PROVO -- Home sweet home was an appropriate phrase Thursday night as the Cougars won their home-opener against Montana State, sweeping the Bobcats 30-21, 30-20, 30-28 to begin the BYU/UVSC Invitational.

"We had some concerns about handling the distractions of playing at home for the first time, but I think we did a nice job overall," said BYU Head Coach Jason Watson. "We had a very balanced attack, which we haven't had in a while. Both of our middle blockers did a very nice job, which is also a credit to our setter, Lauren Richards Evans."

BYU was led by its blocking duo of junior Lindsy Hartsock and redshirt freshman Rachel Dyer, who had a career-high 11 kills on .526 hitting. Sophomore Erica Lott led the Cougars with 15 kills while fellow sophomore Chelsea Goodman tied her career-high with 13, the second straight match in which she has tallied that number. Dyer and Richards Evans paced BYU with four blocks each, and sophomore Lindsey Evans recorded a team-high 10 digs.

Despite a tight third game, the Cougars dominated most of the match, holding the Bobcats to just .071 hitting on 26 total kills. BYU posted a .326 hitting percentage while tallying 59 kills. The fifth-best blocking team in the nation in 2004, the Cougars outblocked Montana State 8.5 to 5.0.

"It's easy for the middles to look good when our passing and setting is on, and it was awesome tonight," said Dyer. "Lauren (Richards Evans) and the back row were great."

Montana State came out hot in game one, eventually building an 18-16 lead. But the Cougar offense woke up with three straight kills from Lott to spark a 14-3 run that took BYU to the 30-21 win. Game two began much the same way as game one but quickly became a Cougar rout as the offense took control and dominated on every point. Facing a sweep, the Bobcats fought back into the match in game three, making the Cougars earn every point. But their efforts were in vain as BYU pulled out the win.

With a perfect 2-0 record, the Cougars will now face Kansas Friday night. The match will take place after the ceremony honoring former BYU head coach Elaine Michaelis and naming the Smith Fieldhouse court in her honor, which begins at 6:45 p.m.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                            The Automated ScoreBook
        Montana State vs Brigham Young Univ. (Sep 01, 2005 at Provo, UT)
    Montana State          |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  BUETTNER,Kami.......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  4|  0   1|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 5  MALYUREK,Meggie.....  3|  4   3  19  .053|  0|  2   2|  2|  5| 0  1  0|  0|   6.5
 8  WIEBE,Angela........  3|  5   2  18  .167|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  2  0|  0|   6.0
 9  ZANTO, Megan........  3|  4   0   9  .444|  0|  1   0|  0|  1| 0  2  0|  0|   6.0
 10 VIREN, Laura........  3|  1   3   7 -.286|  0|  0   0|  2|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 11 STONEHOUSE, Kim.....  3|  7   5  27  .074|  1|  1   1|  1|  5| 0  0  0|  0|   8.0
 3  SESLER,Brittni......  3|  1   1   2  .000| 17|  0   0|  0|  4| 1  1  0|  0|   2.5
 6  PURNELL,Raelene.....  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 14 KELLY, Kandice......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  2| 16| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 16 ANDERSON, Kandice...  3|  4   5  17 -.059|  3|  1   0|  0|  6| 0  2  1|  0|   6.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 26  19  99  .071| 25|  5   4|  7| 40| 1  8  1|  0|  36.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 5.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1   7  4  33  .091   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2   8  7  33  .030   Montana State....... (0) 21 20 28  2-2
   3  11  8  33  .091   Brigham Young Univ.. (3) 30 30 30  2-0
    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|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  GOODMAN, Chelsea....  3| 13   4  30  .300|  2|  2   2|  1|  8| 0  2  0|  0|  16.0
 5  EVANS, Lauren.......  3|  3   1   6  .333| 45|  1   4|  0|  9| 0  4  0|  0|   6.0
 9  PATTERSON, Lexi.....  3|  8   1  16  .438|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  2  0|  0|   9.0
 10 LOTT, Erica.........  3| 15   9  36  .167|  1|  4   6|  0|  4| 1  0  2|  0|  20.0
 14 HARTSOCK, Lindsy....  3|  9   1  20  .400|  0|  0   2|  0|  6| 0  3  0|  0|  10.5
 44 DYER, Rachel........  3| 11   1  19  .526|  1|  0   3|  0|  2| 0  4  0|  0|  13.0
 2  BEAUMONT, Janvier...  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   2|  1|  4| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 3  EVANS, Lindsey......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  3| 10| 0  0  0|  1|   0.0
 11 KEMP, Annie.........  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 13 PORTER, Bryn........  1|  0   0   2  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 59  17 129  .326| 50|  7  19|  5| 44| 1 15  2|  1|  74.5
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 8.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  19  7  41  .293   Site: Provo, UT (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  21  3  39  .462   Date: Sep 01, 2005   Attend: 1510   Time: 1h 40m
   3  19  7  49  .245   Referees: ANNETTE COTTLE, MAILE JEWKES, KAREN MARSHALL
                                         1   2   3 Total
                        Tie scores       8   3  11    22
                        Lead changes     2   1   2     5

