BYU Knocks Off Utah State To Advance To Regionals

PROVO -- Avenging an early season loss to in-state rival Utah State, BYU defeated the Aggies 15-9, 15-10, 15-10 at the Smith Fieldhouse, Saturday, to move on the sweet sixteen of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament. The Cougars improve their overall record to 26-6 with the win, while the Aggies finish their season at 22-10.

All-American Nina Puikkonen was one of four BYU players to record double-digit kills on the night, finishing the match with 14 kills and seven blocks. Sophomore Sunny Tonga had 13 kills for the match, and Jackie Bundy and Kalani Tonga added 10 kills each.

Utah State led 9-8 in the first game before BYU scored the next seven points to take the game. Feeding off the strength of a solid front line that recorded 17.5 team blocks, the Cougars managed to slow down the Utah State offense in the second and third games, holding the Aggies to under a .100 hitting percentage in the final frames.

After the match, BYU coach Elaine Michaelis credited the Aggies for a hard-fought match.

"Hats off to Utah State," Michaelis said. "They played competitively, and it took everything we had to beat them. It really came down to who served and passed well."

BYU recorded five service aces for the match, including three timely winners by senior Melissa Layton.

With the win, the Cougars move on to the regionals of the NCAA Tournament. They will travel to Lincoln, Neb. to face Arizona, the second seed in the Central Region. BYU is the third-ranked team in the region, and undefeated Nebraska holds the No. 1 spot in the country.

Volleyball Box Score
                            BYU Cougars 2000 Season
               Utah State vs BY (Dec 02, 2000 at BYU PROVO UTAH)
    Utah State             |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 7  Neves, Chelsi.......  3|  2   5   9 -.333| 36|  0   1|  0|  6| 0  2  0|  1
 9  Matheson, Michelle..  3|  8   3  22  .227|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  2  0|  0
 11 MacKay, Hailey......  3| 15   6  31  .290|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  4  2|  0
 22 Schoepf, Melissa....  3|  8   4  19  .211|  4|  1   3|  3|  9| 0  1  0|  0
 24 Crosbie, Amy........  3| 11  11  35  .000|  0|  0   2|  0|  5| 1  1  0|  0
 33 Mohlman, Denae......  3|  6   2  20  .200|  0|  1   0|  1|  2| 1  6  0|  0
 2  McArthur, Tanya.....  1|  0   1   4 -.250|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 3  Fluckiger, Shauni...  3|  0   1   1-1.000|  0|  0   0|  1|  7| 0  0  0|  0
 12 Kennedy, Emily......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 14 Olmstead, Heather...  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   1|  0|  9| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 50  33 141  .121| 41|  2   7|  5| 45| 2 16  2|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 10.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  20 10  53  .189   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  16 12  42  .095   Utah State..........  9 10 10  22 - 10  BIG WEST
   3  14 11  46  .065   BY.................. 15 15 15  26 - 6   MWC
    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   1   6  .167| 43|  0   1|  0| 12| 0  5  1|  1
 9  PUIKKONEN, Nina.....  3| 14   3  29  .379|  0|  0   1|  0|  4| 1  7  0|  0
 10 BUNDY, Jackie.......  3| 10   3  22  .318|  1|  1   0|  1|  7| 0  6  0|  0
 12 LAYTON, Melissa.....  3|  1   5  14 -.286|  1|  3   3|  0|  3| 1  3  1|  0
 14 TONGA, Kalani.......  3| 10   3  21  .333|  1|  0   1|  1|  6| 1  3  0|  0
 15 TONGA, Sunny........  3| 13   3  25  .400|  2|  1   0|  0|  9| 0  5  0|  0
 2  WHITTAKER, Natalie..  3|  1   1   8  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  5| 0  0  0|  0
 3  CRABBE, Uila........  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 51  19 125  .256| 48|  5   7|  2| 46| 3 29  2|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 17.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  22  5  51  .333   Site: BYU PROVO UTAH (SMITH FIELDHOUSE)
   2  14  9  35  .143   Date: Dec 02, 2000   Attend: 1622   Time: 1H 30M
   3  15  5  39  .256   Referees: JOAN POWELL, SID CHURCH, KAREN MARSHALL