PROVO -- On Senior Night, graduating libero Uila Crabbe put up a match-high 16 digs as she passed Cherie Sam Fong and set a new BYU single-season digs record. The BYU women's volleyball team swept Eastern Michigan in its season finale 3-0 (30-25, 30-18, 30-26).

The Cougars improve to 23-8 on the year, while the Eagles drop to 21-11. Before the match rightside hitter Carrie Bowers, Laura Nielsen and Sahara Castillo were also recognized in a short ceremony.

"We're going to miss all our seniors," BYU coach Karen Lamb said. "They're each such unique and wonderful individuals. Each of them also bring differing strengths to the court."

The match turned out to be as close as the Cougars made it, as they held an edge in all statistical categories. BYU out-hit EMU .312 to .134 and was led by sophomore outside hitter Kim Wilson who was the lone player in the match to put down double-digit kills with 12.

Bowers got the Cougars started in the first game with a kill that made it 1-1. From there BYU wouldn't look back as it slowly built a comfortable lead. The Cougars led by as many four in the early going as freshman middle blocker Lindsy Hartsock came alive with three kills to give BYU a 10-6 cushion. The Eagles would remain close and the Cougars were unable to mount a significant run to widen the gap. EMU was also unable to sustain a major run, and the game ended on a Wilson kill.

BYU took a quick 3-0 lead to start the second game, behind a Lexi Brown kill and back-to-back double-blocks by Brown and Lindsey Metcalf on Emily Busch. EMU immediately countered with a 4-0 run to take its only lead of the game. The pivotal moment of the game started with a Bowers kill that made it 8-7 BYU. From there Melanie Togo served five times leading to points to give the Cougars a 13-7 cushion and forcing an Eagles timeout. The biggest moment of the match came during that stretch. With BYU leading 12-7, Crabbe collected her ninth dig of the match and 402nd of the season to set the new digs mark at BYU. Brown entered the match at the start of the game and provided an instant presence providing six kills and three blocks, as the Cougars cruised to take the game.

"To have Uila break the digs record at home, on senior night, was special," Lamb said. "She's been awesome all year, and I'm really happy for her, but I know she's got a lot more left in her."

The Eagles came out a more assertive team in the third game. They took an early 4-1 lead, capitalizing on three early BYU errors. The Cougars would fight back to tie it at 4-4 on a Lauren Richards kill, and the game would go back-and-forth from there. BYU held a slim advantage throughout, and EMU briefly regained the lead at 12-11, but consecutive kills by rightside hitter Mandi Kiholm made the score 20-17 and gave the Cougars the breathing room they needed to finish the match.

Bowers, suffering from illness, put down eight kills and hit .615 in the match before being relieved by Kiholm in the final game.

"Carrie was very ill tonight, but she still played very well," Lamb said. "Kimmie also had a great night and it's nice to see her back on track."

BYU also had six aces, three from Richards, and out-blocked the Eagles 8-4.

EMU was led by Becky Baltare's nine kills on the night.

BYU will now wait to see if it receives an at-large berth to the 2003 NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Selection Show will air live Sunday on ESPNews at 6 p.m. (MST). The Cougars have qualified for 20 of 22 NCAA Tournaments.

"I feel good about our chances," Lamb said. "Looking back over the year, there's a few I'd like to have back, but 23-8 isn't bad and we've had some quality wins this season."

