Top-Seed BYU Advances to Semifinal Round,Hands Wyoming 3-0 Loss in Mountain West Conference Volleyball Championship

PROVO, Utah (Nov. 24, 199) -- It took BYU (25-3, 13-1) just over 55 minutes to dismiss eighth-seeded Wyoming (9-21, 3-11) in first-round action at the Mountain West Conference Volleyball Championship, extending its winning streak to 11 straight matches, 3-0 (15-1, 15-1, 15-11). The decisive victory marks the 18th 3-0 win of the season for the ninth-ranked Cougars.

Mountain West Conference Player of the Year, Nina Puikkonen led all hitters with a .669 attack percentage as she put away 12 kills in 18 attempts without an error. Jackie Bundy was also impressive on the night, drilling 13 kills with just two errors in 17 attempts for a .667 percentage. Joining the duo in double figures was All-Mountain West Conference First Team selection Caroline Bower with 11 kills and a .308 percentage. Wyoming was led by freshman Michele Keller's .267 attack percentage and six kills. UW All-Mountain West Conference First Team performer Melody Friehauf was held to just three kills on 14 attempts and added four blocks.

In game one, BYU jumped out to an 11-0 lead before the Cowgirls could manage a single point. The Cougars then reeled off four more points to grab game one in just under 15 minutes, 15-1. BYU hit .433 in the game, connecting on 16-of-30 swings with just three errors. The Cougars were led by Caroline Bower and Mountain West Conference Player of the Year, Nina Puikkonen, who combined on eight of BYU's 16 kills. Both Bower and Puikkonen hit an equal .571 (4-of-7) at the net. The BYU defense held Wyoming to a -.125 hitting percentage, forcing eight hitting errors on 24 swings.

Game two was much more of the same. The Cougars dominated from the first serve behind the offensive attack of Puikkonen and Jackie Bundy, who led the Cougars with five kills each. Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year Sunny Tonga chipped in a pair of kills for BYU. The Cougars hit 16-of-25 (.560) for the game, while Wyoming connected on just 7-of-25 attempts with four errors.

Wyoming made things interesting in game three when it pulled to within two points at 11-9. However, BYU regained the momentum to finish things off at 15-11. Bundy led the way for BYU, connecting on six-of-seven at the net to finish the night with a match-high 13 kills. Melissa Layton picked up two more aces in the game, giving her a match-high six aces in the contest. The Cougars finished the night hitting .378, recording 51 kills, while Wyoming hit .047 on 22-of-85 swings with 18 errors.

BYU will face fifth-seeded New Mexico in the second semifinal on Friday, beginning at 7 p.m. (MST). The match will be played in the Smith Fieldhouse and will be televised locally on KBYU, ch. 11. The first semifinal pits No. 2-seed Colorado State vs. No. 3-seed Utah at 4:30 p.m. Friday.

Quote Sheet

Wyoming Coach Susan Judge:

"Obviously the outcome for the Cowgirls was not positive, but they proved that they can come out and make an effort to play well."

"The first two games were disappointing. BYU is good in transition and executes an offense that is very effective."

"BYU is very on their game right now. They're playing tournament ball and are much better than earlier in the season when we faced them in Laramie."

BYU Coach Elaine Michaelis:

"I thought we executed well and passed well, especially in the first two games. Our passing and setting was there and our blocking was good as well."

"Our serving was on tonight. We kept them off-balance in the first two games."

"One of our goals was to slow down Melody Friehauf and control her, and we did that well."

(on New Mexico)

"We'll come out and play our game with the same intensity we've had all year. New Mexico's a very good defensive team and their offense is better than when we played them earlier this year."

Anna-Lena Smith, Setter, BYU:

(on third game)

"Wyoming just came out and played harder because they knew their season would be over if they didn't win. They dug some good balls."

Nina Puikkonen, Middle Blocker, BYU:

"We're pretty confident and our confidence will carry us."

Volleyball Box Score
                 Wyoming vs BYU (Nov 24, 1999 at BYU PROVO UT)
    Wyoming                |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  SCAVUZZO, Molly.....  3|  2   2  10  .000|  0|  2   1|  0|  3| 0  2  0|  0
 3  WHALEN, Angel.......  3|  0   0   2  .000|  0|  1   1|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  0
 5  BURKE, Jamie........  2|  2   3   8 -.125|  0|  0   1|  2|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 9  KELLER, Michele.....  3|  6   2  15  .267|  0|  1   1|  3|  2| 0  0  1|  0
 11 LOWRY, Brooke.......  3|  1   3   8 -.250| 18|  0   1|  0|  8| 1  1  1|  1
 16 LAU, Rachel.........  3|  4   1  13  .231|  2|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0
 2  FRIEHAUF, Melody....  3|  3   4  14 -.071|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 1  3  1|  0
 10 PERRYMAN, Colette...  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   2|  3|  5| 0  0  0|  0
 13 LALUK, Aynsley......  3|  4   3  15  .067|  0|  0   0|  1|  3| 1  1  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 22  18  85  .047| 21|  4   7|  9| 28| 3  8  3|  1
 
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 7.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct   
   1   5  8  24 -.125   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2   7  4  25  .120   Wyoming.............  1  1 11   9-21  3-11
   3  10  6  36  .111   BYU................. 15 15 15  25-3  13-1
    BYU                    |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  WHITTAKER, Natalie..  3|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  7| 0  0  0|  0
 3  SMITH, Anna-Lena....  3|  2   1   5  .200| 43|  1   2|  0|  7| 0  1  1|  0
 8  BOWER, Caroline.....  3| 11   3  26  .308|  2|  0   0|  0|  7| 0  0  0|  0
 9  PUIKKONEN, Nina.....  3| 12   0  18  .667|  1|  2   4|  2|  2| 1  2  0|  0
 10 BUNDY, Jackie.......  3| 13   2  17  .647|  1|  0   2|  1|  6| 0  0  0|  0
 12 LAYTON, Melissa.....  3|  6   4  13  .154|  0|  6   4|  1|  3| 1  2  1|  0
 14 CARPENTER, Mari.....  1|  2   1   6  .167|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  1  0|  0
 15 TONGA, Sunny........  2|  5   3  12  .167|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 1  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 51  14  98  .378| 47|  9  12|  4| 34| 3  6  2|  0
 
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 6.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct   
   1  16  3  30  .433   Site: BYU PROVO UT (SMITHFIELD HOUSE)
   2  16  2  25  .560   Date: Nov 24, 1999   Attend:     Time: 1:05    
   3  19  9  43  .233   Referees: VERNA KLUBNIKIN, KIM PICKERING, GINA ACKER