BYU Defeats UNLV In Conference Matchup

LAS -- In its second match in two days, the No. 16 BYU women's volleyball team defeated UNLV 15-6, 15-13, 15-9 in a Mountain West Conference match Thursday in the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. The win improves the Cougars to 14-6 overall and 6-2 in conference play while the Rebels fell to 2-15 overall and 2-6 in the Mountain West.

Due to air traffic control problems in Los Angeles, BYU was forced to bus from southern California to Las Vegas. The bus ride didn't appear to affect the hitting of the Cougars who finished with a .336 hitting percentage the day after they recorded 48 hitting errors against Pepperdine. BYU had only 18 hitting errors while recording 59 team kills against the Rebels.

The Cougars had a balanced offensive attack with four players finishing with double-digits in kills. Sophomore Sunny Tonga ended with a team-high 13 kills. Junior All-American Nina Puikkonen finished with 12 kills and a .333 hitting percentage while senior Melissa Layton and junior Jackie Bundy added 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Freshman setter Karina Puikkonen guided the balanced effort and finished with 44 assists.

BYU also had a strong serve, finishing with six service aces while recording only four service errors. Layton led all players with three service aces.

UNLV's Amber Graham led all players with 17 kills. She also had nine digs and four blocks.

BYU will travel to San Diego State to face the Aztecs in another Mountain West Conference match Friday at 7p.m.

Volleyball Box Score
           BYU Cougars vs UNLV Rebels (Oct 19, 2000 at Las Vegas, NV)
    BYU Cougars            |     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|  4   0   7  .571| 44|  0   1|  0|  5| 0  3  0|  1
 9  PUIKKONEN, Nina.....  3| 12   4  24  .333|  1|  2   1|  1|  7| 0  6  0|  0
 10 BUNDY, Jackie.......  3| 10   2  18  .444|  1|  0   0|  0|  4| 0  6  0|  0
 12 LAYTON, Melissa.....  3| 11   4  21  .333|  1|  3   2|  0|  4| 0  5  0|  0
 14 TONGA, Kalani.......  3|  8   3  17  .294|  3|  1   0|  1|  9| 0  1  0|  0
 15 TONGA, Sunny........  3| 13   5  31  .258|  3|  0   0|  0|  6| 0  3  0|  0
 2  WHITTAKER, Natalie..  3|  1   0   1 1.000|  0|  0   0|  0|  5| 0  0  0|  0
 3  CRABBE, Uila........  2|  0   0   3  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  5| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 59  18 122  .336| 53|  6   4|  2| 45| 0 24  0|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 12.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  19  3  33  .485   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  22  9  52  .250   BYU Cougars......... 15 15 15  14-6, 6-2 MWC
   3  18  6  37  .324   UNLV Rebels.........  6 13  9  2-15, 2-6 MWC
    UNLV Rebels            |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  GOES, Maria Julia...  3|  2   0   3  .667| 35|  1   0|  0|  8| 0  1  0|  1
 3  ASSUNCAO, Patricia..  3|  3   9  20 -.300|  1|  0   1|  1|  1| 1  2  0|  0
 4  OSWALD, Leiana......  3| 10   4  31  .194|  1|  0   1|  3|  6| 1  3  0|  0
 13 GRAHAM, Amber.......  3| 17   6  35  .314|  0|  0   0|  0|  9| 1  3  0|  0
 14 JOHNSON, Michelle...  3|  7   0  13  .538|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  3  0|  0
 17 RAMOS, Ana..........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  9| 0  0  0|  0
 5  CHASE, Shannon......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  1   0|  2|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 11 WILKES, Blair.......  3|  8   4  22  .182|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  5  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 47  23 124  .194| 38|  2   2|  6| 36| 3 17  0|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 11.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  10  4  30  .200   Site: Las Vegas, NV (Thomas & Mack Center)
   2  19  9  50  .200   Date: Oct 19, 2000   Attend: 168   Time: 1:25
   3  18 10  44  .182   Referees: Margie Mara, Rusty Wellman