PROVO -- Despite a 19-kill performance by outside hitter Kim Wilson, BYU could not hold off No. 23 Utah Saturday in the Mountain West Conference opener for both teams. The Cougars came out on the short end of four hard-fought games as the Utes prevailed 30-26, 23-30, 30-28, 30-26.
"Kim (Wilson) had a great night," BYU coach Karen Lamb said. "I'm proud of her effort. As a team, we just made too many errors. We just beat ourselves."
The turning point in the match came in game three. After winning game two, 30-23, BYU led nearly the entire way in game three before losing a 30-28 decision to the Utes. A 27-24 BYU lead became a 28-27 Utah advantage -- its first since 5-4 -- thanks to multiple BYU errors. BYU would score once more before Utah's Lindsey Henderson muscled a shot through the Cougar block for the game winner.
"Our errors were really a matter of our players trying too hard because they really wanted it," Lamb said. "I don't fault them for really wanting to make those plays but we need to just trust what we are doing and let everyone do their jobs."
Utah held off the Cougars again in game four, scoring four straight points to close out the match after a 26-26 tie. Henderson made a momentum building play to start the run by lunging to backhand the ball over the net. Utah eventually won the point to take the lead for good.
Joining Wilson in double-digit kills for BYU was fellow outside hitter April Varner, who came off the bench in game one to total 11 kills. Wilson put down her game-high 19 kills while making only four hitting errors for a .395 attack percentage. Lindsey Evans achieved a career high of 21 digs.
Henderson led the Utes with 14 kills while Shelly Sommerfeldt added 13. The Utes hit .174 as a team while BYU had a .157 attack percentage.
With the loss, BYU is now 5-5 on the year and 0-1 in Mountain West Conference play while Utah improves to 8-2 and 1-0.
Volleyball Box Score
Brigham Young Univ. Cougars - Volleyball
Univ. of Utah vs Brigham Young Univ. (Sep 24, 2004 at Brigham Young Univ.)
Univ. of Utah | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN
## Name GP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
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3 TOONE, Amie......... 4| 2 2 11 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 2| 1 0 0| 0
4 SOMMERFELDT, Shelly. 4| 13 4 32 .281| 0| 1 1| 5| 5| 0 1 0| 0
5 BORTOTO, Liana...... 4| 8 5 30 .100| 0| 0 0| 2| 8| 2 2 0| 0
6 KARTCHNER, Kelsie... 4| 4 4 24 .000| 20| 0 2| 0| 8| 0 2 1| 0
15 TOONE, Emillie...... 4| 5 2 12 .250| 1| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 2 0| 0
16 HENDERSON, Lyndsey.. 4| 14 7 32 .219| 0| 0 4| 0| 2| 1 7 1| 0
2 ROBISON, Kate....... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 1| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
8 NEUMEIER, Tracy..... 4| 1 0 3 .333| 23| 0 1| 0| 4| 0 0 0| 1
9 LEICHLITER, Danielle 4| 0 0 0 .000| 1| 1 1| 1| 3| 0 0 0| 0
12 ELLETT, Katrena..... 2| 3 0 5 .600| 0| 0 0| 0| 1| 1 0 0| 0
14 DANGERFIELD, Connie. 4| 0 0 0 .000| 1| 1 3| 1| 18| 0 0 0| 1
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Totals.............. 4| 50 24 149 .174| 46| 3 13| 9| 51| 5 14 2| 2
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 12.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 11 8 34 .088 GAME SCORES 1 2 3 4 TEAM RECORDS
2 11 9 35 .057 Univ. of Utah....... (3) 30 23 30 30 8-2
3 13 1 36 .333 Brigham Young Univ.. (1) 26 30 28 26 5-5
4 15 6 44 .205
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
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5 RICHARDS, Lauren.... 4| 5 5 18 .000| 46| 2 6| 0| 14| 0 5 0| 4
6 METCALF, Lindsey.... 4| 8 4 22 .182| 5| 1 2| 0| 10| 0 2 0| 0
7 WILSON, Kim......... 4| 19 4 38 .395| 0| 2 3| 1| 7| 1 1 0| 1
9 BROWN, Lexi......... 4| 7 9 23 -.087| 0| 0 2| 0| 5| 1 3 1| 0
10 LOTT, Erica......... 2| 1 5 8 -.500| 0| 1 0| 0| 0| 0 1 0| 0
14 HARTSOCK, Lindsy.... 4| 8 4 16 .250| 0| 1 1| 0| 1| 0 5 0| 0
3 VARNER, April....... 4| 11 4 33 .212| 0| 2 2| 1| 8| 1 1 0| 1
16 EVANS, Lindsey...... 4| 1 0 1 1.000| 1| 0 1| 1| 21| 0 0 0| 0
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Totals.............. 4| 60 35 159 .157| 52| 9 17| 3| 66| 3 18 1| 6
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 12.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 11 11 37 .000 Site: Brigham Young Univ. (Smith Fieldhouse)
2 14 6 35 .229 Date: Sep 24, 2004 Attend: 2062 Time: 2H 20M
3 21 8 43 .302 Referees: KEN TAYLOR, MAILEE JEWKES, KAREN MARSHALL
4 14 10 44 .091