PROVO -- A BYU women's volleyball record 4,050 fans came to the Smith Fieldhouse hoping to see the Cougars beat No. 4 Stanford. They got what they came for as No. 4 went down in four with BYU winning 17-30, 30-25, 30-25 and 30-16 Friday night to open the Molten Classic.
"Going into this game, we all knew we could take it because we have so much trust in our system," said outside hitter Chelsea Goodman.
After game one, it didn't appear as though BYU was playing with such confidence. The two teams battled to a 13-13 tie before Stanford closed out the game with a 17-4 run.
"We thought this match was going to go long," said BYU head coach Jason Watson. "Even though the first game went the way it did, I thought we were playing well. We kept our composure, and that's something I don't think we would have done last year."
BYU did indeed bounce back in game two by jumping out to a 4-0 lead. The Cougars never trailed in the game and were only tied once at 22 apiece. Game two also featured the play of the game as sophomore setter Amy Schlauder jumped up for an apparent set before dumping the ball behind her back and over the net to put BYU up 25-23. From there, BYU finished off the game on a 5-2 run.
Game three was the most competitive of the night as the final margin of five points was the highest either team led throughout the game. Game four, however, was all BYU. Watson's squad soared to a 15-1 run and eventually won 30-16. The Cougars turned up the defensive intensity keeping Stanford from stringing no more than three consecutive points in the game.
"A key factor for us is we dug a lot of balls," Watson said. "We created all these opportunities for us to score points, and that sustained the pressure we established earlier in the game. It was fun."
The Cougars were led by juniors Goodman (14 kills) and Erica Lott (20 kills). Goodman also recorded 18 digs for her second double-double of the season. Orem native Kristin Richards (14 kills, 11 digs) was one of three Cardinal to score double-doubles along with Cynthia Barboza and Franci Girard.
The last time BYU beat an opponent as highly ranked as Stanford was the 2000 season when the Cougars defeated the nation's No. 1, 2, 3 and 4 teams, including No. 1 Stanford. The Molten Classic continues Saturday at the Smith Fieldhouse with BYU taking on Texas A&M Corpus Christi at noon and then Virginia Commonwealth at 7 p.m.
VCU Defeats Texas A&M CC 3-0
PROVO -- Virginia Commonwealth University Rams (3-1) defeated the Texas A&M Corpus Christi Islanders (1-4) 3-0 at the BYU Molten Classic Friday.
"I am really happy with today's results," said VCU head coach James Finley. "Our team followed their assignments, played aggressive and blocked well. I am really pleased."
VCU swept the match with scores of 30-19, 30-16 and 30-17. VCU had a match hitting percentage of .352. The Rams held the Islanders to a -.030 attack percentage. VCU also out blocked Texas A&M CC 9.5 to 2.0.
The Rams' Elisa Kuehnel had an impressive night with 11 kills and six blocks. Ana Luiza Bernardes de Borja also had 11 kills, four blocks and nine digs.
Lauren Paslay and Lynn Elsberry of Texas A&M CC each had seven kills. Laura North led the team with 13 digs.
VCU will prepare to face the No. 4 Stanford Cardinal Saturday at 10 a.m. MST. The Texas A&M CC Islanders will face BYU Saturday at noon MST. Both matches will be held at the Elaine Michaelis Court as part of the BYU Molten Classic.
Volleyball Box Score
8-26 Combined
#4 Stanford Cardinals vs BYU Cougars (Sep 01, 2006 at Smith Fieldhouse BYU)
Stanford Cardinals | 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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1 Barboza, Cynthia.... 4| 10 9 50 .020| 1| 0 1| 0| 11| 0 0 0| 0
4 Kehoe, Bryn......... 4| 4 1 8 .375| 45| 1 1| 0| 15| 0 3 0| 2
5 Nnamani, Nji........ 4| 5 4 17 .059| 4| 0 4| 0| 3| 0 4 0| 0
6 Girard, Franci...... 4| 14 4 26 .385| 0| 1 0| 0| 0| 1 4 0| 0
10 Richards, Kristin... 4| 14 11 42 .071| 0| 0 3| 0| 11| 1 1 0| 0
16 Akinradewo, Foluke.. 4| 12 1 29 .379| 0| 1 2| 0| 1| 1 4 0| 0
2 Okogbaa, Janet...... 1| 0 2 2-1.000| 1| 0 0| 0| 1| 0 2 0| 0
11 Fishburn, Jessica... 4| 0 0 0 .000| 2| 1 3| 2| 11| 0 0 0| 0
12 Waller, Erin........ 2| 1 1 5 .000| 0| 1 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
15 Mellard, Michelle... 1| 0 0 1 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 2 0| 0
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Totals.............. 4| 60 33 180 .150| 53| 5 14| 2| 53| 3 20 0| 2
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 13.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 19 2 39 .436 GAME SCORES 1 2 3 4 TEAM RECORDS
2 15 10 48 .104 Stanford Cardinals.. (1) 30 25 25 16 1-1; 0-0; PAC 10
3 18 9 51 .176 BYU Cougars......... (3) 17 30 30 30 4-0; 0-0; MWC
4 8 12 42 -.095
BYU Cougars | 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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1 GOODMAN, Chelsea.... 4| 14 7 37 .189| 0| 1 1| 0| 18| 1 4 1| 0
7 WILSON, Kim......... 4| 5 3 27 .074| 0| 0 1| 1| 1| 1 1 1| 0
10 LOTT, Erica......... 4| 20 8 41 .293| 1| 0 3| 2| 6| 0 6 1| 0
14 HARTSOCK, Lindsy.... 4| 7 1 16 .375| 3| 0 2| 0| 3| 1 8 0| 0
15 SCHLAUDER, Amy...... 4| 3 0 3 1.000| 45| 0 0| 0| 9| 0 2 0| 1
44 DYER, Rachel........ 4| 7 1 10 .600| 1| 0 0| 0| 1| 0 3 0| 0
2 BEAUMONT, Janvier... 4| 0 0 0 .000| 2| 1 1| 2| 20| 0 0 0| 0
11 PINEGAR, Annie...... 4| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 15| 0 0 0| 0
13 PORTER, Bryn........ 1| 0 1 3 -.333| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
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Totals.............. 4| 56 21 137 .255| 52| 2 8| 5| 73| 3 24 3| 1
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 15.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 12 7 40 .125 Site: Smith Fieldhouse BYU (Elaine Michaelils)
2 16 6 37 .270 Date: Sep 01, 2006 Attend: 4050 Time: 2 h 08 m
3 16 2 33 .424 Referees: Tom Given, Maile Jewkes, Karen Marshall
4 12 6 27 .222