BYU Upset by Rival Utah in Three Games

SALT LAKE -- BYU's nine-match winning streak against rival Utah came to an end Friday as the Cougars suffered a three-game loss to the 16th-ranked Utes, 15-5, 15-8, 15-7, at Crimson Court. The 13th-ranked Cougars dropped to 11-5 overall and 3-2 in the Mountain West Conference while Utah improved to 13-2 and 4-1.

The loss is BYU's first to Utah since 1995 and marks the first time since 1995 that the Cougars, who lost at No. 3 Colorado State last week, have suffered more than one regular season conference defeat. BYU also failed to reach double-digit points in at least one game of a match for the first time this season.

Utah controlled each game while holding the usually potent Cougar offensive attack, ranked 15th in the nation coming into the match, to a season-low .034 percentage. BYU also had a season low of 33 kills as no Cougar was able to muster double figures. All-American junior middle blocker Nina Puikkonen was one of two Cougars to have a season low individually in kills, equalled her season low of seven, while three others suffered their second lowest offensive outputs of the season. Sophomore Sunny Tonga led the Cougars with nine kills but only hit .080 in 25 attempts.

The nation's second best blocking team, BYU was equalled at the net by Utah as both teams totaled nine team blocks. Utah was much more efficient offensively, however, posted a .276 hitting percentage -- the second highest percentage allowed by the Cougars this season. Utah had 45 digs to BYU's 32 and three service aces to the Cougars' two for the match.

Utah senior Lucie Turkova led the Utes with 10 kills for an impressive .600 hitting percentage while adding 10 digs and 32 assists. Junior McKelle Stilson added 10 kills, hitting an efficient .529, and totaled six blocks, while senior Jen Snow Richards had 10 kills and a .318 hitting percentage. Outside hitter Alisa Geddes added eight kills and led the Utes with 11 digs in the match.

BYU now returns home to face conference foes Air Force and New Mexico next Friday and Saturday at the Smith Fieldhouse.

Volleyball Box Score
                       2000 UNIVERSITY OF UTAH VOLLEYBALL
   Brigham Young vs University of Utah (Oct 06, 2000 at Salt Lake City, Utah)
   Brigham Young          |     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   8  .125| 24|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  1  1|  0
9  PUIKKONEN, Nina.....  3|  7   4  22  .136|  0|  0   1|  0|  9| 0  4  2|  0
10 BUNDY, Jackie.......  3|  6   6  21  .000|  1|  0   1|  1|  3| 0  4  0|  0
12 LAYTON, Melissa.....  3|  3   3  14  .000|  1|  1   0|  0|  2| 1  2  1|  0
14 TONGA, Kalani.......  3|  3   6  18 -.167|  0|  1   1|  1|  8| 0  0  0|  0
15 TONGA, Sunny........  3|  9   7  25  .080|  0|  0   1|  0|  3| 0  3  0|  0
2  WHITTAKER, Natalie..  3|  3   2  10  .100|  1|  0   1|  1|  3| 0  2  0|  0
3  CRABBE, Uila........  1|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  3| 33  29 118  .034| 28|  2   5|  3| 32| 1 16  4|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 9.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  13  8  40  .125   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2   5 10  30 -.167   Brigham Young.......  5  8  7  11-5, 3-2 MWC
   3  15 11  48  .083   University of Utah.. 15 15 15  13-2, 4-1 MWC
   University of Utah     |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4  SNOW-RICHARDS, Jen..  3| 10   3  22  .318|  1|  1   2|  0|  5| 0  4  0|  0
8  TURKOVA, Lucie......  3| 10   1  15  .600| 32|  1   1|  0| 10| 0  1  0|  0
9  URBANOVA, Lenka.....  3|  8  10  25 -.080|  4|  1   1|  0|  8| 0  2  0|  0
13 GEDDES, Alisa.......  3|  8   4  22  .182|  2|  0   2|  1| 11| 1  0  0|  0
14 BARTON, Brooke......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   1|  0|  5| 0  0  0|  0
15 TURNER, Kim.........  3|  6   2  12  .333|  1|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  2  1|  0
2  MORRILL, Jackie.....  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
3  STILSON, McKelle....  3| 10   1  17  .529|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 1  5  0|  0
12 ELLETT, Katrena.....  1|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
16 BRADLEY-DRAKE, A....  3|  1   0   2  .500|  1|  0   1|  1|  3| 0  0  0|  0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  3| 53  21 116  .276| 43|  3   8|  2| 45| 2 14  1|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 9.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  24  9  47  .319   Site: Salt Lake City, Utah (Crimson Court)
   2  13  6  28  .250   Date: Oct 06, 2000   Attend: 1427   Time: 1:26
   3  16  6  41  .244   Referees: John Martin, Annette Cottle, Gina Acker