White Rolls Over Blue

PROVO -- With over 300 fans in attendance, the BYU women’s volleyball team showcased the 2010 squad Tuesday night in the annual blue and white match.

“I was pleased to see how the team reacted in a live-game environment,” BYU head coach Shay Goulding said. “I wanted it to be as real as possible to get the nerves out and give them the confidence they need to play well.”

Junior outside hitter Christie Carpenter led both squads on the night with 22 kills on .255 hitting, three blocks and 14 digs. True freshman Coriann Clark tallied 16 kills with two service aces and 15 digs. Redshirt freshman middle blocker Kathryn LeCheminant and sophomore middle blocker Nicole Warner led the team with six blocks each. Warner led the team in hitting percentage with .429 on nine kills.

Senior setter Kiana Rogers set at 33% accuracy with 52 assists while sophomore setter Heather Hannemann set at 36% accuracy with 47 assists on the night.

Starting for the blue team in set one was Hannemann as setter, Carpenter at outside hitter, Hartsock at libero, LeCheminant at middle blocker, Taeja Afalava at opposite, and Stephanie Snow at outside hitter.

The white team started Christina Measom at outside, Warner at middle blocker, Jennifer Hamson at opposite, Rogers at setter, Brooke Soon at libero, and Clark at outside hitter in set one.

The white team got out to a strong start in the first set with a 5-0 lead. The blue squad battled back with a 3-0 run to bring the score to 5-3. With back and forth play, the white team had two 3-0 runs to take set one 25-20.

Led by Snow and Carpenter, the white team earned a 7-1 run early in set two to bring the lead to 11-6. Blue battled back to knot the score at 23 before white came back to win set two 27-25.

Switching up teams in set three, Courtney Honka started at libero for the blue team, with Hamson, Rogers, Warner, Clark, and Afalava holding up the rest of the court. The white team for set three included Boswell, Hartsock, Soon, Hannemann, Carpenter and LeCheminant.

Measom and Carpenter led the white team to the third victory on the night, dominating the blue team 25-15 in set three. Set four brought the blue squad its first win with Hamson tallying five kills and Clark with three.

The blue team got out to a 7-0 lead to start set five, leading until the white team battled back to knot the score at 21. The blue team finished off the match 25-22 with Warner tallying the last kill.

The Cougars will begin the season Friday to take on Illinois in the University of Illinois Tournament at 6 p.m. MT. After the tournament this weekend, come support the Cougars Friday Sept. 2 at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse as they take on No. 2 Nebraska to kickoff the BYU Nike Invitational.