BYU Errors Help Rebels in Upset

LAS -- Despite a decisive 30-16 win in game one, BYU dropped the next three games and the match to UNLV late Friday night in Las Vegas. The Cougars fell 28-30, 28-30, 26-30 and are now in a tie for third place in the Mountain West Conference standings with San Diego State.

The Cougars (17-6, 9-4) travel to San Diego to face the Aztecs (15-9, 9-4) Saturday in a game that will determine seedings for next week's MWC tournament in Provo. San Diego State upset No. 14 Utah Friday at Peterson Gym.

BYU (ranked No.15 by Volleyball magazine and No. 16 by USA Today/AVCA) out played the Rebels in most statistical categories. The Cougars had 68 kills compared to UNLV's 60 and recorded 54 digs to 46. Both teams totaled 10 blocks. The difference in the match swung on BYU's hitting errors.

"We just made too many errors," BYU coach Elaine Michaelis said. "We played so well the first game and they didn't, but we didn't keep up our intensity. UNLV is an improved team and played well in the last three games. We let them get too big of a lead at the beginning of each game and we just couldn't overcome it."

The Cougars cruised to the win in the first game, hitting a .391 attack percentage while holding UNLV to a .000 hitting percentage. But the tide turned in game two thanks to BYU hitting errors. After making only four errors in the first game, BYU committed 10 hitting errors in the second game and had 27 total errors to UNLV's 19 for the match. The Cougars were just slightly out hit .279 to .275.

All-American Nina Puikkonen led the BYU effort, equaling a season-high 24 kills while hitting .405. She added seven digs and five blocks. Senior outside hitter Natalie Whittaker also played well, setting a career high with a .520 attack percentage while tying her career best with 14 kills. Sophomore setter Karina Puikkonen had five kills and hit .500 while tossing up 55 assists.

Junior right-side hitter Sunny Mahe added 12 kills to the BYU attack but hit only .194 with five hitting errors. Senior middle blocker Jackie Bundy and freshman outside hitter Lauren Richards each had six kills but committed a combined 12 errors.

Uila Crabbe, a sophomore defensive specialist, had a match-best 16 digs for BYU while Whittaker added 11 digs.

UNLV's Blair Wilkes totaled a team-high 20 kills and hit .567 to lead the Rebels to the victory. Patricia Assuncao added 16 kills and 13 digs while Sheila Ocasio-Clemente contributed 10 kills and five blocks.

UNLV defeated BYU for the first time, ended a string of nine straight Cougar victories. The Rebels become only the third MWC team, joining nationally ranked Colorado State and Utah, to defeat the Cougars since the formation of the conference in 1999.

Volleyball Box Score
                            The Automated ScoreBook
             BYU Cougars vs UNLV Rebels (Nov 09, 2001 at Las Vegas)
    BYU Cougars            |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  WHITTAKER, Natalie..  4| 14   1  25  .520|  1|  0   1|  0| 11| 0  0  0|  0|  14.0
 5  PUIKKONEN, Karina...  4|  5   1   8  .500| 55|  1   0|  0|  7| 0  2  0|  2|   7.0
 9  PUIKKONEN, Nina.....  4| 24   7  42  .405|  0|  2   1|  1|  7| 0  5  0|  0|  28.5
 10 BUNDY, Jackie.......  4|  6   7  15 -.067|  1|  1   1|  2|  7| 1  4  1|  0|  10.0
 12 CRABBE, Uila........  4|  1   1   2  .000|  0|  1   2|  2| 16| 0  0  0|  0|   2.0
 15 MAHE, Sunny.........  4| 12   5  36  .194|  5|  3   1|  3|  2| 0  3  0|  0|  16.5
 6  STEELE, Lindsey.....  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  1|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 8  BOWERS, Carrie......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 11 RICHARDS, Lauren....  4|  6   5  21  .048|  0|  0   0|  0|  4| 0  4  2|  0|   8.0
 17 MAHAFFEY, Michelle..  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 68  27 149  .275| 62|  8   6|  9| 54| 1 18  3|  2|  86.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 10.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  13  4  23  .391   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2  19 10  41  .220   BYU Cougars......... 30 28 28 26  17-6, 9-4 MWC
   3  18  5  45  .289   UNLV Rebels......... 16 30 30 30  9-12, 6-7 MWC
   4  18  8  40  .250
    UNLV Rebels            |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  KING, Nicki.........  4|  0   0   4  .000| 47|  0   0|  0|  5| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 3  ASSUNCAO, Patricia..  4| 16   4  43  .279|  2|  5   4|  5| 13| 1  4  0|  0|  24.0
 4  OSWALD, Leiana......  4| 10   4  26  .231|  1|  1   1|  1|  9| 0  1  0|  0|  11.5
 9  OCASIO-CLEMENTE, She  4|  5   4  15  .067|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  5  1|  1|   7.5
 10 MACKEY, Janna.......  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  1|  6| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 14 JOHNSON, Michelle...  4|  7   3  24  .167|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  2  0|  0|   8.0
 5  CHASE, Shannon......  4|  2   0   4  .500|  0|  2   3|  0|  5| 0  0  0|  0|   4.0
 11 WILKES, Blair.......  4| 20   3  30  .567|  0|  1   3|  0|  0| 1  4  1|  0|  24.0
 12 ANDERSON, Shante....  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 25 LEWIS, Amy..........  4|  0   1   1-1.000|  1|  0   0|  0|  7| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
    UNLV Rebels Team....   |                 |   |       |  1|   |        |   |   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 60  19 147  .279| 51|  9  11|  8| 46| 2 16  2|  1|  79.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 10.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1   9  9  31  .000   Site: Las Vegas (Cox Pavilion)
   2  14  4  38  .263   Date: Nov 09, 2001   Attend: 688   Time: 1:54
   3  21  4  43  .395   Referees: Margie Ray, Helen McAnany
   4  16  2  35  .400