PROVO -- BYU earned its sixth straight sweep Tuesday with a 30-21, 30-21, 30-27 victory over Utah Valley State on Elaine Michaelis Court. The 15th-ranked Cougars improved to 16-0 with the win, their best start since beginning the 1977 season 23-0.

"I thought we played well tonight," BYU coach Jason Watson said. "I thought over time we were able to exploit some things. Credit should go to Amy (Schlauder). I thought she ran a very balanced offense and was fairly mature and composed over the course of the match."

Wanting to provide his backup setter with more game experience, Watson played Schlauder, a redshirt freshman, in place of two-time All-Mountain West Conference senior Lauren Richards Evans. Playing in just her sixth match of the year, and only her third multi-game appearance, Schlauder guided the Cougars to a .381 attack percentage in the three-game victory.

"We tried to focus on one point at a time, not just the overall score," Schlauder said. "It's not necessarily the number of wins that determines our confidence level, it's how we play."

The first game was tightly contested during the early going, as the Wolverines were able to battle BYU point for point. Leading 11-10, BYU slowly started to pull away from Utah Valley State, pushing the lead to 16-12 and then 20-14 while building to a game-high advantage of 10 points at 26-16. Junior middle blocker Lindsy Hartsock recorded the game-winner for BYU, putting a kill down the middle for a 30-21 victory.

BYU continued to hold off the crosstown Wolverines in the second game, posting an identical 30-21 win. Sophomore outside hitter Chelsea Goodman brought the crowd of 1,059 out of their seats several times during the game with some high-flying, straight-down kills. All the Cougars were efficient in their attack, hitting a combined .406 compared to UVSC's .079 attack percentage. BYU outhit the Wolverines .400 to .100 in game one.

Up 2-0, Watson inserted freshman Bryn Porter and sophomores Annie Kemp and Jenna Judkins into the game-three lineup. The Wolverines took advantage while the Cougars adjusted, scoring the first six points of the game and eight of the first nine. UVSC setter Lacee Koelliker served the first six points, including four services aces.

"Utah Valley was able to get on a very nice run in the third game," Watson said. "Koelliker played incredibly well for them."

The Cougars started to battle back and got within three at 11-8, but the Wolverines continued to play well, earning four of the next seven points to hold a 15-11 edge. Four straight Cougar points, however, evened the tally at 15 and BYU took its first lead at 18-17.

"I was proud of how our team stayed composed and didn't panic when we got so far down," Watson said.

UVSC regained the advantage at 20-19 and built the lead to 23-20 before BYU fought back with four consecutive points. The Wolverines seemed on the threshold of a game-three win with a 27-26 lead before the Cougars ran off the last four points to earn their sixth straight sweep.

Goodman, Hartsock and Erica Lott shared match-high honors with 14 kills for BYU, while Brooke Adams and Anne Olsen led UVSC with seven kills each. Lott recorded her third double-double performance of the year with a match-best 10 digs.

