SALT LAKE -- In a match filled with energy, excitement and long scoring runs, No. 17 BYU couldn't overcome No. 9 Utah on Crimson Court Friday, losing to the host Utes 24-30, 26-30, 27-30.

"I think this match came down to our ability to defend the first ball," BYU coach Jason Watson said. "When our serve-receive was on, we stayed in system and were able to exploit some things. We just didn't do a very good job on the first ball."

The battle between the in-state rivals and Mountain West Conference powers was played out in front of 1,100 screaming fans from both schools. With the loss, the Cougars fall to 19-3 on the year and 9-2 in the MWC while Utah improves to 20-2 and 11-0 in conference.

BYU was led by Chelsea Goodman's 18 kills while Erica Lott added 11. Annie Pinegar came up with 15 digs for the Cougars and Jenna Judkins contributed 11.

"We really got a lot from Chelsea Goodman and Jenna Judkins," Watson said. "Goodman came up big for us in tough situations, and Jenna did a very nice job defensively. Her ability to dig some balls got us into it in the third game."

The first game started out close until Utah went on an 8-0 run to build a 16-7 advantage. The Cougars fought back to within six points twice before the Utes rolled off eight of the next nine points to earn their first game-point opportunity at 29-16.

BYU, however, was not about to surrender the game as a Lott kill started an 8-0 Cougar run that reduced the deficit to five at 29-24. Judkins, who Watson earlier subbed into the game to improve his team's serve-receive and passing, recorded BYU's only ace of the game during the run while keeping Utah off balance from the service line. It wasn't until a Judkins' serve fell beyond the endline that the Utes walked away with the game.

Goodman put down five kills in game one without an error to hit .455, while Emillie Toone was the dominant attacker for the Utes in the first game with six kills and only one error.

The second game played out in similar fashion as Utah gained the momentum with an 8-0 run that turned an 11-9 BYU lead into a six-point Ute advantage. BYU then cut the deficit to five at 21-16 before Utah pushed its margin to nine at 26-17. The Cougars recorded nine of the next 12 scores to cut the lead to three at 29-26, but Utah received the winning point on an over call on the BYU block that required an officials conference to make sure the call was correct.

Utah took early control of the third game with a 6-1 start on the way to a 17-11 lead. But the Cougars responded with eight straight points during an 11-1 scoring run to build a 22-18 lead. The run was full of exciting plays that brought the many BYU fans in attendance to their feet. BYU claimed the lead at 18-17 after a long rally that had nearly every player on the floor keeping the ball alive before Lindsy Hartsock put down the kill. The next point, the eighth straight in the run, came after BYU defensive specialist Janvier Beaumont kicked in desperation to keep the ball off the floor, sending it to the Utah side of the net before the Utes hit it wide.

After a Utah score, Goodman provided the next three points to give BYU the four-point lead. Goodman used the block on an attack and then had her tip find the court before putting up a solo block to stop a Ute attempt.

Unfortunately for BYU, the Utes had another big run in their bag, outscoring the Cougars 12-5 on the strength of a 7-1 spurt to seal the 30-27 game-three win.

Utah was led by Airial Salvo's 14 kills, while Whitney Webb contributed 13 and Toone added 11. Utah hit .267 on the night while BYU attacked at a .197 clip.

BYU stays on the road for its next conference match at New Mexico on Nov. 3.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                                  BYU Cougars
     #17 BYU Cougars vs #9 Utah Utes (Oct 27, 2006 at Salt Lake City, UTAH)
    BYU Cougars            |     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....  3| 18   2  43  .372|  0|  1   1|  1|  7| 1  0  1|  0
 7  SORENSEN, Kim.......  3|  7   7  35  .000|  0|  0   0|  1|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 10 LOTT, Erica.........  3| 11   7  25  .160|  1|  1   1|  4|  1| 0  0  1|  0
 14 HARTSOCK, Lindsy....  3|  4   2  10  .200|  2|  0   0|  0|  1| 1  1  0|  0
 15 SCHLAUDER, Amy......  3|  2   1   7  .143| 38|  0   0|  1|  9| 1  3  0|  2
 44 DYER, Rachel........  3|  6   2  14  .286|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 1  2  1|  0
 2  BEAUMONT, Janvier...  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 11 PINEGAR, Annie......  3|  0   0   3  .000|  1|  0   0|  2| 15| 0  0  0|  0
 16 LAU, Stephanie......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 20 JUDKINS, Jenna......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   1|  0| 11| 0  0  0|  1
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 48  21 137  .197| 42|  3   3|  9| 48| 4  6  3|  3
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 7.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  14  8  44  .136   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  17  5  45  .267   BYU Cougars......... (0) 24 26 27  19-3, 9-2 MWC
   3  17  8  48  .188   Utah Utes........... (3) 30 30 30  20-2, 11-0 MWC
    Utah Utes              |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  ANDERSON, Sydney....  3|  3   0   9  .333| 46|  3   1|  0|  9| 0  2  2|  1
 5  BAIRD, Lori.........  3|  6   4  15  .133|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 1  1  0|  0
 11 SALVO, Airial.......  3| 14   2  27  .444|  0|  6   2|  0|  9| 0  2  0|  0
 15 TOONE, Emillie......  3| 11   3  24  .333|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 1  7  0|  0
 16 ROBISON, Kate.......  3|  1   1   3  .000|  1|  0   2|  1|  4| 0  0  0|  0
 17 WEBB, Whitney.......  3| 13   3  24  .417|  2|  0   0|  1|  6| 0  5  0|  0
 8  LOVELL, Kathryn.....  3|  6   6  29  .000|  1|  0   0|  1|  4| 0  0  0|  0
 14 DANGERFIELD, Connie.  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  0| 15| 0  0  0|  0
 18 LAVARIAS, Lacey.....  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 54  19 131  .267| 50|  9   6|  3| 48| 2 17  2|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 10.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  16  6  44  .227   Site: Salt Lake City, UTAH (Crimson Court)
   2  19  6  41  .317   Date: Oct 27, 2006   Attend: 1100   Time: 1:37
   3  19  7  46  .261   Referees: Kim Pickering, Maile Jewkes, Quinette Dunn
                        ID-447368

