COLORADO SPRINGS -- The No. 22 Cougars improved to 9-0 for the first time since 1987 Friday night with another five-game win over Mountain West Conference opponent Air Force in Colorado Springs. The victory marks the fourth straight match in which BYU has pulled out the win in the last game.

"Air Force was able to exploit some things that we need to get better at," said BYU head coach Jason Watson. "Once again I thought that we responded well being behind. Lauren Richards Evans was able to keep us in rhythm offensively during the last two games and Annie Kemp came in as the libero and steadied us."

The Cougars were once again led by junior middle blocker Lindsy Hartsock, who put down a career-high 21 kills and hit .529. Richards Evans entered the match in game two and contributed 54 assists while helping the Cougars hit .226, including a .611 mark in the fifth game. Sophomore outside hitter Chelsea Goodman also had a productive night, picking up a double-double with 20 kills and 12 digs. Kemp also added 12 digs while redshirt freshman Rachel Dyer and sophomore outside hitter Erica Lott each recorded 12 and 11 kills, respectively.

BYU hit just .083 in a 30-27 game-one loss, but quickly rebounded behind senior setter Richards Evans and Hartsock in game two, winning 30-24. However, the Cougars could not keep the momentum in their favor as Air Force jumped out to an early 12-6 lead in game three and never looked back, cruising to a 30-23 win.

Down two games to one going into game four, BYU fought off defeat in dominating fashion, stifling the Falcon offense on the way to a 30-18 win and setting up the fourth game five in as many matches for the Cougars. After getting down 5-4, the Cougars picked up four straight points to make it 8-5, but then let the Falcons get back to within one at 11-10. But it was all BYU from there as the Cougars picked up four more points to win 15-11.

After playing five of their last six matches on the road, the Cougars now return home for a matchup with in-state and MWC rival Utah on Wednesday night in the Smith Fieldhouse. BYU owns a 61-17 series advantage over the Utes but has lost the last 10 matches, dating back to 2001. Wednesday's match will begin at 7 p.m. and can be seen on BYUTV or KBYU.

"I think as we continue to progress and try to define who we are, matches like this will go a long way in helping us develop character," said Watson. "We have some work to do still but that's part of the process of getting better."

                              Volleyball Box Score
                            The Automated ScoreBook
   #22 Brigham Young Univ. vs Air Force (Sep 24, 2005 at USAF Academy, Colo.)
    Brigham Young Univ.    |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  GOODMAN, Chelsea....  5| 20  14  48  .125|  0|  0   3|  0| 12| 0  2  0|  0
 9  PATTERSON, Lexi.....  5|  6   2  15  .267|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  1  0|  0
 11 KEMP, Annie.........  5|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   2|  1| 12| 0  0  0|  0
 14 HARTSOCK, Lindsy....  5| 21   3  34  .529|  1|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  4  0|  0
 15 SCHLAUDER, Amy......  1|  0   0   0  .000| 11|  1   0|  0|  2| 0  1  0|  0
 44 DYER, Rachel........  5| 12   7  23  .217|  1|  0   2|  0|  2| 0  5  0|  0
 2  BEAUMONT, Janvier...  5|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  2   2|  2|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 3  EVANS, Lindsey......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  3|  8| 0  0  0|  0
 5  EVANS, Lauren.......  4|  2   2   7  .000| 54|  3   2|  0|  6| 0  4  0|  0
 10 LOTT, Erica.........  4| 11   6  23  .217|  0|  0   3|  0|  8| 0  1  0|  0
 13 PORTER, Bryn........  1|  0   3   5 -.600|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 1  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  5| 72  37 155  .226| 68|  6  15|  6| 55| 1 18  0|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 10.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  14 11  36  .083   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  4  5  TEAM RECORDS
   2  15  7  27  .296   Brigham Young Univ.. (3) 27 30 23 30 15  9-0, 2-0
   3  16 12  41  .098   Air Force........... (2) 30 24 30 18 11  4-12, 0-2
   4  14  5  33  .273
   5  13  2  18  .611
    Air Force              |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  AKERS, Brooke.......  5| 16   9  34  .206|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 2  6  0|  0
 4  SIEFKEN, Carly......  5|  2   0   9  .222| 45|  2   2|  0| 11| 0  7  0|  0
 9  STEWART, Kristina...  5|  8   7  30  .033|  0|  0   2|  2|  6| 0  0  0|  0
 13 GALLEGOS, Rebecca...  5| 11   6  42  .119|  0|  2   2|  1|  2| 0  3  2|  0
 14 THOMAS, Briana......  5| 10   5  22  .227|  0|  0   0|  1|  1| 0  2  0|  0
 15 PETTIE, Jasamine....  5|  3   3  11  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  2  3|  0
 2  BINA, Ellen.........  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 3  ARRINGTON, Elizabeth  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 8  DUNN, Tara..........  1|  0   1   1-1.000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 11 KALLABIS, Kim.......  5|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  1   5|  0|  8| 0  0  0|  0
 12 GERTON, Rebecca.....  5|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   3|  2|  6| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  5| 50  31 149  .128| 46|  6  14|  6| 36| 2 20  5|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 12.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  11  6  32  .156   Site: USAF Academy, Colo. (Cadet East Gym)
   2  11  9  32  .062   Date: Sep 24, 2005   Attend: 191   Time: 2:13
   3  12  4  29  .276   Referees:
   4   9 11  39 -.051
   5   7  1  17  .353

PROVO -- After an incredible 7-0 start to the 2005 season, the No. 22 Cougars are ready to open up Mountain West Conference play this weekend, traveling to New Mexico to take on the Lobos Friday night before facing the Air Force Falcons on Saturday night in Colorado Springs.

"This will be our second weekend on the road, but the beginning of a new season as we start Mountain West Conference play," said BYU head coach Jason Watson. "Both New Mexico and Air Force have played a competitive schedule to date and are well prepared. Our team has played well during our non-conference schedule, but this weekend will bring with it a different set of challenges."

BYU owns a 56-7 record over the Lobos, who are currently second in the MWC at 8-2, and have swept 20 of the last 21 matches with the exception being last season's four-game win in Provo. The Cougars are 23-4 over New Mexico in Albuquerque. The Falcons are 4-9 in 2005 and 1-14 overall against BYU. Both matches will begin at 7 p.m. Live stats are available for the Air Force match on the schedule page of the BYU women's volleyball homepage at http://www.byucougars.com/volleyball_w/.

The Cougars are coming off of two big wins as they brought home the Buckeye Classic title in dramatic fashion last week, beating Duke and then-No. 14 Ohio State in five-game matches in Columbus. The win over the Buckeyes for the championship was BYU's first win over a ranked opponent since Sept. 13, 2003 (8th-ranked Penn State). The successful weekend also propelled the Cougars into the national rankings after a three-year absence.

Three Cougars were named to the all-tournament team with junior middle blocker Lindsy Hartsock garnering MVP honors after following up her 12-kill outing against Duke with 20 kills on .500 hitting against the Buckeyes. Sophomores Erica Lott and Lindsey Evans were also named all-tournament as Lott put down a career-high 22 kills against Duke and totaled 41 over the two matches and Evans picked up 27 digs against Duke while totaling 49 for the weekend.