BYU Women's Volleyball Finishes Weekend Sweep By Defeating Air Force

PROVO -- Using a dominant and efficient net game, the No. 11 BYU women's volleyball team defeated Air Force 15-6, 15-5, 15-7 to improve to 19-3 overall and 8-1 in the Mountain West Conference.

The Cougars committed only nine hitting errors while finishing with a .347 team hitting percentage. BYU's size made it tough on the Falcons all night, with the Cougars outblocking Air Force 12-0. Led by sophomore Nina Puikkonen's five blocks, the Cougars forced the Falcons hitting percentage to finish at --.032.

"They served us very tough," BYU coach Elaine Michaelis said. "We have a good offense that's good against tall people. When a smaller team is there it makes it that much easier. They're scrappy, though."

Leading the balanced offensive attack was Puikkonen who finished the night with 10 kills. Junior Melissa Layton finished with six kills, three blocks and a .625 hitting percentage. All-American setter Anna-Lena Smith finished with 26 assists while 11 different Cougars saw playing time.

"Right now we're trying to get everyone some experience," Michaelis said. "When we get into some of the matches later in the season that will help us."

The Cougars will next play on the road when they play at San Diego State Friday at 8 p.m.

Volleyball Box Score
       AIR FORCE Falcons vs Brigham Young (Oct 30, 1999 at BYU PROVO UT)
    AIR FORCE Falcons      |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  ENGH, Jennifer......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 4  BILLINGS, Shaylor...  3|  6   7  16 -.062|  0|  0   1|  0|  2| 0  0  1|  0
 6  WILKERSON, Tracy....  2|  2   2   4  .000|  2|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 8  EFFLAND, Brooke.....  3|  5   5  21  .000|  1|  0   1|  3|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 10 IN, Tharommony......  3|  3   1   9  .222| 17|  3   5|  0|  5| 0  0  0|  0
 14 DUNCAN, ROBYN.......  3|  4   5  13 -.077|  2|  1   1|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  1
 2  ORTEGA, AnaMaria....  3|  3   4  14 -.071|  0|  0   1|  0|  5| 0  0  0|  0
 5  REMPEL, Jamie.......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 13 KOONS, Summer.......  3|  3   4  12 -.083|  1|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 15 TERRY, Laura........  2|  0   1   4 -.250|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 26  29  93 -.032| 23|  4  10|  3| 24| 0  0  1|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 0.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1   6 11  24 -.208   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2   8  9  34 -.029   AIR FORCE Falcons...  6  5  7  16-7 4-5
   3  12  9  35  .086   Brigham Young....... 15 15 15  19-3 8-1
    Brigham Young          |     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..  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   1|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  0
 3  SMITH, Anna-Lena....  3|  2   0   4  .500| 26|  0   1|  0|  2| 0  2  0|  1
 8  BOWER, Caroline.....  3|  6   1  14  .357|  1|  0   1|  0|  8| 0  1  0|  0
 9  PUIKKONEN, Nina.....  3| 10   4  22  .273|  1|  0   2|  1|  5| 1  4  2|  0
 10 BUNDY, Jackie.......  2|  3   0   5  .600|  2|  1   0|  2|  3| 1  2  0|  0
 12 LAYTON, Melissa.....  2|  6   1   8  .625|  2|  0   1|  1|  2| 0  3  0|  0
 5  RHEAD, Amy..........  1|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  1   0|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 6  KENNEDY, Emily......  1|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   2|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 11 BARRUS, Alyssa......  2|  2   0   5  .400|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  4  1|  0
 15 TONGA, Sunny........  3|  6   3  16  .188|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  4  0|  0
 17 OTTESON, Michelle...  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 35   9  75  .347| 33|  3   8|  4| 31| 2 20  3|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 12.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1   9  2  16  .438   Site: BYU PROVO UT (SFH)
   2  11  3  25  .320   Date: Oct 30, 1999   Attend: 691   Time: 1h
   3  15  4  34  .324   Referees: PATSY MALTA, TERRY JACKSON, KAREN MARSHALL