PROVO -- Led by a solid offensive effort from All-American Nina Puikkonen, the BYU women's volleyball team began NCAA Tournament play with a 15-3, 15-10, 15-6 win over Hofstra at home Friday in the Smith Fieldhouse. The Cougars extended their 12-game win streak with the victory, improving their overall record to 25-6. Hofstra finishes the season at 23-11.

Puikkonen was one of four Cougars to record double-digit kills in the match, tallying 16 kills with just one attack error on her way to a .682 hitting percentage. Middle blocker Jackie Bundy also had 16 kills, and recorded a match-high 10 blocks to lead a strong Cougar defensive effort. BYU recorded 17 team blocks to just for for the visiting Lady Dutch.

BYU jumped on Hofstra early, opening the match with a 10-0 run. The Cougars went on the win the first game 15-3. Midway through the second game, Hofstra opened up a 10-6 lead. But repeated hitting errors by the Lady Dutch allowed BYU to score the next nine points to take the second game. The BYU defense proved to be too much in the third game, as the Cougars tallied 12 block assists and held Hofstra to a negative attack percentage (-.125) in the final frame.

The BYU win sets up a rematch with Utah State in round two of the NCAA Tournament. The Aggies beat the Cougars earlier in the season in Logan. The in-state rivals square off Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse.

Utah State Defeats Missouri in Five Games

Using a balanced offensive attack, and a solid defensive effort in the decisive fifth game, Utah State outlasted Missouri 5-15, 15-6, 3-15, 16-14, 15-9 in the opening round of the NCAA volleyball tournament. The Aggies improve to 22-9 with the win, and move on to play the winner of the BYU vs. Hofstra match. The Tigers finish their season at 24-7.

Outside hitters Melissa Schoepf and Amy Crosbie and middle blocker Denae Mohlman all recorded double-digit kills for Utah State. The trio of seniors led the Aggie attack with 16, 16, and 12 kills, respectively. On the defensive side, Utah State held the Tigers to just four kills and a negative hitting percentage (-.182) in the fifth game to clinch the victory.

Missouri started the match strong, recording 26 kills in the first game. But the contest see-sawed back and forth, with decisive wins for both teams in the second and third games. The Tigers had a chance to put the match away, up 14-11 in the fourth game. But Utah State came back to record a 16-14 win, and then turned up the defensive effort in the fifth game. After Missouri closed to within one, at 9-10, the Aggies reeled off five consecutive points, including three blocks by the tandem of Schoepf and junior middle blocker Michelle Matheson.

Utah State advances to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. They will play Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse, against the winner of the BYU vs. Hofstra match.

