Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
BYU
Wildcats fall to Cougars
8/31/2011 3:10:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
PROVO, Utah - A valiant effort came up just a little short for the Weber State University women's volleyball team.
Led by 12 kills from junior outside hitter Bethany Wray, the Wildcats went toe-to-toe with in-state rival BYU on Tuesday night, coming up just short in a 25-14, 25-21, 28-26 loss to the Cougars at Smith Fieldhouse in Provo.
Wray had seven kills in nail-biting third set that saw the lead change hands several times, before BYU scored the final three points to rally from a deficit to take the set and match.
The West Haven, Utah-native also had a team-best nine digs and two blocks.
Sophomore outside hitter Briana Wilms reached double-figures kills for the third straight match, finishing with 10.
Redshirt freshman Ashley Orr, making her season debut, had six blocks to lead the Wildcats, while junior Emily Jones added four.
As a team, Weber State had another strong blocking match, finishing with 11.5 blocks in three sets, the third straight match the team has finished with double figures team blocks.
The Cougars jumped out to an early lead in the first set, building their advantaged to 22-12 before settling for the nine-point win.
Weber State led for much of the second set and held an 18-17 advantage before BYU scored five straight points to make it 22-18. Two quick points by the Wildcats cut it back to 22-20, but the Cougars scored three of the final four points to take the set and a 2-0 lead in the match.
WSU trailed 17-11 in the third set, but rallied behind a strong blocking effort to make it 18-18. BYU led 24-22 after a kill by Nicole Warner, but back-to-back finishes by Wray leveled the set at 24-24. A kill from the Cougars' Christie Carpenter made it 25-24 before a service error and an attacking error by BYU put Weber State in front 26-25. Carpenter scored back-to-back points to put the Cougars back in front, and an attacking error by the Wildcats marked match point.
Weber State, which fell to 0-4 with the loss, will have its home opener on Saturday night against BYU-Hawaii at Swenson Gym. First serve of that match is set for 7 p.m.
