The MWC is entering its final weekend for regular season conference action before the MWC
Championship Nov. 16-18 in Fort Collins. Colorado State and BYU hold the No. 1 and No. 2 slots in
the standings, but both teams travel for matches this week. Utah and SDSU each have 8-4 conference
records, but Utah would win the tie-breaker for seeding by splitting with BYU (BYU swept SDSU). New
Mexico and UNLV are in a tight race for the No. 5 seed. Listed below is a glimpse of the MWC
Championship matchups if the standings remain as they are:
#1 Colorado State vs. #8 Air Force, #2 BYU vs. #7 Wyoming,
#3 Utah vs. #6 UNLV, #4 SDSU vs. #5 New Mexico.
Puikkonen Named MWC Volleyball Player of the Week
Junior middle blocker Nina Puikkonen (pronounced PWEEK-a-nen) from BYU was named the Mountain West
Conference Volleyball Player of the Week, marking the third time this season and fifth time overall
she has earned the award.
A native of Murray, Utah, Puikkonen recorded her first career triple-double with 22 kills, 18 digs
and 10 blocks in BYU¹s four-game win over No. 20 Utah Friday (15-5, 12-15, 15-13, 16-14). She hit
.326 (22k-7e-46a) vs. the Utes, and totaled a career-high six service aces. Puikkonen has topped 10
kills in 21 of 24 matches this season, including 10 straight. Her 1,153 career assists is No. 8 on
the BYU all-time list.
Last year¹s MWC Player of the Year, Puikkonen ranks second in the conference in blocks per game
(1.77) and has a league-best 34 aces this season. She is third in the MWC for hitting percentage
(.348) and kills per game (4.11), and has been ranked in the nation¹s top five all season for blocks
per game.
This Week¹s Schedule
USA Today/AVCA ranking listed in parenthesis, All times are local, Home team in bold, *notes MWC
matches
November 8 (Wednesday)
Nevada at UNLV, 7 p.m.
November 9 (Thursday)
* WYOMING at UNLV, 7 p.m.
* BYU (14) at AIR FORCE, 7 p.m.
November 10 (Friday)
* BYU (14) at NEW MEXICO, 7 p.m.
* COLORADO STATE (5) at SAN DIEGO STATE, 7 p.m.
* UTAH (19) at AIR FORCE, 7 p.m.
November 11 (Saturday)
* COLORADO STATE (5) at UNLV, 7 p.m.
* UTAH (19) at NEW MEXICO, 7 p.m.
* WYOMING at SAN DIEGO STATE, 7 p.m.
Last Week¹s Results
November 3 (Friday)
* WYOMING def. AIR FORCE 15-5, 15-13, 15-10
* COLORADO ST. (6) def. NEW MEXICO 15-6, 15-9, 13-15, 15-7
* BYU (14) def. UTAH (20) 15-5, 12-15, 15-13, 16-14
November 4 (Saturday)
* COLORADO STATE (6) def. AIR FORCE 15-4, 15-2, 15-7
* NEW MEXICO def. WYOMING 10-15, 15-11, 11-15, 15-6, 15-11
* SAN DIEGO STATE def. UNLV 15-10, 15-12, 15-9
MWC Granted Automatic Qualification
Entering its second year in existence, the MWC was granted automatic qualification by the NCAA,
meaning the champion of the postseason tournament will receive an automatic bid to the 64-team 2000
NCAA Volleyball Tournament.
Last Week¹s Top Performers
Air Force¹s Delavane Diaz posted her 10th double-double of the season with 16 kills and 13 digs
vs. Wyoming. Brittany Edmonds recorded a season-high .500 hitting percentage (11k-1e-20a) vs. the
Cowgirls. Kristin Huitt recorded her third double-double of the season with 40 assists and 12 digs
vs. Wyoming.
BYU¹s Nina Puikkonen earned Player of the Week honors after recording her first career
triple-double with 22 kills, 18 digs and 10 blocks in a win over No. 20 Utah. Four additional
Cougars notched double-doubles in the match: Jackie Bundy (15k-14d), Kalani Tonga (12k-18d), Sunny
Tonga (13k-10d), Karina Puikkonen (56ast-12d).
Colorado State¹s Courtney Cox and Angela Knopf led five Rams in double figure kills with 19 each
in a victory over New Mexico. Soraya Santos totaled 18 kills, followed by Krista Swartzendruber with
17 and Summer Jennings with 13. Santos added 10 digs and Swartzendruber posted 16 digs as each
tallied double-doubles in the UNM match.
New Mexico¹s Micaela Conley recorded her fifth straight double-double with 22 kills and 18 digs
vs. Wyoming. Conley, who has a league-high 11 double-doubles this season, racked up 12 kills and 13
digs vs. Colorado State. UNM¹s Jessie Goffard kept pace with Conley by notching her 11th
double-double of the season with 26 kills and 20 digs vs. Wyoming.
