BYU women's soccer coach Jennifer Rockwood knew her team was better than the one that got decimated 4-1 at LSU this past Monday.

Lauren Anderson and Katie Larkin teamed up for two goals as the Cougars defeated Georgia 4-1 in front of a raucous crowd of 3,066 at BYU's newly-renovated South Field.

The Cougars dominated the contest offensively, firing off a total of 23 shots. Fourteen of those came in the second half.

"I was pleased with our players effort and energy," Rockwood said. "I knew we were better (than Monday's performance)."

Entering the contest, the Cougars (2-1) were ranked No. 18 by Soccer Buzz while the Bulldogs (1-1) were ranked No. 18 by the Soccer Times.

"Georgia is a tremendous team," Rockwood said. "We knew we had to be at our best."

Friday night, the Cougars were at their best from the opening whistle. In just the game's eighth minute, Anderson slipped a ball past the Bulldogs' defense, creating a one-on-one between Larkin and Bulldogs goalkeeper Michelle Betos. Larkin easily punched the ball into the net to give the Cougars an early 1-0 advantage.

The Bulldogs wasted little time answering back. In the 14th minute, Carrie Patterson tied the game off a corner kick.

After that though, it was all Cougars. In the 18th minute, Larkin found Kassidy Christensen in a one-on-one situation for another goal and a 2-1 BYU lead.

"We came out the first 20 minutes guts out," Larkin said. "That built up our confidence. (Against LSU) we came out timid."

After heading into halftime leading 2-1, the Cougars came out with more of the same intensity in the second half.

In the 55th minute, Anderson and Larkin hooked up for the second time to put BYU ahead 3-1. Then, with just 5:37 left in the contest, the Cougars got their final goal of the night, this time off the foot of Katie Hodgkiss.

Hodgkiss joked afterward, saying she had been feeling a little left out with everybody but her scoring.

"Kassidy said, 'I'll just dribble to the end line and you'll have an easy shot,' " Hodgkiss said.

The plan worked to perfection as Hodgkiss poked one over Betos' head and into the net.

The Cougars will now get ready to face the Arizona Wildcats on Monday in Provo before heading out on a three-game road trip to play William and Mary, Marquette and Long Beach State.

• BYU women's volleyball: At Provo, first-year BYU head coach Shay Goulding celebrated her first career Division I victory Friday night as the BYU women's volleyball team swept Utah State (25-16, 25-23, 25-13) in the 2008 season opener for both teams. Action Friday night from the BYU Molten Classic also saw Missouri defeat Tulane in four games.

"I'm very pleased with our result tonight," said Goulding. "Utah State did a great job, but we showed a lot of maturity and composure. We have a lot of work to do, but overall, it was a great way to start our season."

The first match of the year saw several new Cougars in action as true freshman Malia Marquardt and junior transfers Kayla Walker (Pepperdine) and Morgan Lloyd (Salt Lake Community College) made their first BYU starts. All three made the most of the opportunity as Marquardt tied for team-high honors with 10 kills on .421 hitting while Walker added nine putaways on .353 hitting and Lloyd tallied 14 digs. Senior Bryn Porter also posted 10 kills and tied her career high with five blocks while junior Ashton Hansen Hosford paced the Cougars with seven rejections. Senior Rachel Dyer notched seven kills on .545 hitting.

"All of our newcomers did a great job tonight," said Goulding. "They've integrated well with our returning players. They were a huge factor."

Set one was an evenly matched battle through the first half as the two teams scrambled for even point. With the Cougars trailing by one point at 12-11, Marquardt announced her presence on the BYU volleyball scene with two kills and a block to spark a 4-0 Cougar run. The Aggies scored two of the next three points to get to within two at 16-14, but from there it was all BYU as a 9-2 run sealed the 25-16 win, the Cougars' first set victory of the season. BYU hit an impressive .462 in the set while tallying 4.5 blocks.

After an early 7-4 BYU lead in set two, Utah State stormed back with 5-1 run to take a 9-8 advantage. The momentum continued to swing wildly as a 12-10 Cougar lead quickly became a 15-13 Aggie advantage with scoring spurts working on both sides of the net. Strong defensive play allowed USU to stay in front to a score of 21-17, but just when it looked like the Aggies would even the match, the home crowd got the Cougars going. BYU scored eight of the last 10 points to take the 25-23 win, getting help from all over the court in a balanced team effort.

Sensing a season-opening victory just around the corner, BYU came out strong in set three, scoring the first six points of the set while jumping out to a 10-2 lead with dominating offensive play. Trailing 14-4, the Aggies fought back with three straight points, but the BYU lead proved insurmountable. The Cougars cruised to a 25-13 victory while holding the Aggies to just -.167 hitting in the set.

The Cougars will continue play in the Molten Classic today, hosting Tulane at 12 p.m. and Missouri at 7:30 p.m. Utah State will play Missouri at 10 a.m. and Tulane at 5:30 p.m. All four matches can be followed via live stats on the BYU women's volleyball schedule page.

• UVU women's volleyball: At Salt Lake City, the Utah Valley women's volleyball team lost its first match of the season 3-0 (19-25, 10-25, 22-25) to Utah at the Ute Invitational Friday.

Junior Kristen Anderson stood out among the Wolverines as she recorded five kills and seven kills on the night. Freshman Chelsey Garfield also made her presence felt after getting the starting nod in her first collegiate match. She led the team with six kills in the match and two total blocks.

"I saw some bright spots for us tonight against a tough team," Utah Valley head coach Sam Atoa said. "Wer'e a yount team, but there were some very encouraging moments with our young players."

The first set went to the Utes 25-17, but the Wolverines were not without their highlights. UVU out-blocked Utah with 4.0 total team blocks to Utah's 0.0. Anderson alone had three block assists and one block solo in the set. Setter Kristi Lindley also recorded two block assists in the set. Utah Valley was within two points down 19-17 before Utah surged to win the final six points to take the set.

UVU fell 24-10 in the second set after the Utes hit a blistering .476 and recorded their own 4.0 total team blocks in the set.

Redshirt freshman Jaicee Kuresa gave the Wolverines their first lead of the match at 14-13 in the third setwith back-to-back solo blocks. UVU was within one at 23-22, but the Utes edged the Wolverines in the final two points and sealed the sweep with a 25-22 victory in the third set.

The Wolverines will be back in action today afternoon at 4 p.m. as the Ute Invitational continues with a match between Utah Valley and Santa Clara.