BYU returns to MWC play Friday and Saturday. The Cougars host San Diego State Friday at 7 p.m. and UNLV Saturday at 7 p.m.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                                  BYU COUGARS
                   UVSC WOLVERINES vs #15 Brigham Young Univ.
                       (Oct 18, 2005 at Smith Fieldhouse)
    UVSC WOLVERINES        |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  ADAMS, Brooke.......  3|  7   5  16  .125|  1|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  2  0|  0|   8.0
 2  KOELLIKER, Lacee....  3|  3   0   8  .375| 30|  4   2|  0|  5| 0  0  0|  0|   7.0
 6  OLSEN, Anne.........  3|  7   8  25 -.040|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0|   7.0
 9  McFARLAND, Stephanie  3|  6   2  16  .250|  0|  0   2|  0|  1| 0  2  0|  0|   7.0
 11 ENDRES, Jessica.....  3|  5   0  17  .294|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  2  0|  1|   6.0
 14 MANWILL, Camie......  3|  6   6  18  .000|  0|  1   0|  4|  6| 0  2  0|  0|   8.0
 4  HEERS, Kari.........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 7  CARRON, Bethany.....  1|  1   0   3  .333|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 8  O'NEAL, Chelsea.....  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 12 HOYT, Maegan........  3|  0   2   2-1.000|  2|  0   1|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  1|   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 35  23 105  .114| 33|  5   8|  4| 24| 0  8  0|  2|  44.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 4.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  10  7  30  .100   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  11  8  38  .079   UVSC WOLVERINES..... (0) 21 21 27  8-10 IND
   3  14  8  37  .162   Brigham Young Univ.. (3) 30 30 30  16-0; 8-0 MWC
    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|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  GOODMAN, Chelsea....  3| 14   5  28  .321|  0|  0   2|  1|  5| 0  0  0|  0|  14.0
 9  PATTERSON, Lexi.....  2|  4   2   7  .286|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  1  0|  0|   4.5
 10 LOTT, Erica.........  3| 14   4  28  .357|  0|  0   3|  3| 10| 0  0  1|  0|  14.0
 14 HARTSOCK, Lindsy....  3| 14   2  21  .571|  1|  2   0|  0|  0| 0  3  0|  0|  17.5
 15 SCHLAUDER, Amy......  3|  1   0   4  .250| 44|  2   2|  0|  5| 0  4  0|  2|   5.0
 44 DYER, Rachel........  3|  5   2   7  .429|  0|  0   2|  0|  1| 0  3  0|  0|   6.5
 2  BEAUMONT, Janvier...  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   2|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 3  EVANS, Lindsey......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  1|  5| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 11 KEMP, Annie.........  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 13 PORTER, Bryn........  1|  0   0   2  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0|   0.5
 20 JUDKINS, Jenna......  2|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   1|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 52  15  97  .381| 47|  4  12|  5| 35| 0 12  1|  2|  62.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 6.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  17  5  30  .400   Site: Smith Fieldhouse (Elaine Michaelis)
   2  17  4  32  .406   Date: Oct 18, 2005   Attend: 1059   Time: 1 H 35 M
   3  18  6  35  .343   Referees: TOM GIVEN, BRUCE GRANT, KAREN MARSHALL
                                         1   2   3 Total
                        Tie scores       8   0   9    17
                        Lead changes     4   0   5     9

PROVO -- Continuing the longest homestand of the season, No. 15 BYU will take on cross-town rival Utah Valley State College Tuesday night on Elaine Michaelis Court. The Cougars, who are off to their best start since 1977, are looking to improve to 16-0 on the season against the Wolverines, who are 8-9. BYU will complete the week by facing San Diego St. and UNLV this weekend at home.

"This is a challenging week for our program," said BYU head coach Jason Watson. "UVSC is coming off the road after a win over Wyoming. They are a solid team who is playing well right now. Later this week we get our first look at San Diego State and UNLV. Both teams are playing well and will pressure us at home. How we prepare for each match this week will be key."

BYU moved up one place to No. 15 in this week's AVCA/CSTV Top 25 Coaches Poll and are No. 14 in the Volleyball Magazine poll. One of only four undefeated teams in the nation, the Cougars are turning heads nationally as well as locally as recent features in Volleyball Magazine and on espn.com have come their way. Middle blocker Lindsy Hartsock leads the MWC and is second in the nation in hitting efficiency (.469 as of Oct. 11), setter Lauren Richards is pacing the league and is 21st nationally in assists per game (13.04 as of Oct. 11) and Chelsea Goodman leads the conference in kills per game (4.00).

While BYU has played UVSC only three times in the program's history, winning all three, the Cougars and Wolverines have several opponents in common this season. UVSC has suffered defeat at the hands of Kansas, Montana State, Air Force, Idaho State, Utah and Utah State, all teams the Cougars have defeated. The Wolverines split matches this season with Weber State, who BYU will play next Tuesday, and beat Wyoming in five games last weekend, just one week after the Cougars swept the Cowgirls.

The Cougars returned home last weekend to begin the five-match homestand and picked up two more wins to improve to 15-0 on the season, their best start since 1977. BYU swept Air Force (30-19, 30-26, 30-14) and New Mexico (30-15, 30-18, 30-22) and has now recorded sweeps in the last five straight matches.

Sophomore outside hitters Chelsea Goodman and Erica Lott continued their dominance as they each recorded over 4.00 kills per game over the weekend. Four BYU players recorded hitting percentage of .500 or better against the Lobos, led by senior Lexi Brown Patterson, who hit .800. All 14 eligible Cougars saw playing time against the Falcons.

"We feel that everyone on our roster has contributed to our success," BYU coach Jason Watson said. "We wanted to be able to reward some people with playing time. When the opportunity presented itself, we took advantage and were able to have success with those players."