BYU Volleyball

BYU volleyball celebrates Halloween with win

With a festive Halloween crowd cheering them on, the BYU women's volleyball team took care of business Friday night in the Smith Fieldhouse with a four-game win (23-25, 25-12, 25-19, 25-20) over TCU. The Cougars (11-9, 4-6 MWC) were impressive on both offense and defense in avenging an earlier loss to the Horned Frogs (17-7, 6-5 MWC).

"Everything in volleyball has a ripple effect, and tonight really showed why for us," said BYU head coach Shay Goulding. "Our passing was excellent, which helped our setter find her attackers and our attackers be more productive. Our confidence was really high, and everything just worked for us."

Junior Kayla Walker led the way for BYU with 16 kills followed Ashton Hansen Hosford with a season-high 13 and Rachel Dyer with 10. Hosford also paced BYU with five blocks while posting a season-best .632 hitting percentage. Walker also added 11 digs for her fourth double-double of the year while setter Kiana Rogers tallied 49 assists and 12 digs for her seventh double-double of the season. Bryn Porter also contributed double-digit digs with 11 while Melissa Lake recorded a match-high 17.

After TCU's opening serve went long, the Horned Frogs went up 4-1 early in Game 1. The Cougars tied the score at 4-4 and then kept it close, but TCU managed to stay just ahead until a service ace from Rogers followed by a kill from Porter gave BYU its first lead of the set at 11-10. The two teams traded points from there as the game neared its conclusion and both squads fought for every score. TCU finally got the upper hand with a 22-20 lead and extended the advantage to 24-21. BYU scored two points out of a Cougar timeout but could not complete the comeback as the Horned Frogs' Lauren Otto put down the game-winner at 25-23.

The momentum shifted noticeably to begin Game 2 as BYU ran out to a 5-1 lead early with four kills on four swings and a triple block. With the energy picking up among the fans and the team, the Fieldhouse truly became a homecourt advantage with a 12-4 BYU lead. The advantage grew to as many as 13 points for the Cougars as they dominated with a 25-12 win. BYU held TCU to -.034 hitting in the set while a balanced Cougar attack produced a .379 BYU hitting efficiency.

¬ Game 3 proved to be a return to the battle begun in Game 1 as the two teams fought to an 8-8 tie. Redshirt freshman Casey Speredon immediately made an impact upon entering the match at that point, putting down back-to-back kills to put BYU up 10-8. Despite pressure from the Horned Frogs, the Cougars managed to stay in front with solid play both offensively and defensively. Trailing 18-14, TCU got back-to-back points out of a timeout, but Dyer kept BYU in control with a strong kill down the middle. The two-point deficit was as close as the Horned Frogs got as the Cougars closed out the game, 25-19.

Sensing victory, BYU ran out to a 6-3 lead in the fourth game. TCU responded to get within one point, but a Cougar surge helped by kills from Speredon and Walker established a 12-7 BYU advantage. But the Horned Frogs had some firepower of their own left in the tank as they knotted the score at 16-16. Kills from sophomore Christina Measom and Walker made sure BYU did not fall behind and enabled the Cougars to push through for the 25-20 win, scoring eight of the last 11 points.

The Cougars will be back in action tonight hosting New Mexico at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse.

Golf

Duval surges into contention in Florida

PALM COAST, Fla. -- David Duval hasn't played in the windy, wet conditions since the British Open this summer. Just like then, he managed to work himself into contention at the Ginn sur Merr Classic on Friday.

Winless in seven years, laboring at No. 233 on the money list and playing his final PGA Tour event of the year, Duval put together a strong round of 3-under 69 at the Ginn Ocean Hammock Resort that left him only two shots behind Ryan Palmer going into the weekend.

Palmer missed only one green on the back nine for a 71, putting him at 6-under 138.

Robert Allenby, at No. 30 the highest-ranked player at this Fall Series event, had a 71 and was one shot out of the lead along with Peter Lonard (69), rookie Michael Letzig (74) and Ken Duke (69).

Duval, who has made only four cuts in his 19 starts on the PGA Tour this year, had three birdies and an eagle during a six-hole stretch on the front nine, which he capped off by chipping in on the par-5 ninth. He recovered from a bogey on the 11th with a birdie at No. 14, and finished with his seventh round in the 60s in his last 10 rounds on tour.

• Champions Tour: At Sonoma, Calif., Andy Bean made five birdies in six holes through intermittent rain showers, finishing at 10-under 134 to take a one-shot lead over Nick Price after two rounds in the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

Bean rolled to a 6-under 66 at Sonoma Golf Club despite regular lashings from a storm that's expected to blast Northern California's wine country on Saturday. At the halfway point of the Champions Tour's season-ending event, he nearly made six consecutive birdies to start the back nine, barely missing a putt on the 12th.

