Oct. 9, 2007

PROVO, Utah - Despite jumping out to an early seven-point advantage in the first game, Utah Valley fell to BYU, 30-26, 30-19 and 30-13 at the Cougars' Smith Fieldhouse.

BYU mounted a first-game rally and carried the momentum into the final two games. With the loss, the Wolverines fall to 12-6 and see their winning streak end at seven matches.

"Hand it to BYU, they played a great match," UV head coach Sam Atoa said. "We came out and played well early but struggled passing the ball towards the end of the second game which cost us."

In the first game, UV jumped out to an early 5-1 lead on the heels of a 5-0 run. Meagan Bluth's kill gave the Wolverines the early advantage. After BYU got within one at 11-10, the Wolverines scored six straight, forcing the Cougars to take a timeouts. A Kayli Broadbent kill gave UV a 17-10 lead.

As BYU inched back into the game, cutting the Wolverines lead to 22-20, UV came up with huge back-to-back points on a Broadbent kill and a Kristi Lindley service ace. The Cougars' came back again, taking a 27-26 advantage, its first lead since leading 1-0, on a pair of Wolverine attack errors. BYU out-scored UV, 10-2 to finish the fist game.

The second game started much like the first ended with BYU jumping to a quick 12-6 advantage. Six UV attack errors proved to be the early difference in the second game. The Wolverines began cut down on errors and cut into the Cougars' lead, trimming the deficit to four on multiple occasions. A 5-1 BYU run gave the Cougars an insurmountable eight-point lead at 21-13. The Wolverines hit just .021 in the second game.

Game three proved to be much closer as the two teams played evenly in the early going, with BYU posting an 11-10 lead. The Cougars went on a 9-1 run to open a 19-11 lead.

The Wolverines will continue when they travel to Cal State Bakersfield for a pair of weekend matches starting with a Friday match set to start at 8 p.m. (MDT)