BYU win sets up showdown with Rebs

PROVO — Though it wasn't the match the BYU volleyball team is looking forward to playing this weekend, it was just as important that the Cougars defeat San Diego State Friday night as it is that they defeat the Running Rebels tonight.

And, though they suffered a bit of a blip in the second game against the Aztecs, the Cougars did come through with a 30-25, 27-30, 30-21, 30-23 victory, giving themselves a shot at a share of the conference title against No. 25 UNLV at 7 tonight at the Smith Fieldhouse.

With the victory Friday night, the Cougars find themselves at 11-4 in the Mountain West Conference, while the Rebels and No. 17 Colorado State are both now 12-3 after CSU lost to TCU Thursday night, and UNLV was defeated by the Utes on Friday.

While the Cougars host UNLV, CSU has to travel to New Mexico for it's final game of the conference season.

Cougar coach Jason Watson said that his team had been focused all week on not looking past a deceptively tough SDSU squad.

"I think they lost their composure. I think they became complacent. I told them not to overlook this match. After the first game, I think we thought SDSU would give it to us, but they would never do that, they're too well coached," said Watson after his team lost the second game in uncharacteristic fashion.

The Cougars were plagued by service errors as they racked up nine in the first two games as compared to only one ace.

"I just think we weren't focused on that skill, but I think we cleaned that up in Game 3 and Game 4," Watson added.

Their blocks were also having a tough time picking up the Aztec hits, while SDSU was going on long runs where it stuffed BYU's hitting attempts one right after another in the first couple of games.

"We had some uncharacteristic streaks where we couldn't get past the SDSU block. They certainly put the pressure on our outside hitters," added Watson, who was pleased that the team was able to iron things out between the second and third games.

In the first couple of games the kills were a bright spot for the out-of-synch Cougars as they pounded down 40 to the Aztecs' 27 in Games 1 and 2.

BYU came out strong in Game 1, leading the entire way and coasting to the 30-25 victory. It did give up five straight on game point, but finally put it away on an SDSU hitting error. Bryn Porter led all players with seven kills in the game and a .700 hitting percentage.