PROVO — The BYU women's soccer team wrapped up a strong spring campaign with big wins over in-state foes Weber State and Utah Valley State College last weekend.
The Cougars finished 8-1-1, showing promise with a potent offense and miserly defense. Despite the loss of key starters Jaime Rendich Beck and Charlene Lui to graduation and Jessica Harmon to a recent injury, the Cougars didn't miss a beat in spring play, putting up 17 goals while surrendering just four in 10 games.
One of the team's strongest points this spring has been its balanced attack, which has seen 10 different players find the back of the net. Senior forward Annie Zwahlen led all scorers with four goals, while junior forward Carolyn Swenson had three.
On defense, numerous young players have turned in strong performances while logging significant time at their positions for the first time, and the team is still waiting for the return of defensive anchor Claire Thomas, who tore ligaments in her knee and missed most of last season.
BYU's spring resume also includes a pair of crucial quality victories; a 2-0 shutout against two-time defending conference champion and archrival Utah, and a 2-1 victory over the U-20 Women's National Team.
MEN'S VOLLEYBALL: After a disappointing, late-season skid that sent the BYU men's volleyball team from the top of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation to the five spot, the Cougars will open the postseason on the road at Long Beach State on Saturday.
BYU is 0-2 against the 49ers this year, losing 2-3 (31-29, 30-26, 26-30, 22-30, 13-15) and 1-3 (31-29, 28-30, 27-30, 24-30) on consecutive nights in a road trip to Long Beach earlier this month.
The Cougars entered those matches in the conference's third spot and needed to win both matches in order to clinch homecourt advantage in the first round of the MPSF playoffs, a privilege given to the conference's top four teams.
Despite the losses to the 49ers, BYU still had a chance to clinch homecourt with at least one win against Hawaii in the final two regular-season matches, but beating the No. 2 Warriors on their court proved to be too much to ask.
BYU (18-8, 14-8 MPSF) dropped its final four matches and six of its last 10 to slide into the fifth spot, while Long Beach State (21-8, 14-8 MPSF) did just the opposite, winning its final four matches to sneak into the conference's fourth spot and claim homecourt advantage by holding the head-to-head tiebreaker over BYU.
MEN'S GOLF: Fresh off an appearance in The Masters this month, BYU golfer Clay Ogden was granted another honor this week when he was one of eight collegiate golfers selected to represent the United States in the Palmer Cup.
The Palmer Cup is an annual competition, similar to the Ryder Cup, that pits collegiate golfers from the United States and Europe against each other in international competition.
The competition will be June 29-30 on the 6,544-yard, par-71 Prestwick Golf Club in Prestwick, Scotland.
Georgia head coach Chris Haack has been chosen to coach the United States team, becoming the only coach ever selected to coach the team twice.
Ogden will be only the second BYU player to appear in the Palmer Cup, joining Andy Miller, who competed in 2000.
American Teams are 5-3-1 all time in the Palmer Cup.
E-mail: jtwitchell@desnews.com