PROVO -- The No. 17 BYU women's volleyball team will face one of its toughest tests of the season Friday night as the Cougars travel to Salt Lake City to face No. 9 Utah. The 7 p.m. match pitting the Mountain West Conference's top two teams can be heard live on BYU Radio.

"The Utah match is always an important match not only for the rivalry but for the implications it has on the conference title and seeding for the NCAA Tournament," said BYU head coach Jason Watson. "These athletes have known each other and played with and against each other for years. That also adds a deeper dimension to this rivalry."

With a sweep of Weber State on Tuesday night, the Cougars are now 19-2 on the season and 9-1 in league play with their only loss coming to then-No. 18 Utah in four games on Sept. 29 in Provo. The Utes have an identical 19-2 overall record and are 10-0 in the MWC, holding sole possession of first place with BYU just a match behind.

The return of starting middle blocker Rachel Dyer to the BYU line up against Weber State after missing two weeks with a foot injury marked the first time in 14 matches that the Cougars have had the services of their entire starting rotation. Starting setter Amy Schlauder missed eight matches with a broken finger suffered on Sept. 7 while starting rightside hitter Erica Lott missed two matches (Sept. 29 against Utah and Oct. 3 at UVSC) with a back injury. Dyer injured her foot the day before Lott and Schlauder returned to the starting line up on Oct. 6. Both Lott and Schlauder missed BYU's match against Utah earlier this season.

"We're excited to be back to full strength," said Watson. "It's nice to have a line up back that has been missing for quite some time."

Despite being hampered by injuries, the Cougars have fared well as several BYU players are making statistical waves. Of the seven overall statistical categories tracked by the MWC, BYU players lead the league in four of them (hitting percentage -- Dyer; kills -- Chelsea Goodman; assists -- Schlauder; points -- Chelsea Goodman) and are second in one other (blocks -- Lindsy Hartsock). BYU also packs one-two punches in three categories as Dyer and Hartsock rank first and second, respectively, in hitting percentage; Goodman and Lott rank first and second, respectively, in kills; and Goodman and Lott also rank first and second, respectively, in points.

Utah also has its fair share of statistical leaders. Sophomore Airial Salvo, the 2005 MWC Freshman of the Year, leads the Utes with 4.13 kills per game, third in the league behind BYU's Goodman and Lott. Salvo is also second on the team in digs with 3.61 per game while junior libero Connie Dangerfield paces the team at 4.24 dpg. As a team, Utah leads the nation in blocks per game (3.88) on the backs of junior Emillie Toone, who leads the country individually with 1.91 bpg, and sophomore Lori Baird with 1.47 (27th nationally). Toone is also third in the MWC in hitting percentage behind BYU's Dyer and Hartsock at .378. The Utes as a team are 11th in the nation hitting .283 while allowing opponents to hit .096.

"Utah is a very good team, especially defensively," said Watson. "We will need to be balanced offensively and distribute more evenly to counter their block. We weren't able to do that last time without Erica (Lott). We've put our plan together, so we hope that we can stay calm and composed and execute at our best."

Fans of both teams can follow the action in a number of ways. In addition to the live BYU Radio broadcast, a live Internet video stream is available to CSTV XXL subscribers. Live stats will also be available. Links for all of these options can be found by going to the Schedule page of the BYU women's volleyball homepage at www.byucougars.com.