Cougars Play Best Match of the Year in Victory over New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE -- Playing what coach Elaine Michaelis called her team's best effort of the year, BYU's 11th-ranked women's volleyball team defeated New Mexico, 15-8, 15-1, 15-8, Saturday to improve to 9-2 overall and 2-0 in Mountain West Conference play.

"We played really well tonight -- it is the best played match we have had this year," Michaelis said. "The passing was good, Al (Anna-Lena Smith) did a nice job distributing the ball and our hitters were making good choices. Our five blocks per game was an outstanding effort."

Senior Caroline Bower led the attack for the Cougars, knocking down 15 kills while hitting .542. She also was a key defensive force with eight digs and five blocks. Sophomore Nina Puikkonen added 11 kills and eight blocks while All-American setter Anna-Lena Smith tossed up 42 assists and had a match-high 10 digs.

New Mexico, which fell to 5-13 overall and 0-2 in the Mountain West, was held to a .073 attack percentage as the Cougars dominated at the net with 15 team blocks to the Lobos three. The Cougars hit .404 for the match, including .571 in the second game when they only made one error. Freshman Sunny Tonga took advantage of her opportunities, recording six kills in seven attempts in one game of action.

The Cougars' next match will be at in-state foe Weber State Tuesday before returning to Mountain West Conference play Friday and Saturday at home against UNLV and San Diego State.

