Cougars To Meet Aggies In NCAA Second Round

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