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   3.0
 16 HANSEN, Julia.......  2|  0   2   6 -.333|  0|  0   0|  1|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 17 HELLMANN, Jessica...  1|  0   1   1-1.000|  2|  0   0|  0|  0| 1  1  0|  0|   1.5
 18 STANFORD, Stephanie.  2|  0   0   1  .000|  5|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  2|   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 21  28  97 -.072| 21|  1   4| 13| 38| 2  8  0|  4|  28.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 6.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1   8  8  28  .000   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2   5 14  40 -.225   Air Force........... (0) 19 13 15  7-18, 0-11 MWC
   3   8  6  29  .069   BYU Cougars......... (3) 30 30 30  14-6, 6-4 MWC
    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....  3| 10   4  22  .273|  0|  4   4|  0|  8| 0  1  0|  0|  14.5
 7  MEASOM, Christina...  2|  1   1   7  .000|  1|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  3  0|  0|   2.5
 9  ROGERS, Kiana.......  3|  0   1   2 -.500| 35|  1   2|  0|  6| 0  2  0|  0|   2.0
 10 LOTT, Erica.........  2|  7   4  16  .188|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  2  1|  0|   8.0
 14 CARPENTER, Christy..  3|  5   4  19  .053|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  2  0|  0|   6.0
 44 DYER, Rachel........  3|  9   1  17  .471|  0|  3   0|  0|  1| 0  3  0|  0|  13.5
 8  VANDERSTEEN, Marisa.  1|  3   2   7  .143|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  1|  0|   3.0
 11 PINEGAR, Annie......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  2   0|  1|  9| 0  0  0|  1|   2.0
 12 PARKER, Catherine...  1|  4   0   7  .571|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   4.0
 16 LAU, Stephanie......  3|  1   0   1 1.000|  0|  3   1|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0|   4.0
 20 JUDKINS, Jenna......  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  9| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 40  17  98  .235| 36| 13   7|  1| 39| 0 13  2|  1|  59.5
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 6.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  14  5  31  .290   Site: Provo, Utah (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  12  7  34  .147   Date: Oct 26, 2007   Attend: 1322   Time: 1 h 28 m
   3  14  5  33  .273   Referees: Paula Martin, Teri Jackson, Karen Marshall