Price, the first-round co-leader, shot a bogey-free 69 for a 9-under 135. Tom Jenkins, Scott Hoch and Gene Jones are just two strokes behind Bean at 136, and half of the 29-man field is within five shots of the leader.

NBA

Knicks place Marbury on inactive list

PHILADELPHIA -- New York Knicks guard Stephon Marbury was placed on the inactive list before Friday night's 116-87 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Marbury, a former All-Star reportedly scheduled to earn $21.9 million this season, did not play in the Knicks' 120-115 season-opening win over the Miami Heat on Wednesday.

Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni and Marbury met Friday and Marbury asked the coach if he was going to play. When told he would not be seeing action, Marbury reportedly requested he be put on the inactive list and D'Antoni and the guard mutually agreed to take that action for Friday's game.

"This is the direction we're going and there will be some nights like this," D'Antoni said of Marbury after the loss. "If I was playing everything for tonight, you'd do things differently. But we're trying to build a base for going forward."

Marbury was not available for comment after the game.

Dressed in street clothes, Marbury watched from the Knicks bench after not warming up prior to the game.

Tennis

Nadal, Federer out at Paris Masters; Tsonga wins

PARIS -- Injuries got the better of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in the Paris Masters quarterfinals on Friday.

David Nalbandian and French hope Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won to also keep up their chances of reaching the Masters Cup.

Nadal retired with a knee injury after losing the first set 6-1 against sixth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko, just hours after Federer pulled out against 11th-seeded James Blake with a sore back.

The eighth-seeded Nalbandian ended the 14-match winning streak of fourth-seeded Andy Murray 7-6 (3), 6-3, and Tsonga, the lowest surviving seed at 13th, thrilled the home crowd at Bercy Arena by outserving American Andy Roddick 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (5).

"I definitely had more than enough chances tonight, so this one will probably stick with me," Roddick said. "Credit to him, he came up with probably six or seven volleys that were pretty tough on break points."

In Saturday's semifinals, defending champion Nalbandian meets 2006 champ Davydenko, and Blake will try to stop Tsonga from becoming the first French winner since Sebastien Grosjean in 2001.

"I think it's about the best moment in my life on a court," said Tsonga, who lost the Australian Open final to Novak Djokovic.

Tsonga felt Roddick was slacking at times.

"Sometimes he was giving up on a point where I thought he could have gone and get it," Tsonga said.

Nadal received a lengthy massage on his right thigh at 4-1 down to try and loosen the muscles around his right knee but was unable to start the second set.

"When I push with the right leg all the time the knee wasn't there, the knee is going down," Nadal said. "I felt a sharp, acute pain."

The Spaniard felt nagging knee pains earlier this week, and it got worse on Friday morning.

"Today when I woke up I felt it a lot. I try to practice but still feel it," Nadal said. "Later I went to the doctor and the doctor gave me some anti-inflammatories."

The top-ranked Nadal said he has never had a similar injury and that he needs more tests before he decides whether to play the season-ending Masters Cup, which begins on Nov. 9 in Shanghai.

"Hopefully it's going to be fine for Shanghai, but you never know," Nadal said.

Federer withdrew injured from an ATP tournament for the first time, but said his back complaint wasn't serious.

"My back has been stiff for the last couple of days and I woke up this morning and it did not respond to the treatment I had last night," Federer said on his Web site.

He said he's scheduled to fly to Shanghai on Monday but will delay it if he's uncomfortable. However, he was positive he would be OK.

Nalbandian was close to his best against Murray, who had won at Madrid and Cincinnati and was trying to become the first man to win three consecutive Masters.

"I played almost perfect," Nalbandian said. "I think I return really well and that's important in indoor (tennis)."

Nalbandian's sharp volleying and clever drop shots helped him win 21 of 25 points at the net.

"I'm obviously disappointed to lose, but I'm glad that I played against a guy as good as him," Murray said. "He probably returned better than me and created a few more chances."

Although Nalbandian lost his serve twice in the second set, he kept pressuring Murray's serve and broke him four times.

Tsonga saved 10 break points in the second set against Roddick, and edged the American 15-14 in aces.

His victory eliminated countryman Gilles Simon from claiming the last two berths in the eight-man Masters Cup.

Blake will qualify if he beats Tsonga. Tsonga can qualify if he beats Blake and Nalbandian loses his semifinal.

Juan Martin del Potro was still in Masters Cup contention.