Cougars Live to See Another Day; Win Five-Game Thriller

FORT COLLINS -- In a hard-fought match filled with emotion and errors, it was the BYU women's volleyball team that will live to see another day in the Mountain West Conference Tournament with a thrilling 3-2 (26-30, 32-30, 33-31, 16-30, 15-11) first-round win over UNLV Thursday night at the Moby Arena. BYU improves to 13-16 overall while UNLV drops to 10-19.

"It wasn't a pretty match tonight," BYU coach Karen Lamb said. "Both teams played hard, though, and we made plays when we needed to."

UNLV held the lead throughout game one, and saw its biggest lead bulge to six points (12-6 and 13-7), but BYU would chip away and staged a 3-0 run, keyed on kills by Carrie Bowers and Laura Nielsen to move within two points at 17-15. The Rebels would again build up their lead only to have the Cougars fight back to move within one point at 25-24, forcing UNLV to take a timeout. The Rebels came out of the timeout, though, and won five of the next eight points to take the game.

Game two started closely, but after an Allison Larson attack error put the Cougars down 4-6, they reeled off a 13-4 run to take a controlling 17-10 advantage. The momentum began to swing in UNLV's favor, however, as its strong service game put the BYU attack on its heels. Rebel middle blockers Blair Wilkes and Christina Kirschner led the relentless UNLV attack on a key 16-6 run to propel it into a 28-27 lead. BYU quickly regained the lead on kills by Larson and Lindsey Metcalf before taking the game.

The Rebels took a quick 4-1 lead in the third game, but the Cougars would jump out to a two point lead at 11-9 after a Kimberly Wilson kill. From there UNLV would tie the game at 11-11 after two Cougar attack errors, and the game would be tied nine more times as both teams were engaged in a closely contested defensive battle. BYU led by as many as three points and didn't relinquish the lead until the Rebels jumped forward to seize the momentum at 27-26. Indicative of hard play on both sides thoughout the match, BYU would had three game points before winning the game and taking a 2-1 lead on a Patricia Assuncao attack error.

Game four would start off as closely as game three ended, but after exchanging sideout's to tie the 7-7, UNLV's serve picked apart the BYU passing game and Rebel setter Nicki King effectively led the UNLV attack as the Rebels went on a 7-0 run to cruise in taking the game.

"Even though we got pretty bad in that fourth game, I was very confident we were going to win," Lamb said. "We are good at five game matches on the road."

With UNLV grasping the momentum heading into game five, Cougar libero Uila Crabbe made three acrobatic digs to keep the first rally alive before Kim Wilson put down a kill and boost the Cougars to a 1-0 lead. The game would go back-and-forth, and neither team led by more than two points in the early going. BYU fell behind 9-7 as Wilson was blocked by King and Kirschner. The game then turned in BYU's favor on back-to-back kills by Wilson and Carrie Bowers to tie the game at 9-9. Then the BYU block came alive to seal the game for BYU. The Rebels went to Leiana Oswald four times down the stretch and she was denied each time by a BYU blocking wall. Bowers and Wilson also contributed kills on BYU's 6-2 run to seal the match.

"The girls made some timely blocks and serves in the fifth game that were crucial," Lamb said. "We have to beat three teams to win the tournament and that's how we're approaching it. If it means we have to win three five-game matches then that's what we have to do."

Metcalf was named player of the game for her 17-kill effort which tied her career-high and was a team-high on the night. She also hit a team-high .239 while also contributing two aces, nine digs and four blocks. It was the second time this year BYU has had five players with double-digit kills as Wilson had 15, Larson 12, Bowers 10 and Laura Nielsen 10.

Crabbe and Bowers led the BYU defensive effort with a career-high 25 digs and a match-high nine blocks, respectively.

The match was evenly matched in almost all statistical categories as BYU outhit UNLV .156 to .151, had a 70-68 kills advantage and a 14.0 to 13.0 blocks edge. The Rebels out dug the Cougars 80 to 75, while also holding a nine to six ace edge.

BYU will play No. 1 seed Colorado State in a semi-final showdown Friday at 7 p.m. in the Moby Arena. The Cougars have a 1-1 record against the Rams in MWC Tournament matches and hold a 43-13-1 all-time record vs. CSU.

"Against CSU we just need to play our game," Lamb said. "We need to pass and serve well."

"Our goal is to go to the NCAA Tournament," Lamb said. "The girls really want to do that and winning the Mountain West tournament seems to be the only way to achieve that so we're pretty focused."

Game Notes: The Cougars are now 6-2 in five game matches this year and 5-0 in five-game matches against MWC opponents ... BYU was 0-2 on Thursday matches before its win vs. UNLV ... the Cougars are 6-7 in Friday matches this season ... the only other time the Cougars had five players with double-digit kills was Oct. 19 in a five-game win at Wyoming ... the Cougars improved their record to 6-14 when losing the first game of a match ... Metcalf led the team in kills for only the second time and led the team in attack percentage for the first time on the season ... dating back to 1969, the Cougars have never lost a first-round conference tournament match.

