Layton's Serving Leads Cougars Past New Mexico

PROVO -- Behind the strong jump serving of junior Melissa Layton the 11th-ranked BYU women's volleyball team defeated New Mexico 15-2, 15-6, 15-12 in Mountain West Conference play Friday at the Smith Fieldhouse.

Layton, a middle blocker, set a career-high with six service aces. She tied her previous best of four in the first game.

"It was fun," Layton said of her serving success. "It wasn't like I was cranking them out or anything. I just got going and kept hoping it would continue."

Layton was one of 11 Cougars that saw action against the Lobos, who dropped to 7-18 overall and 2-6 in the Mountain West. The win improves the Cougars' overall record to 18-3 and moves their conference record to 7-1.

"I thought we did well coming off of no practice all week," BYU coach Elaine Michaelis said of her team, which took Wednesday and Thursday off after returning home from a road trip last week that saw BYU play four matches in five nights. "We were able to play different people and see some different combinations. We were able to get some people in to get some experience."

The Cougars finished the night hitting .364 as a team, including a game two that saw the Cougars hit .692. Sophomore middle blocker Nina Puikkonen led the Cougars with 14 kills and a .550 hitting percentage. Sophomore Jackie Bundy added 10 kills while All-American setter Anna-Lena Smith finished with 29 assists.

The Cougars will host Air Force Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse.

Volleyball Box Score
           New Mexico vs Brigham Young (Oct 29, 1999 at Provo, Utah)
    New Mexico             |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  CONLEY, Micaela.....  3| 10   1  25  .360|  1|  0   4|  7|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 4  GOFFARD, Jessie.....  3|  5   2  12  .250|  2|  0   1|  2|  5| 0  0  0|  0
 7  SMITH, Amber........  3| 12   3  27  .333|  0|  3   4|  0|  5| 0  0  1|  0
 9  GRIFFIN, Kelly......  3|  3   0   6  .500| 28|  1   3|  0|  3| 0  1  0|  3
 10 BURNS, Blaire.......  3|  1   0   2  .500|  1|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 12 SANSONI, Erika......  3|  2   3  12 -.083|  1|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0
 6  SHIELDS, Vanessa....  3|  3   5  13 -.154|  0|  1   2|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 8  LEE, Elisha.........  1|  0   1   1-1.000|  1|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 13 ALLISON, Nana.......  3|  0   0   2  .000|  1|  0   2|  1|  5| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 36  15 100  .210| 35|  5  16| 10| 25| 0  2  1|  3
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 1.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1   7  3  23  .174   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  14  5  35  .257   New Mexico..........  2  6 12  7-18
   3  15  7  42  .190   Brigham Young....... 15 15 15  18-3
    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|  1|  0   0|  1|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 3  SMITH, Anna-Lena....  3|  3   0   4  .750| 29|  1   0|  0|  6| 0  1  1|  0
 8  BOWER, Caroline.....  3|  7   4  25  .120|  0|  1   3|  2|  6| 0  2  0|  0
 9  PUIKKONEN, Nina.....  3| 14   3  20  .550|  0|  1   0|  0|  5| 2  4  0|  0
 10 BUNDY, Jackie.......  3| 10   2  15  .533|  0|  0   1|  0|  4| 0  2  0|  1
 12 LAYTON, Melissa.....  3|  6   1  10  .500|  2|  6   4|  0|  2| 0  2  0|  0
 5  RHEAD, Amy..........  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  1|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 6  KENNEDY, Emily......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  1|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 7  BRINTON, Martha.....  1|  0   1   2 -.500|  8|  1   1|  0|  1| 0  0  2|  1
 11 BARRUS, Alyssa......  1|  2   0   2 1.000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  1|  1
 15 TONGA, Sunny........  2|  3   2  10  .100|  0|  0   1|  0|  6| 2  1  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 45  13  88  .364| 40| 10  10|  5| 35| 4 12  4|  3
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 10.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  12  3  22  .409   Site: Provo, Utah (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  18  0  26  .692   Date: Oct 29, 1999   Attend: 1154   Time: 1:15
   3  15 10  40  .125   Referees: Patsy Malta, Tom Givens, Karen Marshall