                              Volleyball Box Score
                       2003 BYU Women's Volleyball Stats
         Eastern Michigan vs BYU Cougars (Nov 28, 2003 at PROVO, UTAH)
    Eastern Michigan       |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  WAGENMAKER, Katie...  3|  7   0  15  .467|  0|  1   1|  0|  1| 0  1  0|  0
 4  BUSCH, Emily........  2|  1   4  10 -.300|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 6  VINEY, Lauren.......  3|  4   3  15  .067| 28|  0   2|  0|  3| 0  3  0|  3
 7  NIGHSWANDER, Jennife  3|  7   0  21  .333|  2|  0   1|  4|  8| 0  0  0|  0
 8  PICCOLINI, Bethany..  3|  7   7  27  .000|  1|  0   0|  1|  8| 0  0  0|  0
 10 BALTARE, Becky......  3|  9   3  27  .222|  0|  0   0|  1| 11| 0  0  1|  0
 2  CUDNEY, Ashley......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   0|  0| 14| 0  0  0|  0
 11 MACK, Stephanie.....  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 14 SCHAETZKE, Elizabeth  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 15 PICCOLINI, Lindsay..  3|  0   2   4 -.500|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 1  2  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 35  19 119  .134| 33|  1   6|  6| 46| 1  6  1|  3
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 4.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  12  6  38  .158   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  10  8  40  .050   Eastern Michigan.... 25 18 26  21-11
   3  13  5  41  .195   BYU Cougars......... 30 30 30  23-8
    BYU Cougars            |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  TOGO, Melanie.......  3|  0   0   1  .000|  2|  0   0|  0| 10| 0  0  0|  0
 5  RICHARDS, Lauren....  3|  5   2  13  .231| 40|  3   3|  0|  4| 1  0  0|  6
 6  METCALF, Lindsey....  2|  4   4  18  .000|  1|  1   0|  0|  5| 1  3  0|  0
 8  BOWERS, Carrie......  2|  8   0  13  .615|  2|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 15 CASTILLO, Sahara....  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 18 NIELSEN, Laura......  2|  4   2   8  .250|  0|  0   1|  0|  3| 0  2  0|  0
 2  KIHOLM, Mandi.......  1|  3   0   6  .500|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  1|  0
 3  VARNER, April.......  2|  6   4  15  .133|  0|  0   2|  0|  7| 0  0  0|  0
 7  WILSON, Kim.........  3| 12   2  29  .345|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  2  0|  0
 9  BROWN, Lexi.........  2|  7   1  12  .500|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 1  2  0|  0
 11 KEARL, Lindsey......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  3|  1   0|  0|  5| 0  0  0|  0
 12 CRABBE, Uila........  3|  1   0   1 1.000|  1|  0   0|  1| 16| 0  0  0|  0
 14 HARTSOCK, Lindsy....  2|  5   1   9  .444|  0|  1   1|  0|  1| 0  1  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 55  16 125  .312| 49|  6   8|  1| 57| 3 10  1|  6
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 8.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  20  7  47  .277   Site: PROVO, UTAH (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  17  2  42  .357   Date: Nov 28, 2003   Attend: 873   Time: 1h32m
   3  18  7  36  .306   Referees: TERI JACKSON, BRUCE GRANT, KAREN MARSHALL

PROVO -- In its final regular-season match of the 2003 season, the BYU women's volleyball team will host Eastern Michigan on "Senior Night" Friday at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse.

BYU seniors Carrie Bowers, Uila Crabbe, Laura Nielsen and Sahara Castillo will be honored in a ceremony prior to the match.

"Senior night is always bittersweet for our team," BYU coach Karen Lamb said. "We're recognizing players for the great contributions they've made to the program, but we're doing so because they're at the end of their BYU careers."

The Cougars are coming off an early week match against Utah State Tuesday, which they won in thrilling fashion, after storming back from a 0-2 deficit for the third time this year.

BYU (22-8) was led by sophomore middle blocker Lexi Brown's first career double-double, that included a career-high 18 kills and a season-high 10 blocks. Brown has led the Cougars in kills five times this season, and BYU is 5-0 in those matches.

Entering the week, the Cougars were the nation's No. 11 blocking team averaging 3.12 blocks per game.

The Cougars struggled early against the Aggies, but finished strong for the win.

"We have to keep our focus," Lamb said. "It was an outstanding win on Tuesday, but if we would've started better, we wouldn't have been in the position to have to come from 0-2 down.

"Eastern Michigan is a very solid team that plays in a competitive conference. They pursue the ball very well, which helps to keep play alive for them."

BYU put up a season-high 99 digs against the Aggies, but in EMU (21-10), the Cougars will face the second-best digging team in the nation. Entering the week, the Eagles were averaging 20.28 digs per game.

This season has been a tale of half's for the Eagles, who started the year on fire going undefeated in the first seven matches and opening with a 16-1 record overall. Since then, EMU has lost nine of 14 matches and is coming off a loss to Ball State in the Mid-American Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

The Eagles' lone all-conference selection is senior middle blocker Katie Wagenmaker, who averages 2.97 kills, 0.95 blocks and 0.83 digs per game to go with a .273 hitting percentage. EMU is also led by senior outside hitter Jennifer Nighswander. She is averaging 3.41 kpg and a team-high 4.64 dpg.

After the match BYU will wait to see if it receives an at-large berth to the 2003 NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Selection Show will air live Sunday on ESPNews at 6 p.m. (MST). The Cougars have qualified for 20 of 22 NCAA Tournaments.