Amy Hallquist led SDSU with 13 kills in a win over UNLV as the Aztecs move into a tie for third
place in the MWC standings. The Aztecs have won 10 of their last 12 matches.
UNLV¹s Leiana Oswald totaled a match-high 15 kills vs. SDSU. Oswald has a streak of six straight
matches with 10 or more kills.
Utah¹s Lenka Urbanova picked up her sixth double-double of the season with 13 kills and 10 digs
vs. BYU, while teammate Katrena Ellett tallied her third double-double of the season with 15 kills
and 12 digs.
Wyoming¹s Barbie Bragg racked up a career-high 17 kills in a win over Air Force, and Michele
Rauter had 15 kills and a career-best 27 kills vs. New Mexico. Bragg hit .586 vs. Air Force and had
a .379 hitting percentage in both matches last week. Melody Friehauf moved into third place on the
Cowgirls all-time kill list with 1,262. Friehauf posted 23 kills in two matches last week.
The Rankings
Colorado State leaped one spot to No. 5 and BYU remained No. 14 in the USA Today/AVCA Division I Top
25 Coaches poll this week. Utah also gained a spot, moving to No. 19. The Rams have been ranked in
the poll 128 weeks since the poll began in 1982 and the Cougars have been ranked 223 weeks. BYU
reached its highest ranking in school history at No. 1 on four occasions. Pacific, Nebraska and
Stanford lead the nation with 246 consecutive weeks in the poll.
National Attendance (compiled by Diane Nordstrom of Wisconsin media relations)
Colorado State is seventh in attendance with an average of 1,972 fans per match. BYU is 14th with
1,426 fans per match. Hawai`i leads the nation with an average of 6,858 fans and an amazing 102,871
fans over 15 matches. Colorado State and BYU played before the fourth-largest crowd in the nation
this season Sept. 29 when 5,307 fans packed Moby Arena in Fort Collins, Colo. Nebraska set the NCAA
regular-season attendance mark Nov. 4 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center with 12,504 fans.
Coaching Milestones
Utah¹s Beth Launiere needs three wins to reach 200 career victories. Launiere is currently 197-144
in 10 seasons.
San Diego State head coach Mark Warner will reach 100 career wins with the Aztecs nex victory. In
six seasons, Warner has a record of 99-80.
Mountain West Conference First
Colorado State¹s upset of No. 1 UCLA in Gainesville, Fla., in week one marks the first victory by
any Mountain West Conference team over a No. 1-ranked opponent. Utah and BYU matched that feat this
season as the Utes and the Cougars each topped then-No. 1 Stanford in week three.
Air Force Falcons (6-18, 0-12 MWC)
Head Coach: Penny Lucas-White
Overall Record: 136-178 (10th year)
School Record: 41-98 (5th year)
The Falcons are on a 13-match losing streak headed into their final two matches of regular season
play. Air Force hosts No. 19 Utah and No. 14 BYU this week. The Falcons are 0-5 vs. Utah and 0-5 vs.
BYU all-time.
Air Force made its first post season tournament appearance in the Division I era last year as a
No. 4 seed in the MWC Championship. Air Force will be the No. 8 seed entering this year¹s conference
championship.
Freshman Kristin Huitt has 636 assists this season--the second most in the Division I era.
Freshman Delavane Diaz is second in the conference in kills per game (4.12) and third in the
league in digs per game (3.07). Her 4.12 kills per game average is No. 4 on the Falcons all-time
list. Diaz has reached double-digit kills in five of her last six matches.
BYU Cougars (18-6, 10-2 MWC)
Head Coach: Elaine Michaelis
Overall Record: 859-215-5 (32nd year)
School Record: 859-215-5 (32nd year)
BYU will travel to New Mexico and Air Force this week to finish up regular-season conference play.
The Cougars are 47-7 all time against the Lobos and 5-0 all-time vs. Air Force. The Cougars swept
the two teams earlier this season, and they have an 11-match win streak vs. the Lobos.
Nina Puikkonen finished the one-match week with 22 kills, 18 digs, 10 blocks and six service aces,
leading the Cougars to their fifth consecutive win and their second straight over a ranked
conference opponent. That was Puikkonen¹s first career triple-double.
The match against Utah marked the eighth straight match in which Puikkonen totaled 10 or more
kills. She has now had 10 or more kills in 21 of BYU's 24 matches.
Against the Utes, five Cougars finished the night with double-doubles, including Nina Puikkonen¹s
triple double. Other players recording double-doubles vs. the Utes were Karina Puikkonen (56
assists/12 digs), Jackie Bundy (15 kills/14 digs), Kalani Tonga (12 kills/18 digs) and Sunny Tonga
(13 kills/10 digs).
The win over the 20th-ranked Utes gives the Cougars their second five-match winning streak of the
season. It also marks the second straight match the Cougars have defeated a ranked conference
opponent. BYU defeated then-No. 3 Colorado State Oct. 28 in Provo.