Volleyball Box Score
                            BYU Cougars 2000 Season
              HOFSTRA Pride vs BY (Dec 01, 2000 at BYU PROVO UTAH)
    HOFSTRA Pride          |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  KATZ, Brie..........  3|  1   0   2  .500| 31|  0   1|  0|  3| 1  0  1|  0
 2  KATSIKAS, Caroline..  3|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   0|  0|  9| 0  0  0|  0
 7  REWITZ, Stefanie....  3|  8   6  29  .069|  0|  0   1|  0|  7| 0  0  0|  1
 8  MORAN, Manuelita....  3|  5   5  16  .000|  2|  0   2|  1| 16| 0  0  0|  0
 10 SHAW, Kurtisa.......  3| 11   7  34  .118|  0|  0   1|  1|  6| 0  2  0|  0
 14 NICK, April.........  3|  9   4  25  .200|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 3  MERRILL, Jennifer...  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 4  ARNETTE, Beth.......  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 5  SMITH, Becky........  2|  0   1   4 -.250|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 11 GIVENS, Laurel......  3|  4   5  14 -.071|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 1  2  1|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 38  28 124  .081| 35|  0   5|  2| 44| 2  4  2|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 4.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  11  7  29  .138   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  22 12  63  .159   HOFSTRA Pride.......  3 10  6  23 - 11
   3   5  9  32 -.125   BY.................. 15 15 15  25 - 6
    BY                     |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  PUIKKONEN, Karina...  3|  2   2   8  .000| 47|  0   0|  0|  6| 0  3  0|  3
 9  PUIKKONEN, Nina.....  3| 16   1  22  .682|  1|  0   4|  0|  8| 2  5  0|  0
 10 BUNDY, Jackie.......  3| 16   7  32  .281|  1|  0   1|  0|  5| 0 10  0|  0
 12 LAYTON, Melissa.....  3| 11   4  24  .292|  0|  2   4|  0|  8| 0  6  1|  0
 14 TONGA, Kalani.......  3|  4   1  13  .231|  1|  0   1|  0|  7| 0  2  0|  0
 15 TONGA, Sunny........  3| 10   1  24  .375|  1|  0   1|  0|  6| 0  4  0|  0
 2  WHITTAKER, Natalie..  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  5| 0  0  0|  0
 3  CRABBE, Uila........  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 59  16 123  .350| 51|  2  11|  0| 47| 2 30  1|  3
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 17.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  23  5  35  .514   Site: BYU PROVO UTAH (SMITH FIELDHOUSE BYU)
   2  21  4  53  .321   Date: Dec 01, 2000   Attend: 1422   Time: 2H 5M
   3  15  7  35  .229   Referees: SID CHURCH, JOAN HOWELL, KAREN MARSHALL

PROVO -- The Division I Women's Volleyball Committee announced Sunday that BYU will host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Division I Volleyball Championship Friday and Saturday at the Smith Fieldhouse as the No. 3 seed in the Central Region.

The two first round matches in Provo include Utah State (21-9) vs. Missouri (24-6) at 5 p.m. and BYU (24-6) vs. Hofstra (23-10) at 7 p.m. The winners will play Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Smith Fieldhouse for the right to advance to the Central Region semifinals, which will likely be held in Lincoln, Neb. BYU has earned a semifinal spot four consecutive seasons, three times advancing to the regional finals.

The nation's top 16 teams were seeded nationally by the committee and placed within four regions. The teams tabbed as the top seeds in each region were top-ranked Nebraska (28-0) in the Central, Southern California (25-2) in the Pacific, Wisconsin (28-3) in the Mideast, and Hawaii (27-1) in the West Region. Other seeded teams in the Central Region include No. 2-seed Arizona (25-4), who defeated BYU earlier this season, and No. 4 seed Ohio State (24-6).

The Cougars are making their 11th straight NCAA Tournament appearance and their 19th overall, missing only the 1989 tournament in the 20 years since the NCAA has hosted the championship. BYU is ninth all-time in NCAA Tournament wins with a 24-18 overall record in the post-season event.

"We're excited about the tournament and glad to be at home," BYU coach Elaine Michaelis said. "There are several teams in our region that we have played and others that we don't know too well. The tournament is about playing the best teams and that is what we like to do."

BYU faced 12 opponents and played 16 matches this season against teams who earned a spot in this year's 64-team field. The Cougars posted a 10-6 record in those matches. BYU has not faced any of the No. 1-seeded teams this season but was 3-3 against teams seeded No.2-4. The Cougars are playing well entering the tournament, riding a season-best 11-match winning streak that includes three straight wins over ranked teams.

The three nationally ranked teams from Utah all earned an expected spot in this year's tournament. While BYU and Utah State will remain in the state, the University of Utah (22-7) will travel to Honolulu where it will play Texas Tech (24-8) in the first round. Utah State is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance.

This will be BYU's first meeting with Hofstra. The Flying Dutchwomen are the automatic qualifier from the America East Conference. The Mountain West Conference was 1-0 vs. the America East Conference this season with San Diego State defeating Northeastern 3-0 at the Cornell Invitational on Sept. 15.

In addition to BYU and Utah, Colorado State will represent the Mountain West in the tournament. The Rams (30-4) are the No. 2 seed in the Pacific Region and host Radford (28-6) in Fort Collins.

