PROVO -- After withstanding a one-woman show in the first game, the BYU women's volleyball team defeated Rice 3-1 (30-28, 30-20, 23-30, 30-17) Saturday afternoon on the final day of the BYU Mizuno Classic presented by Courtyard Marriott.

"I'm thrilled to get this win," BYU coach Karen Lamb said. "They're a tough team, and we had to stay focused to pull it through."

Held at the Smith Fieldhouse, Owls outside hitter Rebeca Pazo complied 11 kills in the first game, but the Cougars endured the storm with a balanced attack led by five kills from Carrie Bowers.

"Pazo is an incredible offensive player," Lamb said. "But we adjusted to her after the first game and did a good job limiting her effectiveness."

The teams were tied 3-3 in the first game, until Rice (6-4) pulled ahead with a 6-0 run. The Owls would continue to stay ahead until the middle of the game. Then, on the strength of two kills from Bowers and two kills from Laura Nielsen, BYU (6-3) would narrow the gap and eventually retie the game at 16-16. The teams would trade sideouts and Rice held a slim 27-26 lead, until BYU went on a 3-0 run behind a Kim Wilson kills and a pair of Owl hitting errors. Wilson would put down another kill to seal the game for BYU.

In the second game, Rice held a brief lead at 3-2, but BYU, with three kills from Lindsey Metcalf, went on a decisive 6-0 run to go up 10-4. The Cougars wouldn't look back as Wilson provided the firepower with seven kills.

The Cougars stumbled in the third game, as Rice took advantage of sloppy BYU play to take the early lead. The Owls would lead by as many as eight points at 24-16, as they forced a fourth game.

The fourth game would start out close, until the Cougars slowly pulled away. BYU capitalized on a 6-0 run, led by two Lindsy Lewis-Hartsock aces to take a 22-12 lead. April Varner came on in the final game to put down seven kills in ten attempts to hit a career-high .700. The Cougars would close out the match with a 4-0 run and the match was won with a Pazo attack error.

Wilson led the Cougars in kills for the second consecutive match, as she tallied 21, while hitting .421. She also posted her second consecutive and third career double-double with 11 digs. Carrie Bowers and Lindsey Metcalf also finished with double-digit kills, finishing with 14 and 10, respectively.

Lewis-Hartsock set a career-high with seven blocks to go with a match-high four aces. Lauren Richards continued her solid overall play with 52 assists, 10 digs, four blocks, six kills and one ace. Uila Crabbe continues to lead the defense with a match-high 15 digs.

The Cougars will face-off for the tournament championship with No. 8 Penn State tonight at 7:30 p.m. In a preceding game, Rice will play Ohio State at 5 p.m.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                       2003 BYU Women's Volleyball Stats
           Rice vs BYU Cougars (Sep 13, 2003 at Brigham Young Univ.)
    Rice                   |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  KAINZ, Rebecca......  4| 10   1  25  .360|  1|  0   1|  0|  2| 2  2  0|  0
 2  SIGMAN, Rhonda......  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 3  CARTER, Lindsey.....  3|  4   6  20 -.100|  0|  0   1|  2|  4| 1  0  0|  0
 5  HOBAN, Kristina.....  4|  1   3   7 -.286| 51|  1   1|  0|  4| 1  1  0|  0
 7  JACKMAN, Julie......  3|  8   1  17  .412|  0|  1   3|  0|  2| 0  1  0|  0
 12 PAZO, Rebeca........  4| 27  10  56  .304|  0|  0   2|  0|  9| 1  1  0|  0
 6  DUPONT, Catherine...  4|  2   3  18 -.056|  1|  0   1|  0|  6| 0  1  0|  0
 9  KUYKENDALL, Tessa...  2|  0   1   4 -.250|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  1|  0
 10 NEAL, Rebekah.......  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  4| 12| 0  0  0|  0
 15 SCOTT, Erica........  3|  4   1  11  .273|  0|  0   1|  1|  6| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 56  26 158  .190| 53|  2  11|  7| 47| 5  6  1|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 8.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  21  7  43  .326   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2   9  7  37  .054   Rice................ 28 20 30 17  6 - 4
   3  16  3  38  .342   BYU Cougars......... 30 30 23 30  6 - 3
   4  10  9  40  .025
    BYU Cougars            |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  RICHARDS, Lauren....  4|  6   2  17  .235| 52|  1   4|  0| 10| 0  4  0|  2
 6  METCALF, Lindsey....  4| 10   6  30  .133|  0|  1   1|  0|  7| 0  2  0|  0
 7  WILSON, Kim.........  4| 21   5  38  .421|  2|  0   3|  1| 11| 0  1  0|  0
 8  BOWERS, Carrie......  4| 14   6  31  .258|  5|  1   0|  0|  8| 0  4  0|  0
 14 HARTSOCK, Lindsy....  4|  4   2  10  .200|  0|  4   0|  0|  0| 1  6  1|  0
 18 NIELSEN, Laura......  4|  7   2  21  .238|  1|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  4  2|  0
 3  VARNER, April.......  1|  7   0  10  .700|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 4  TOGO, Melanie.......  4|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 12 CRABBE, Uila........  4|  0   1   3 -.333|  2|  0   0|  1| 15| 0  0  0|  0
 15 CASTILLO, Sahara....  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   2|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 69  24 161  .280| 62|  7  10|  2| 59| 1 21  3|  2
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 11.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  16  4  36  .333   Site: Brigham Young Univ. (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  19  7  46  .261   Date: Sep 13, 2003   Attend: 264   Time: 1H 45M
   3  16 10  43  .140   Referees: MAILE JEWKES, BRUCE GRANT, KAREN MARSHALL
   4  18  3  36  .417

