The No. 14 BYU Women's Volleyball Team Defeats Weber State 3-0

PROVO -- Led by a strong defensive effort, the No. 14 BYU women's volleyball team defeated Weber State 15-6, 15-8, 15-9 in a non-conference matchup Tuesday in the Smith Fieldhouse. The Cougars improved to 10-3 overall (2-0 MWC) while Weber State dropped to 5-7 overall (2-2 Big Sky Conference).

The Cougars finished with 17 team blocks, 21 digs and nine service aces in three games. The tough defense forced the Wildcats to finish with a .099 hitting percentage.

Sophomore outside hitter Sunny Tonga and senior outside hitter Melissa Layton led the Cougars in digs with seven and six, respectively. Tonga also finished with a career-high seven blocks. Junior middle blocker Jackie Bundy ended the night with a match-high nine blocks.

"I thought Melissa played some good defense," BYU coach Elaine Michaelis said. "She and Sunny each made some good plays defensively and that is something we've been working on."

Offensively, the Cougars were led by junior All-American middle blocker Nina Puikkonen. Puikkonen ended with 14 kills and a .522 hitting percentage. Freshman setter Karina Puikkonen dished out 34 assists and had three service aces to help the cause.

Weber State senior setter Carla Miali had a strong night for the Wildcats. She led Weber State in nearly every category, finishing with six kills, a .750 hitting percentage, 19 assists, two service aces and four digs.

BYU will return to Mountain West Conference play Friday when the Cougars travel to face No. 3 Colorado State in Ft. Collins, Colo., at 7 p.m.

Volleyball Box Score
       WEBER ST Wildcats vs BYU Cougars (Sep 26, 2000 at BYU PROVO UTAH)
    WEBER ST Wildcats      |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  WIDDISON, Natasha...  3|  3   0   4  .750|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0
 4  MIALI, Carla........  3|  6   0   8  .750| 19|  2   2|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  0
 7  DEAN, Mari..........  3|  2   1   3  .333|  2|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  0  1|  0
 9  MONTANO, Holly......  2|  1   3   7 -.286|  0|  1   0|  4|  2| 0  1  0|  0
 10 MONTAGUE, Becky.....  3|  1   4   7 -.429|  1|  0   2|  2|  2| 0  2  0|  0
 14 SMITH, Michelle.....  3|  2   2   9  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 1  1  0|  0
 6  HOLLINGSWORTH, Kris.  2|  4   6  14 -.143|  3|  1   3|  1|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 11 KROPUSHEK, Stephanie  2|  5   3  13  .154|  0|  0   0|  1|  0| 0  1  0|  0
 12 MAXWELL, Mahavia....  3|  5   3  14  .143|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 13 WESTON, Penny.......  2|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   0|  1|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 15 RICE, Lacey.........  3|  1   0   1 1.000|  4|  1   0|  0|  2| 0  1  1|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 30  22  81  .099| 29|  5   9|  9| 20| 1  7  2|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 4.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1   7  9  23 -.087   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  10  4  26  .231   WEBER ST Wildcats...  6  8  9   5 - 7   2 - 2   BSC
   3  13  9  32  .125   BYU Cougars......... 15 15 15  10 - 3   2 - 0   MWC
    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   2  10  .200| 34|  3   1|  0|  0| 1  3  0|  0
 9  PUIKKONEN, Nina.....  3| 14   2  23  .522|  3|  2   0|  0|  5| 2  3  0|  0
 10 BUNDY, Jackie.......  3|  8   4  18  .222|  0|  0   2|  1|  0| 0  9  1|  0
 12 LAYTON, Melissa.....  3|  6   2  12  .333|  0|  1   4|  0|  6| 0  3  0|  0
 14 TONGA, Kalani.......  2|  6   3  12  .250|  1|  3   0|  1|  2| 0  1  0|  0
 15 TONGA, Sunny........  3|  7   2  14  .357|  1|  0   5|  1|  7| 0  7  0|  0
 2  WHITTAKER, Natalie..  1|  2   1   4  .250|  0|  0   2|  2|  1| 1  0  0|  0
 3  CRABBE, Uila........  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 47  16  93  .333| 39|  9  14|  5| 21| 4 26  1|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 17.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1   9  5  22  .182   Site: BYU PROVO UTAH (SMITH FIELDHOUSE BYU)
   2  17  4  32  .406   Date: Sep 26, 2000   Attend: 1019   Time: 1H 20M
   3  21  7  39  .359   Referees: TERRI JACKSON, QUINETTE DUNN, KAREN MARSHALL,   +1