Hard-Fought Victory Over Wyoming

PROVO -- BYU recorded its second victory in the Smith Fieldhouse in as many days as the Cougars defeated the Wyoming Cowgirls 24-30, 30-20, 20-28, 30-24 Saturday night. With the win, BYU improves to 15-6 overall and 7-4 in Mountain West Conference play.

"I'm very pleased that we won," said head coach Jason Watson. "Our identity has always been being good over time. It was good to see that identity return tonight, especially in games two, three and four."

BYU did indeed find success as Rachel Dyer recorded a team-high 18 kills and 10 blocks, which marks her third double-double of the season. Ashton Hansen set a new career high with 12 kills, and Bryn Porter's five aces broke her previous career-high. Chelsea Goodman continued to dominate the court, recording her 15th double-double of the season and 49th of her career with 16 kills and a match-high 17 digs.

The Cougars came out strong in game one, getting out to an early 12-7 lead before Wyoming scored five consecutive points to tie the score. Both teams struggled to string together back-to-back points, and Dyer's eight kills, including three consecutive scores, were not enough to give BYU the victory.

Game two was short and sweet, as the Cougars never trailed. Two early aces by Porter gave BYU a five-point lead, and later, Hansen's three kills put the Cougars up 24-17. A Wyoming blocking error gave the Cougars the win and tied the match.

In a third game that was tied 11 times, neither team was able to create a comfortable lead. The Cowgirls dominated the beginning of game three, scoring five consecutive points, bringing the score to 1-7. A Porter kill ended the BYU scoring drought and sparked a run that would tie the game, 8-8. The match was kept close by good offensive play from both teams, but the Cougars were able to clinch the win with yet another kill by Goodman.

The momentum continued to build for BYU in game four as the Cougars jumped out to an early 5-0 lead. However, the Cowgirls refused to give up and battled back to tie the score at 5-5. The Cougars steadily began to build a lead with growing support from the crowd. Fans roared when the 23rd BYU point came on an unconventional kick-assist from Annie Pinegar to Goodman.

Up next the Cougars will travel to Fort Worth, Texas, to take on the TCU Horned Frogs on Thursday before visiting New Mexico on Friday.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                                  BYU Cougars
         Wyoming Cowgirls vs BYU Cougars (Oct 27, 2007 at Provo, Utah)
    Wyoming Cowgirls       |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  GOVIER, Kayla.......  2|  1   3   6 -.333|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  2  0|  0|   2.0
 3  WHITNEY, Lauren.....  4|  9   9  32  .000|  1|  0   0|  4| 11| 0  0  1|  0|   9.0
 7  SMITH, Rachel.......  4| 20   8  50  .240|  1|  0   3|  0|  8| 0  2  0|  1|  21.0
 9  WEISHAHN, Tasha.....  4|  1   0   4  .250| 53|  3   1|  0| 11| 1  2  0|  0|   6.0
 10 HELLBAUM, Angie.....  4| 22   6  49  .327|  0|  0   0|  4|  7| 0  2  0|  0|  23.0
 15 SCOTT, Lauren.......  4|  9   3  18  .333|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  2  0|  0|  10.0
 6  KAGARISE, Jessica...  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   0|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 8  WATSON, Chantilly...  2|  1   1   6  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  2  1|  0|   2.0
 11 LEE, Carissa........  4|  0   0   0  .000|  5|  0   2|  1| 19| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 63  30 165  .200| 60|  4   6|  9| 59| 1 12  2|  1|  74.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 7.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  20  6  38  .368   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2  11  8  46  .065   Wyoming Cowgirls.... (1) 30 20 28 24  10-11, 4-8 MWC
   3  17  9  44  .182   BYU Cougars......... (3) 24 30 30 30  15-6, 7-4 MWC
   4  15  7  37  .216
    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....  4| 16   7  42  .214|  0|  3   2|  3| 17| 0  1  1|  0|  19.5
 4  HANSEN, Ashton......  4| 12   4  24  .333|  1|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  7  1|  0|  15.5
 10 LOTT, Erica.........  3|  2   3  14 -.071|  2|  0   2|  1|  6| 0  1  1|  0|   2.5
 13 PORTER, Bryn........  4| 15   3  38  .316|  0|  5   2|  0|  2| 0  4  0|  0|  22.0
 15 SCHLAUDER, Amy......  4|  2   0   4  .500| 54|  0   2|  0|  9| 0  8  0|  2|   6.0
 44 DYER, Rachel........  4| 18   2  28  .571|  0|  0   2|  0|  3| 0 10  0|  1|  23.0
 11 PINEGAR, Annie......  4|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  1   0|  0| 12| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 12 PARKER, Catherine...  2|  2   0   6  .333|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  3  1|  0|   3.5
 20 JUDKINS, Jenna......  2|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 67  19 156  .308| 60|  9  10|  4| 54| 0 34  4|  3|  93.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 17.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  15  5  34  .294   Site: Provo, Utah (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  18  4  39  .359   Date: Oct 27, 2007   Attend: 1220   Time: 2h 10m
   3  16  6  50  .200   Referees: KEN TAYLOR, MAILE JEWKES, KAREN MARSHALL/AU/SN
   4  18  4  33  .424