BYU to Make Home Debut Against Ohio State, Rice and No. 8 Penn State

PROVO -- After two consecutive weeks on the road to open its season, the BYU women's volleyball team is home Friday and Saturday to host the BYU Mizuno Classic presented by Courtyard Marriott. Ohio State, Rice and No. 8 Penn State will take part in the two-day tournament.

BYU (4-3) will face Ohio State (3-1) at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, and on Saturday the Cougars will take on Rice (6-2) at Noon and Penn State (7-0) at 7:30 p.m.

"With back-to-back road trips to open the season, we've been a little road weary," BYU coach Karen Lamb said. "But we're excited to be home and play in front of our fans."

Sophomore outside hitter Kim Wilson is coming off a stellar performance against Saint Louis last week, when she recorded a career-high 29 kills. She also posted career highs of five assists and 13 digs, en route to being the only Cougar named to the SMS Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational All-Tournament team.

This week, the Cougars face stiff competition in Ohio State, Rice and Penn State. While Penn State is the No. 8 team in the nation, Ohio State is just outside the top 25, while Rice has enjoyed quality wins over San Diego State and Purdue.

"As the season goes on and as we approach conference play, we have to keep raising our level of play," Lamb said. "That's why we schedule quality opponents each year, and this year is no different.

"In the end that might give us a couple of more losses than we want, but I want to be in the Final Four, and that's what we're building towards."

Other matches in the tournament will see Penn State vs. Rice on Friday at 5 p.m. and Rice vs. Ohio State on Saturday at 5 p.m.

The Cougars will have their match against Ohio State televised on KBYU-TV and BYUTV, while their match against Penn State will be available via BYU-Radio. Additionally, both matches will be available online. There will be a video/audio stream of the match against the Buckeyes and an audio stream of the match against the Nittany Lions. Links to these matches will be available via the BYU women's volleyball Web site at www.byucougars.com or or by clicking here.

Weekly Notes:

Week #2 in Review ...

BYU traveled to the SMS Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational in Springfield, Mo., last weekend. The Cougars played four grueling matches in two days. On Friday, BYU opened their slate of matches with a tough five-game loss against Arkansas. In that match, the Cougars lost the first two games, before storming back to win the next two. In the fifth and deciding game, the Ladybacks edged the Cougars 15-13. Later that night, BYU defeated North Texas to even its tournament record.

The next day, sophomore outside hitter Kim Wilson set a career high with 29 kills in a win against Saint Louis. Later that night, in the tournament's final match, the Cougars lost to host Southwest Missouri State in three games.

Wilson Wows

Kim Wilson is fast becoming the Cougars' focus on the offensive side of the ball. She tallied a career-high 29 kills against Saint Louis on Saturday. In the same match against the Bilikens, she set career highs of five service aces and 13 digs. In doing so, she recorded her first career double-double. For the week, Wilson had 66 kills (4.12 kills per game) and hit .301. She was the lone Cougar to be name to the SMS Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational All-Tournament team.

Debut of Another Rightside

Mandi Kiholm, a junior transfer from Utah Valley State College, made her Division I debut against North Texas on Friday. She came in for Carrie Bowers and had a kill on her only attempt to go along with two blocks.

Cougars to Make Home Debut

BYU will make its 2003 home debut this weekend (Sept. 12-13) in the BYU Mizuno Classic presented by Courtyard Marriott. The Cougars have matches slated against Ohio State on Friday at 7:30 p.m., and on Saturday against Rice at Noon and against No. 8 Penn State at 7:30 p.m.

On Television, Radio and Online

The Cougars will have their match against Ohio State televised on KBYU-TV and BYUTV, while their match against Penn State will be available via BYU-Radio. Additionally, both matches will be available online. There will be a video/audio stream of the match against the Buckeyes and an audio stream of the match against the Nittany Lions. Links to these matches will be available via the BYU women's volleyball home page at www.byucougars.com

Injury Update

It is relatively quiet on the injury front. Lindsey Kearl had been bothered by recurring back pain, and has been hobbled by a sprained ankle. Erica Lott continues to be bothered by lower back pain and has not practiced for a second consecutive week.

How to find BYU Television:
Dish Network (channel 9403) 
DirecTV PLUS (channel 374) 
Comcast Cable in Utah (channel 21) 
Spanish Fork City Cable in Spanish Fork, UT (channel 40) 
Charter Cable in St. George, UT (channel 78) 
How to find BYU Radio:
St. George Metro area at KWBR 105.7 FM 
Dish Network, extended package (channel 980) 
All-American Cable System in Mesa, Arizona (channel 97)