PROVO -- Senior Kayla Walker led the BYU Cougars (6-6, 2-0) into their second Mountain West Conference match of the season Saturday against the Air Force Falcons (8-6, 0-2). The Cougars won the match 3-0 (25-12, 25-23, 25-11).

“It was a good opportunity for us to use everyone,” said BYU head coach Shay Goulding. “This is the balanced team I believe we can have at every game. We

always want to be undefeated in our own house.”

Match-leaders for the Cougars included Walker with 10 kills hitting at .353 and Christina Measom with nine kills, hitting at .471. Camilla Phillips had significant playing time for the Cougars, posting a career-high six kills, hitting at .364. Morgan Lloyd Sorensen added 11 digs.

The first set of the match started slowly for each team. Air Force took the early lead 6-4, before BYU exploded with a 5-0 run to make the score 9-6. The Cougars never let up after grabbing the lead. Although the Falcons threatened a comeback at times, BYU put the set away with an 11-1 run, making the final score 25-12. The difference in the game was the attack percentage of each team. The Cougars finished 76% as a team, with Air Force coming in at just 37%. Freshman Nicole Warner led the way for the Cougars, finishing with a set high in kills (3). Junior Christina Measom and Camilla Phillips also made their presence known, with 4.0 total points each.

Set two began the same as set one, with both teams rotating the lead. BYU pulled away midway through the set with a couple of short 3-0 runs, but this time the Falcons came soaring back. Air Force tied the game late at 18-18, and again 23-23, but never took hold of the lead. BYU finished the set with a quick 2-0 run, ending the competitive set at 25-23. Air Force made for a more competitive set by improving their team attack percentage by 23 percent, from 37 to 60 percent. However, the Falcons still allowed the Cougars to outhit them with a .650 attack percentage. Measom continued her match dominance adding four kills. Walker came back strong for the second set, scoring the deciding two points of the set and finishing with four kills for the set.

The Cougars came out fast for the third set, while Air Force looked flat. BYU scored the first four points of the set and never let up. After charging out to a 15-5 lead, the Cougars put the final set away quickly, winning 25-11. Walker once again dominated throughout the set, finishing with five more kills and 5.5 more total points. Measom continued her point-scoring ways in the final set as well, finishing with a match-high 13.0 total points. BYU again finished a set with a team attack percentage of over 70%, finishing the third set with a 75%. They also again held the Air Force team to under 40% as a team, forcing the Falcons to finish 8-24 on side outs, or 33%.

The Cougars (6-6, 2-0) next play rival Utah (8-5, 2-0). The match will take place in Salt Lake City, Utah on Sept. 25 at 7 p.m.

Volleyball Box Score
                           BYU Cougar Volleyball 2009
          Air Force Falcons vs BYU Cougars (Sep 19, 2009 at PROVO UT)
   Air Force Falcons      |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 SP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2  KONSTANZER, Grace...  3|  6   3  16  .188|  0|  0   1|  3|  4| 0  0  0|  0|   6.0
11 HARRINGTON, Michelle  3|  3   3   9  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  1  1|  1|   3.5
12 STILWELL, Nichole...  3|  4   4  14  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 1  0  0|  0|   5.0
13 KURTZ, Caroline.....  3|  6   8  20 -.100|  0|  0   0|  0| 11| 0  0  0|  0|   6.0
16 HANSON, Julia.......  2|  0   4   5 -.800|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0|   0.5
17 HELLMANN, Jessica...  3|  1   2   9 -.111| 17|  0   1|  0|  5| 0  0  0|  1|   1.0
3  SPENCER, Kelly......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   1|  0|  5| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
7  NORTON, Jackie......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
14 FRICK, Emily........  3|  1   3   8 -.250|  0|  0   1|  1|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
15 LOLOHEA, Maile......  3|  0   1   2 -.500|  1|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
23 PERICH, Maiya.......  3|  0   1   1-1.000|  0|  0   0|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  1|   0.0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  3| 21  29  84 -.095| 19|  0   4|  4| 30| 1  2  1|  3|  23.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER SET                                            TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 2.0
 Set   K  E  TA   Pct Sideout Pct
   1   7 11  27 -.148   9-24  37%   SET SCORES                1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2   9  7  31  .065  15-25  60%   Air Force Falcons... (0) 12 23 11  8-6, 0-2
   3   5 11  26 -.231   8-24  33%   BYU Cougars......... (3) 25 25 25  6-6, 2-0
   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
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7  MEASOM, Christina...  3|  9   1  17  .471|  1|  0   0|  0|  0| 1  6  0|  0|  13.0
9  ROGERS, Kiana.......  2|  1   0   2  .500| 20|  1   2|  0|  4| 0  1  0|  1|   2.5
11 LAKE WRIGHT, Melissa  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   2|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
12 WALKER, Kayla.......  3| 10   4  17  .353|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  3  0|  0|  11.5
15 WARNER, Nicole......  3|  4   0   7  .571|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  4  1|  0|   6.0
20 SPEREDON THURSTON,Ca  3|  3   3  10  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  3  0|  0|   4.5
1  LLOYD SORENSEN, Morg  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   5|  0| 11| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
2  HANNEMANN, Heather..  1|  0   0   0  .000|  9|  2   1|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0|   2.0
6  GOODSELL, Chelsea...  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   1|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
8  BOAZ, Marisa........  2|  1   0   2  .500|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  1  0|  0|   1.5
10 PHILLIPS, Camilla...  3|  6   2  11  .364|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  3  0|  0|   7.5
13 SAGERS, Lauren......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0|   0.5
16 LAU, Stephanie......  2|  1   2  16 -.062|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  3| 35  12  82  .280| 32|  4  12|  0| 27| 1 22  1|  1|  51.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER SET                                            TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 12.0
 Set   K  E  TA   Pct Sideout Pct
   1  10  2  22  .364  10-13  76%   Site: PROVO UT (SMITH FIELDHOUSE)
   2  14  7  38  .184  15-23  65%   Date: Sep 19, 2009   Attend: 846   Time: 1H 25M
   3  11  3  22  .364   9-12  75%   Referees: PAULA MARTIN, MYLE JEWKES, CHESLEY BARRETT
                                         1   2   3 Total
                        Tie scores       4   4   0     8
                        Lead changes     2   1   0     3

PROVO -- After going 0-3 at the Ameritas Players Challenge in Nebraska the BYU Cougars (4-6) will return home to open Mountain West Conference play against San Diego State (4-4) on Thursday in the Smith Fieldhouse at 7 p.m. and Saturday against Air Force (8-4) at 1 p.m.

“We have worked hard all preseason and competed with some incredible programs in order to prepare us to start our conference schedule this week,” said BYU head coach Shay Goulding. “I feel very confident in what we have learned and how we are coming together. Conference is where it counts and the entire team feels prepared to welcome SDSU and Air Force into the Smith Fieldhouse. We are looking forward to it.”

The Cougars lost to No. 8 UCLA, No. 5 Nebraska and Virginia in the Ameritas Players Challenge last week, all in four sets.

Kayla Walker led the Cougars in kills, being the only Cougar named to the All-Tournament team. She tallied 17 kills against Virginia, 14 kills against Nebraska and 15 against UCLA.

Some of the bright spots in the tournament included the team’s hitting percentage of .680 in the first set against No. 5 Nebraska. Also in the UCLA match the team posted 16 team blocks to the Bruins’ six.

After Thursday’s game the Cougars will also take on conference opponent, Air Force, at 1 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse. Thursday’s game will be broadcast live via BYUTV and Saturday’s game will be radio broadcast live on BYU Radio.