Comeback Cougars Break NDSU Win Streak

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PROVO -- The BYU women’s volleyball team (7-7, 2-1) used huge comebacks in two different games to snap North Dakota State’s (10-3, 6-0) seven-game win streak on Tuesday, defeating the Bison 25-20, 26-24, 26-24 at the Smith Fieldhouse.

"First of all, I don’t like being in the situation that we have to make a comeback," BYU head coach Shay Goulding said following the victory. "But I think the biggest thing that we have done this season, particularly in this game, is the team has showed their maturity and persistence. We kept chipping away and I think that shows this team has a resolve to win."

Walker recorded her fifth double-double with 16 kills and 13 digs. Setter Kiana Rogers also had a double-double, racking up 38 assists and 16 digs, a season-high. Warner finished with a career-high .625 hitting percentage on her way to 11 kills and five blocks.

After taking game one, the Cougars faced likely losses in games two and three before coming from behind to sweep the match.

In game two, the Bison looked to be in control late, leading the set 22-18. But the tide turned quickly for NDSU, as BYU went to its senior All-Conference hitter Kayla Walker. Walker sandwiched a block in between two big kills in the middle of a 5-1 run, tying the score at 23. After each team exchanged service errors, a Bison kill attempt went long, setting up game point. The Cougars went back yet again to their hot hitter for the final point, finding Walker for the final point to finish off the comeback, 26-24.

"North Dakota State is a great team," said Goulding. "They will probably win their conference and this was a big game for them. I know they were probably looking to come here and pull of the upset so it was good for us to beat a good team in three games."

Game three found BYU in an even deeper hole. The Cougars were unable to find a rhythm, quickly falling behind, 13-7. Again, North Dakota State watched as its lead was slowly chipped away by BYU until the Bison were up only one point, 21-20. Freshman middle hitter Nicole Warner found her stroke, pulling the Cougars ahead then putting down the match’s final two points to give BYU the win.

Junior Christina Measom notched five kills in her first seven attempts to help BYU’s win in game one, eventually finishing with ten kills. Warner, in her first year out of Rigby, Idaho, had 11 kills, the second-most of her career.

BYU and the visiting Bison played toe-to-toe to start the match as neither team could gain more than a three-point lead. With the score knotted at 13, Walker came alive, sparking BYU with three kills during a 5-0 Cougar run that gave BYU the 18-13 lead. The Bison never recovered, eventually double-hitting on game point to give the set to the Cougars, 25-20.

The Cougars will resume MWC play at UNLV on Saturday, Oct. 3. The Rebels are 2-2 in conference play, 3-8 overall.

Volleyball Box Score
                           BYU Cougar Volleyball 2009
            NDSU bison vs BYU Cougars (Sep 29, 2009 at BYU PROVO UT)
   NDSU bison             |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 SP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2  Brooke VandenBergh..  3| 11   6  39  .128|  0|  0   1|  0| 10| 0  2  1|  0|  12.0
3  Jennifer Lopez......  3|  1   0   5  .200| 34|  1   0|  0|  2| 0  3  1|  1|   3.5
5  Lauren McLaughlin...  3|  8   7  33  .030|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 1  0  0|  0|   9.0
9  Chrissy Knuth.......  3|  9   5  22  .182|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 1  2  1|  0|  11.0
12 Megan Lambertson....  2|  1   0   6  .167|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0|   1.5
13 Jocelyn VerVelde....  3|  8   2  14  .429|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  1  0|  0|   8.5
1  Kelly Lopez.........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  3|  1   1|  0| 14| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
4  Janna Deyle.........  2|  1   1   4  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  4| 0  3  0|  0|   2.5
6  Abbey Perez.........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   2|  1| 10| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
8  Mattie Johnson......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
11 Andrea Henning......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   2|  0|  5| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  3| 39  21 123  .146| 38|  2   7|  1| 52| 2 12  3|  1|  49.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER SET                                            TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 8.0
 Set   K  E  TA   Pct Sideout Pct
   1  16  2  40  .350  12-24  50%   SET SCORES                1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  12 11  46  .022  14-26  53%   NDSU bison.......... (0) 20 24 24  10-3;6-0 ;SL
   3  11  8  37  .081  14-25  56%   BYU Cougars......... (3) 25 26 26  7-7; 2-1 ;MWC
   BYU Cougars            |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 SP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6  GOODSELL, Chelsea...  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  1|  2| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
7  MEASOM, Christina...  3| 10   6  22  .182|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  1  0|  0|  10.5
9  ROGERS, Kiana.......  3|  1   0   4  .250| 38|  0   0|  0| 16| 0  3  0|  0|   2.5
11 LAKE WRIGHT, Melissa  3|  0   0   3  .000|  3|  1   0|  0| 10| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
12 WALKER, Kayla.......  3| 16   6  39  .256|  0|  0   2|  1| 13| 0  2  0|  0|  17.0
15 WARNER, Nicole......  3| 11   1  16  .625|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  5  0|  0|  13.5
1  LLOYD SORENSEN, Morg  3|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   1|  0|  8| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
10 PHILLIPS, Camilla...  3|  3   6  19 -.158|  0|  0   0|  0|  5| 0  0  0|  0|   3.0
14 CARPENTER, Christie.  3|  4   1  18  .167|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  1  1|  0|   4.5
16 LAU, Stephanie......  2|  1   2   9 -.111|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  3| 46  22 130  .185| 43|  1   3|  2| 58| 0 12  1|  0|  53.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER SET                                            TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 6.0
 Set   K  E  TA   Pct Sideout Pct
   1  20  4  43  .372  13-21  61%   Site: BYU PROVO UT (ELAINE MICHAELIS)
   2  13  8  43  .116  14-24  58%   Date: Sep 29, 2009   Attend: 819   Time: 1H 25M
   3  13 10  44  .068  15-25  60%   Referees: MAILE NELSON, MIKE FARISH, KAREN MARSHALL
                                         1   2   3 Total
                        Tie scores       8   8   6    22
                        Lead changes     5   1   5    11