PROVO, Utah, (Aug. 31, 2005) -- The Cougars will be making their home debut this weekend and witnessing history as the Smith Fieldhouse court is renamed to honor former BYU head coach and administrator Elaine Michaelis. The Cougars will take the Smith Fieldhouse court Thursday night against Montana State in the first match of the BYU/UVSC Invitational and then step onto the newly-dubbed Elaine Michaelis Court Friday night against Kansas after a 6:45 p.m. naming ceremony.

"Playing at home offers a different set of challenges, but our team is maturing within our systems," said BYU Head Coach Jason Watson. "This is also special weekend for our volleyball program as BYU will honor Coach Michaelis by naming the court in the Smith Fieldhouse the Elaine Michaelis Court. I can think of no better way to acknowledge her influence on volleyball at BYU and around the country. Every day, everyone associated with our program will be reminded of her legacy and the responsibility we have to continue the tradition of excellence set forth by Coach Michaelis."

A legend in women's volleyball, Michaelis retired from coaching in May 2002 ranked second all-time in Division I victories and as the overall leader among female coaches in collegiate volleyball at any level with 886 wins. Michaelis guided the BYU women's volleyball program from 1961-2002 and also served as BYU's director of women's intercollegiate athletics from 1995-2004.

"What Elaine accomplished during her career is almost unparalleled," said BYU Director of Athletics Tom Holmoe. "She built BYU into one of the elite volleyball programs in the nation while tutoring and mentoring many student-athletes and coaches during her 40 years as a coach. She is such a great person and is truly a coaching legend. With the naming of Elaine Michaelis Court, we can be inspired with a continual reminder of Elaine's great legacy."

While compiling an overall record of 886-225-5 (.792), Michaelis never suffered a losing season and finished her career with an amazing string of 28 consecutive 20-win seasons. Her teams qualified for 30 of the 33 national tournaments, including 20 of 21 NCAA tournaments. Michaelis achieved a national tournament record of 73-44 (.624), with her 1972-73 team finishing as the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women national runner-up while her 1993 squad became the first BYU team to qualify for an NCAA Final Four. Only four Division I programs played in more NCAA tournaments than BYU during Michaelis' career.

Against conference competition, Michaelis' teams were dominating, earning an incredible 356-37 (.906) record. She holds the distinction of winning the inaugural championship in each of the five leagues in which the Cougars were volleyball members, including the inaugural Mountain West Conference title in 1999 with a 13-1 league record. Overall, her teams claimed 23 conference crowns.

Under Michaelis' tutelage, 18 players earned 51 All-America awards and six players were singled out for major individual national honors, with the top award going to Mariliisa Salmi in 1986 as the Collegiate Volleyball Coaches Association National Player of the Year. Four athletes also earned seven Academic All-America awards.

While the excitement of honoring Michaelis will take center stage during the ceremony on Friday, BYU is also looking forward to taking care of business in the two home matches after winning a tight season-opener on the road at Nevada last weekend. The Bobcats are 2-1 in 2005 including a win over MWC-rival Wyoming while the Jayhawks are 2-0 to start the year.

"Both Montana State and Kansas are coming off successful weekends and I feel each match is important to our post-season aspirations," said Watson. "Each team is athletic, experienced and competitive. This will be another challenging weekend for our team."