PROVO -- In its first game of conference play, the BYU women's volleyball team (3-10) faced off with the No. 18 Colorado State Rams (10-2) in a five-set match that ended in a crushing loss for the Cougars (16-25, 26-24, 25-21, 24-26, 13-15).

"I was pleased," BYU head coach Shay Goulding said following the match. "We dug ourselves some holes and thought we did a good job of climbing out for the most part. I just wish we weren't so passive when Colorado State gave us so many opportunities. I think they gave us a lot more opportunities than we took advantage of."

Despite the defeat, Christie Carpenter tallied a game-high 17 kills as well as nine digs and a career high seven blocks.

Christina Measom also had a career-high eight blocks and Nicole Warner contributed for the team with 10 kills and nine blocks.

Colorado’s Megan Plourde tallied 16 kills and 11 blocks while Jacque Davisson and Danielle Minch supplied 15 kills each.

The Rams pulled ahead in set one getting to an early lead at 9-5. They took charge with two four-point runs and two three-point runs. The Cougars rallied but were unable to make up the difference as the Rams built on their lead, winning the set 25-16. Katelyn Steffan and Minch of Colorado tied with match-high four kills.

BYU came off the first loss ready to fight with a run of four points, gaining the lead and maintaining up until the end. After tying at points 21, 22, 23 and 24, the Cougars were able to come away with the victory with the help of Warner, whose blocks gained them the two-point win of the second set.

The third set of the game started similarly with BYU stepping up to take the lead at 8-5 after a four-point run. The Rams fought back with a run of their own tying the score at 14, then 15 before another four-point run that put the Cougars behind at 19-15.

The Cougars pushed for the comeback but came up four points short as the Rams won the set 25-21. Plourde of Colorado had the set high five kills and setter Evan Sanders had 13 assists.

BYU took control right off the bat to start the fourth set with a lead of 6-2. After some hard-fought rallies, the Cougars were able to come away the win 26-24, taking the game to a full five sets.

Carpenter tallied six kills for the set while Brooke Soon and Kendalyn Hartsock contributed five digs each.

In the fifth and final set of the night, the Cougars struggled to grab the beginning lead, behind 7-1. Fighting their way back into the game, BYU pulled up just a few points behind Colorado at 10-8. The Cougars were unsuccessful at the comeback and lost the game 15-13.

The Cougars will next take on the Cowgirls of Wyoming Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse.

PROVO -- Starting Mountain West Conference play for the 2010 season, the BYU women’s volleyball team (3-9) will host No. 18 Colorado State (9-2) on Friday at 7 p.m. and Wyoming (13-1) on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Friday’s match against the Rams will be televised live on BYUtv.

“I’m happy to have ranked Colorado State on our home court to begin our conference season,” BYU head coach Shay Goulding said. “Wyoming is going to be good as well. They were a young team last year, but they have returned everybody. We are opening with some of the best teams in the conference and to have them at home is a good thing for our program. We are battle ready.”

The Rams are coming off their second loss of the season Friday night, dropping a five-set decision to the then-No. 24 Long Beach State 49ers.

The Cowgirls are coming off a three-set victory over the Idaho Vandals to win the Gonzaga Invitational Saturday. Jadranka Tramosljanin was named the MVP of the tournament, while Camille Coffman and Barbara Lasic earned All-Tournament Team honors.

“Wyoming has had a good preseason and are feeling good about themselves,” Goulding said. “I think they’re going to come in and play some aggressive volleyball.”

BYU leads the CSU series 48-24-1, losing both matches last year to the Rams, the last meeting being on Nov. 14, 2009. BYU leads the Wyoming series 65-4, with the Cougars sweeping the Cowgirls on Nov. 12, 2009 in the last matchup between the teams.

The last time out for the Cougars was a two-match trip to Hawai’i. For the first time in the 2010 season, the Rainbow Wahine was able to do what no team has this season - sweep the Cougars in straight sets. Playing at 11 p.m. MT, the Cougars were unable to come out with a set or match in Honolulu, falling 3-0 on Sept. 17-18.

“It was definitely a challenging preseason,” said Goulding. “We had the opportunity to see a lot of different people on the court and I feel like we’ve learned a lot. In spite of where we are at record-wise, I feel pretty confident going into conference play.”

After this weekend’s two-match homestand, the Cougars will host Utah for the first Deseret First Duel matchup of the 2010-11 season Oct. 1 at 7 p.m.