BYU was all about peaks and valleys during the 2009 men's volleyball season. The Cougars, who finished 17-13, were good enough to beat the likes of eventual national champion UC Irvine and a Final Four participant Penn State.
BYU was young last season, without a senior. So, as everyone returns, hopes run high that the school can make a strong bid for a fourth NCAA title. For sure, the Cougars felt the sting of sitting in the stands and watching the NCAA Final Four being played in the Smith Fieldhouse.
"We still have to earn it," BYU coach Shawn Patchell said. "We're going to be good. We've been there in big matches before. We can draw upon our experience."
Before their Mountain Pacific Sports Federation schedule begins in January, the Cougars look to sharpen their skills at several tournaments, including Friday's Las Vegas Tournament, featuring conference rival Long Beach State.
"Volleyball is such a mental game," Patchell said. "You have to understand what the pressure is to get better. We have to reach that level to win.
"We talked about [winning a national championship] all the time last year, but I don't think they believed they could truly win until we beat Penn State. Now, it's not me preaching at them."
Patchell said seniors, such as setter Reed Chilton, libero Joel Silver and outside hitter Andrew Stewart, feel the urgency to win.
"I don't have to draw it up for them," Patchell said. "They have the confidence to do it."
Utah Valley volleyball
So far, Utah Valley, in its first official season as a Division I program, has found a successful home in the first year of the Great West Conference. The women's soccer team and both cross country teams captured league titles.
Now it's the turn of the women's volleyball team, which heads to Houston for the inaugural GWC Volleyball Tournament. However, the second-seeded Wolverines (20-9, 10-2 GWC) have somewhat of an uphill climb before the they get to Saturday's 1 p.m. final.
UVU must play two games Friday, though the opener at 11:30 a.m. appears to be little more than a walk-through against winless Chicago State (0-25, 0-12). Should the Wolverines advance, they would play either NJIT (17-10, 7-5) or host Houston Baptist (12-19, 3-9) at 7 p.m.
Top-seeded North Dakota (20-6, 11-1) receives a bye and plays the winner between South Dakota (12-15, 6-6) and Texas-Pan American (8-16, 5-7).
"First of all, we're excited to have a postseason conference championship," UVU coach Sam Atoa said. "We've waited a long time. We feel very good about our chances.
"Having to play two matches on Friday is not necessarily ideal. We wanted the No. 1 seed but didn't take care of that."
If UVU wins the opener, it must sit and wait for two matches to be completed before its second match. The Wolverines will rely on senior Camie Manwill and junior Kayli Broadbent for leadership on and off the court. Broadbent owned the top kill average (4.32) in the GWC, while Manwill was fourth (3.51).
Utah Valley had a conference-best .237 hitting percentage.
"We're focused," Atoa said about not looking past Chicago State. "We've played in a lot of tournaments as independents and have had great success."
Cougar cross country
BYU will take full teams to the men's and women's NCAA Cross Country championships Monday at Terre Haute, Ind. The No. 14 men are hoping to build off their championship performance at the recent Mountain regional meet. The No. 22-ranked women placed third.
Sophomore Miles Batty was second at regionals, where the BYU men also placed ninth, 12th, 15th and 16th. Junior Cecily Lemmon-Lew placed second in the women's competition.