Volleyball Box Score
           UNLV vs BYU Cougars (Nov 21, 2002 at Fort Collins, Colo.)
    UNLV                   |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  KING, Nicki.........  5|  3   0   5  .600| 55|  5   1|  0| 11| 1  2  0|  1
 3  ASSUNCAO, Patricia..  5| 10   9  29  .034|  2|  1   1|  0| 16| 1  1  0|  0
 4  OSWALD, Leiana......  5| 13  12  66  .015|  1|  2   1|  1| 18| 0  2  0|  0
 7  FACHNER, Sarah......  2|  1   4  10 -.300|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 11 WILKES, Blair.......  5| 20   3  31  .548|  0|  0   0|  1|  4| 1  3  1|  0
 15 KIRSCHNER, Christina  5| 13   5  28  .286|  0|  1   1|  0|  8| 2  3  0|  0
 6  MAYES, Tera.........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 9  OCASIO-CLEMENTE, She  4|  2   0   9  .222|  1|  0   0|  0|  0| 2  1  0|  0
 12 KEITH, Tarin........  2|  6   5  21  .048|  1|  0   1|  1|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 18 FRANCHINI, Nina.....  5|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  1| 15| 0  0  0|  0
 25 LEWIS, Amy..........  5|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  1|  4| 0  0  0|  0
    TEAM................   |                 |   |       |  1|   |        |
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  5| 68  38 199  .151| 61|  9   6|  6| 80| 7 12  1|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 13.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  18  8  46  .217   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  4  5  TEAM RECORDS
   2  18 12  54  .111   UNLV................ 30 30 31 30 11  10-19, 6-8 MWC
   3  12  9  41  .073   BYU Cougars......... 26 32 33 16 15  13-16, 7-7 MWC
   4  16  4  37  .324
   5   4  5  21 -.048
    BYU Cougars            |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  PUIKKONEN, Karina...  5|  5   3  15  .133| 51|  1   3|  0| 13| 0  4  0|  1
 6  METCALF, Lindsey....  5| 17   6  46  .239|  1|  2   3|  3|  9| 1  3  1|  0
 7  LARSON, Allison.....  5| 12   6  27  .222|  4|  1   5|  1|  3| 0  6  0|  0
 8  BOWERS, Carrie......  5| 10   6  26  .154|  1|  1   1|  0|  1| 1  8  0|  0
 15 WILSON, Kimberly....  5| 15  10  55  .091|  0|  0   0|  2|  3| 0  0  1|  0
 18 NIELSEN, Laura......  5| 10   6  32  .125|  0|  0   1|  0|  8| 0  3  1|  0
 3  VARNER, April.......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 5  CASTILLO, Sahara....  5|  1   1   3  .000|  0|  1   3|  1|  7| 0  0  0|  0
 12 CRABBE, Uila........  5|  0   0   1  .000|  2|  0   0|  2| 25| 0  0  0|  0
 17 MAHAFFEY, Michelle..  5|  0   0   0  .000|  4|  0   0|  0|  6| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  5| 70  38 205  .156| 63|  6  16|  9| 75| 2 24  3|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 14.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  16  7  48  .188   Site: Fort Collins, Colo. (Moby Arena)
   2  18  9  48  .188   Date: Nov 21, 2002   Attend:     Time: 2:35
   3  18 10  49  .163   Referees: Joan Powell, Patsy Malta
   4   8  8  37  .000
   5  10  4  23  .261

Lamb Focuses on Team During Unique Season

PROVO -- In its lowest seeding ever in the Mountain West Conference Tournament, No. 4 BYU will meet No. 5 UNLV in the first round, Thursday at 4 p.m. The match will be broadcast live on BYU-TV with tape delay coverage on KBYU (Channel 11) at 11 p.m.

The Cougars (12-16, 7-7 MWC) earned a split with the Rebels (10-18, 6-8) this season, as each team won on the other team's home court. Overall BYU holds a 10-2 all-time advantage over UNLV.

"There are six teams that can legitimately compete in and win this tournament," BYU coach Karen Lamb said. "We are just as capable as anyone of those teams of having a good week and winning it all."

BYU has qualified for 20 of the 21 NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournaments that have been held, and this year the only likely way of entry seems to be through an automatic bid in winning the MWC Tournament.

"I believe in this team," Lamb said. "What's more important, though, is they believe in each other. In terms of wins this season the record may be uncharacteristic of BYU volleyball, but it is a team that is together and has improved over the course of the season."

With the possible return of April Varner this week, the Cougars hopes have further brightened their hopes of upending the top seeds. Previous to her severely sprained ankle, Varner was leading the team in kills and was coming off a career-high 23 kills in leading BYU to a win at Wyoming, Oct 19.

"April practiced on Monday for the first time since getting injured, and she looked very good," Lamb said.

An excited Varner lingered after practice on Monday and was visibly happy to be on the court.

"It's so fun being out here again," Varner said. "I don't want to leave."

There is a silver-lining to Varner's month-long absence, and that is the emergence of true freshman Kim Wilson, who last November was leading Provo High School in the Utah 4A Girls High School Volleyball Championships. Wilson has defined herself as one of the top freshman in the conference averaging 3.92 kills per game since Varner's injury contrasted with the 1.96 kpg she averaged before that.

Senior Allison Larson, perhaps sensing the mortality of the season and her career, has raised her level of play of late. Last week Larson led the team in kills with 31, including a career-high 20 kills in a win over Wyoming. Her focus is evident on the court as well as in the numbers as her .444 attack percentage would indicate.

The Cougars have never focused on what could have been without the inexperience they had entering the season or the injuries they sustained through the season. Lamb knows the ultimate balm to sooth the 16 losses this year and to ultimately redeem the season rests with BYU's ability to run the tournament table this week.

"I feel we deserve to win the tournament -- the players deserve it," Lamb said. "I think if there are any group of players who deserve it, they're playing on this team."

TELEVISION INFORMATION

BYU-TV is available on the Dish Network (channel 374) and AT&T digital cable in Utah (channel 34). Tape-delay coverage of the match is available on KBYU (channel 11)will occur at a yet to be determined time. For the latest updates on coverage times please visit theBYU women's volleyball homepage at www.byucougars.com.

COUGARS IN UPCOMING WEEKS

After the MWC Tournament and before the start of the NCAA Tournament, the Cougars close out its regular season schedule with matches against No. 3 Hawai'i, Nov. 26, and No. 16 Arizona, Nov. 29.