Volleyball Box Score
        Brigham Young vs New Mexico (Oct 02, 1999 at Albuquerque, N.M.)
    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..  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   1|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 3  SMITH, Anna-Lena....  3|  2   1   5  .200| 42|  0   1|  0| 10| 0  4  0|  2
 8  BOWER, Caroline.....  3| 15   2  24  .542|  0|  1   0|  0|  8| 1  4  1|  1
 9  PUIKKONEN, Nina.....  3| 11   5  21  .286|  1|  1   1|  1|  6| 1  7  2|  0
 10 BUNDY, Jackie.......  3|  6   4  13  .154|  2|  2   1|  2|  7| 0  6  1|  0
 12 LAYTON, Melissa.....  3|  5   1  12  .333|  3|  0   4|  1|  6| 0  2  0|  0
 14 CARPENTER, Mari.....  2|  7   1  12  .500|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  2  0|  0
 15 TONGA, Sunny........  1|  6   0   7  .857|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 52  14  94  .404| 48|  5   8|  4| 40| 2 26  4|  3
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 15.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  22  5  38  .447   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2   9  1  14  .571   Brigham Young....... 15 15 15  9-2, 2-0
   3  21  8  39  .333   New Mexico..........  8  1  8  5-13, 0-2
    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   4  21  .286|  0|  1   1|  0|  6| 0  1  0|  0
 4  GOFFARD, Jessie.....  3|  4   4  18  .000|  0|  0   2|  2|  2| 0  1  0|  1
 6  SHIELDS, Vanessa....  3|  4   5  19 -.053|  0|  2   0|  0|  2| 0  1  0|  0
 7  SMITH, Amber........  3|  7   8  25 -.040|  2|  1   1|  2|  2| 0  1  1|  0
 9  GRIFFIN, Kelly......  3|  3   5  13 -.154| 29|  0   0|  0|  7| 0  0  2|  0
 13 ALLISON, Nana.......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   2|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 1  TORRES, Janelle.....  1|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 3  PINTABONA, Tanya....  1|  1   0   1 1.000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  1|  0
 5  STARNES, Kim........  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 8  LEE, Elisha.........  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 10 BURNS, Blaire.......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  5| 0  0  0|  0
 12 SANSONI, Erika......  3|  4   2  10  .200|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  2  0|  1
    TEAM................   |                 |   |       |  1|   |        |
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 33  28 107  .047| 33|  4   6|  5| 27| 0  6  4|  2
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 3.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  15  8  42  .167   Site: Albuquerque, N.M. (Johnson Center)
   2   9  9  25  .000   Date: Oct 02, 1999   Attend: 578   Time: 1:10
   3  12 11  43  .023   Referees: Tana Martin, Steve Franco
        Brigham Young Overall Individual Statistics (as of Oct 02, 1999)
                                  All matches
        Overall record: 9-2  Conf: 2-0  Home: 2-0  Away: 4-1  Neutral: 3-1
                                  |-----------ATTACK---------| |---SET---| |-----SERVE----|
## Name                  GP-MP-MS    K K/Game    E   TA    Pct    A A/Game   SA  SA/Gm   SE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14 CARPENTER, Mari       33 11-    121   3.67   24  234   .415    1   0.03    1   0.03    2
3  SMITH, Anna-Lena      38 11-     46   1.21   10   92   .391  515  13.55    6   0.16   12
9  PUIKKONEN, Nina       38 11-    161   4.24   56  308   .341    4   0.11   12   0.32   29
15 TONGA, Sunny          13  8-     33   2.54    9   71   .338    3   0.23    1   0.08    2
8  BOWER, Caroline       38 11-    130   3.42   48  316   .259   12   0.32   15   0.39   14
11 BARRUS, Alyssa         8  6-      7   0.88    3   18   .222    0   0.00    0   0.00    0
10 BUNDY, Jackie         34 11-     71   2.09   38  163   .202    6   0.18   13   0.38   19
12 LAYTON, Melissa       35 11-     69   1.97   39  161   .186   20   0.57   15   0.43   47
6  KENNEDY, Emily         3  2-      0   0.00    0    0   .000    1   0.33    1   0.33    0
7  BRINTON, Martha        4  3-      0   0.00    0    0   .000    5   1.25    0   0.00    0
18 O'REILLY, Lindsey      1  1-      0   0.00    0    0   .000    0   0.00    0   0.00    0
5  RHEAD, Amy             9  6-      2   0.22    3    5  -.200    0   0.00    1   0.11    4
2  WHITTAKER, Natalie    38 11-      0   0.00    4   11  -.364    2   0.05   11   0.29   14
17 OTTESON, Michelle      1  1-      0   0.00    1    1 -1.000    0   0.00    0   0.00    0
   BRIGHAM YOUNG.......  38 11-    640  16.84  235 1380   .293  569  14.97   76   2.00  143
   Opponents...........  38 11-    506  13.32  298 1446   .144  448  11.79   83   2.18  103
                                 |---DIG---| |--------BLOCKING---------|
## Name                   G   RE  DIG  Dig/G   BS   BA Total B/Game   BE BHE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
14 CARPENTER, Mari       33    3   25   0.76    5   17    22   0.67    5   0
3  SMITH, Anna-Lena      38    0   68   1.79    1   24    25   0.66    1  10
9  PUIKKONEN, Nina       38    8   70   1.84   13   49    62   1.63    7   0
15 TONGA, Sunny          13    2    7   0.54    2    7     9   0.69    1   0
8  BOWER, Caroline       38   24  108   2.84    4   26    30   0.79    2   1
11 BARRUS, Alyssa         8    0    2   0.25    0    6     6   0.75    1   0
10 BUNDY, Jackie         34   23   65   1.91    4   46    50   1.47    9   0
12 LAYTON, Melissa       35    9   83   2.37    2   29    31   0.89    3   1
7  BRINTON, Martha        4    0    0   0.00    1    2     3   0.75    0   1
6  KENNEDY, Emily         3    0    1   0.33    0    0     0   0.00    0   0
18 O'REILLY, Lindsey      1    0    2   2.00    0    0     0   0.00    0   0
5  RHEAD, Amy             9    5    9   1.00    0    0     0   0.00    0   0
2  WHITTAKER, Natalie    38   12   74   1.95    0    0     0   0.00    0   0
17 OTTESON, Michelle      1    0    1   1.00    0    0     0   0.00    0   0
   TEAM                        1
   BRIGHAM YOUNG.......  38   87  515  13.55   32  206 135.0   3.55   29  13
   Opponents...........  38   76  430  11.32   18  103  69.5   1.83   18  13