Thirty-one conferences were awarded automatic qualification, and the remaining 33 slots were filled with at-large selections to complete the bracket. The Big Ten, Big 12, and Pac-10 conferences each placed six teams in the field, followed by the Big West Conference with five and Conference USA with four representatives.

Four teams, Pacific (California), Penn State, Stanford and UC Santa Barbara, have earned bids to all 20 championships. Five teams are making their initial appearance in the field: Alabama A&M, Georgia State, Missouri, Texas-San Antonio and Utah State.

In the 19-year history of the championship nine schools have been crowned champion, eight of which are in this year's bracket, including the defending champion Penn State. Additional past winners making the field are Stanford (1992, 94, 96, 97), Hawaii (1982, 83, 87), Long Beach State (1989, 93, 98), UCLA (1984, 90, 91), Pacific (California) (1985, 86), Nebraska (1995) and Southern California (1981).

First and second-round matches will be played at the 16 campus sites. Teams winning both matches will move on to regional play December 7-10 at four campus locations yet to be determined. The regional winners will advance to the semifinals and final hosted by Virginia Commonwealth in Richmond, Virginia on December 14 and 16.

A list of the first-round match-ups follows.

CENTRAL REGION

December 1-2 at Lincoln, Nebraska

South Carolina (21-6) vs. George Washington (25-5)

Princeton (20-8) at Nebraska (28-0)

December 1-2 at Columbus, Ohio

Cincinnati (24-9) vs. Notre Dame (25-6)

Ball State (25-6) at Ohio State (24-6)

December 1-2 at Provo, Utah

Utah State (21-9) vs. Missouri (24-6)

Hofstra (23-10) at Brigham Young (24-6)

December 1-2 at Tucson, Arizona

Louisville (26-7) vs. Michigan (18-13)

Alabama A&M (31-2) at Arizona (25-4)

WEST REGION

November 30-December 1 at Honolulu, Hawaii

Utah (22-7) vs. Texas Tech (24-8)

Davidson (24-11) at Hawaii (27-1)

November 30-December 1 at Santa Clara, California

San Jose State (22-9) vs. Long Beach State (22-7)

Cal State Sacramento (21-11) at Santa Clara (26-4)

November 30-December 1 at Santa Barbara, California

Loyola Marymount (20-8) vs. Stanford (18-11)

Texas-San Antonio (24-8) at UC Santa Barbara (23-7)

November 30-December 1 at Minneapolis, Minnesota

Duke (21-12) vs. Arizona State (17-11)

Robert Morris (21-15) at Minnesota (28-3)

PACIFIC REGION

December 1-2 at Los Angeles, California

Cal Poly (16-11) vs. South Florida (28-5)

Georgia State (28-9) at Southern California (25-2)

November 30-December 1 at Gainesville, Florida

Southeast Missouri State (22-8) vs. North Carolina (26-7)

Arkansas-Little Rock (23-6) at Florida (27-4)

December 1-2 at University Park, Pennsylvania

Tennessee (23-9) vs. Washington State (18-9)

James Madison (21-9) at Penn State (27-5)

December 1-2 at Fort Collins, Colorado

Colorado (16-11) vs. Georgia Tech (25-7)

Radford (28-6) at Colorado State (30-4)

MIDEAST REGION

December 1-2 at Madison, Wisconsin

Western Michigan (25-5) vs. Northern Iowa (28-4)

Bucknell (17-14) at Wisconsin (28-3)

December 1-2 at Malibu, California

Loyola (Illinois) (22-8) vs. Kansas State (20-8)

Fairfield (26-6) at Pepperdine (23-6)

December 2-3 at Los Angeles, California

Wisconsin-Milwaukee (23-4) vs. Michigan State (17-12)

Morgan State (25-15) at UCLA (22-7)

December 1-2 at Stockton, California

Houston (21-10) vs. Texas A&M (19-8)

Oral Roberts (21-11) at Pacific (California) (26-3)