The win over the Utes puts the Cougars in solid shape to be the
No. 2 seed in the upcoming MWC Championship.
Colorado State Rams (25-2, 11-1 MWC)
Head Coach: Tom Hilbert
Overall Record: 280-91 (12th year)
School Record: 106-19 (4th year)
Junior Angela Knopf tallied her 1,000th career kill, 700th career dig and 400th career block over
the weekend. She now has 1,022 kills, 705 digs and 404 total blocks in her career. Her block total
is sixth on the all-time CSU career charts.
The 92 kills on Friday against New Mexico is a season high for the Rams, surpassing the previous
high of 81. The 92 kills is the fifth-highest single-match total at Colorado State.
Summer Jennings and Angela Knopf rank second and third, respectively, on the Colorado State career
block assists chart after last week. Knopf tallied 11 block assists for a third-place total of 362,
and Jennings is just 26 shy of the all-time record with 362 block assists. The record of 388 is held
by Janie Penfield (1994-97).
The Rams are hitting at a .312 clip this season, which would break the school record for season
hitting percentage. The current record is .293 from the 1997 team. The 3.16 blocks per game the team
is averaging would rank second all-time at CSU, with only the 1988 team averaging more (3.26 per
game).
The game-three loss to New Mexico on Friday was the first game the Rams had lost at home since
Loyola-Chicago took two games on September 16.
The Rams are in the midst of a NCAA-leading 42-match home win streak dating back to Arizona¹s
victory over CSU Sept. 6, 1998.
New Mexico Lobos (9-13, 5-7 MWC)
Head Coach: Laurel Brassey Iversen
Overall Record: 288-205 (17th year)
School Record: 288-205 (17th year)
The Lobos host No. 14 BYU and No. 19 Utah in the final week of regular season conference action.
UNM is 7-47 all-time vs. BYU and 26-25 vs. Utah in series play.
New Mexico is in a tight race with UNLV for the No. 5 seed in the MWC Championship Nov. 16-18. The
Rebels are just one match behind the Lobos in the standings, and the teams have split this season.
UNM defeated UNLV in Las Vegas and dropped a match to the Rebels in Albuquerque.
New Mexico split their final conference road matches, falling at Colorado State in four games and
defeating Wyoming in five games. UNM recorded a season high 89 digs and 22 block assists vs. the
Cowgirls.
Three Lobos had double figure kills vs. the Rams, including Micaela Conley (12), Jessie Goffard
(14) and Erika Sansoni (14). Setter Kelly Griffin racked up a career-high .700 hitting percentage
against the Rams (7k-0e-10a).
Both Micaela Conley and Jessie Goffard pounded over 60 attempts vs. Wyoming. Conley totaled a
career high 66 and Goffard had 63.
Conley and Goffard are tied for the conference lead with 11 double-doubles each for the
season--Conley has four straight.
Freshman Amy Amundson had a career and team season-high nine block assists and a block solo vs.
the Cowgirls. Junior Jessie Goffard tallied a career-high 26 kills against Wyoming.
San Diego State Aztecs (16-11, 8-4 MWC)
Head Coach: Mark Warner
OverallRecord: 99-80 (6th year)
School Record: 99-80 (6th year)
San Diego State closes out the conference regular season by hosting No. 5 Colorado State and
Wyoming. The Aztecs trail the all-time series with the Rams 14-5, but lead the Cowgirls 17-2.
The Aztecs are tied for third in the MWC standings and have the No. 4 seed entering the MWC
Championship. SDSU, a No. 6 seed in last year¹s conference championship, posted its best conference
finish since 1997.
With 1,109 assists, sophomore Melissa Wright is No. 9 on the SDSU career list in her first season
as an Aztec. The transfer from Washington State is also No. 8 on the single-season top 10.
Senior Erin Grady's total of 157 block assists this season ranks second on the San Diego State
single-season list. The single-season school record is 165 set by Kris Morton during in 1985. Grady
would need to average three blocks per match in the next three contests to break Morton's mark.
Sophomore Nicole Akporiaye has totaled 10 or more kills in five straight matches. She has a
team-high 241 kills this season.
San Diego State has won 10 of its last 12 matches to improve to 16-11 on the season. SDSU won only
11 matches overall last season and a total of 16 over the past two years.
UNLV Rebels (4-17, 4-8 MWC)
Head Coach: Deitre Collins
Overall Record: 53-79 (5th year
School Record: 53-79 (5th year)
The Rebels host Wyoming and No. 5 Colorado State in their final two regular season conference
matches of the year. UNLV defeated Wyoming in Laramie earlier this season, but trails the Cowgirls
3-6 all-time. The Rebels are 2-8 vs. the Rams in series play.
UNLV must defeat Wyoming and New Mexico must lose to Utah and BYU to force a tie for fifth place
in the MWC standings. The Rebels were a No. 7 seed in the inaugural MWC Championship last season.
Amber Graham has moved up to No. 7 on the UNLV all-time kill list with 516. She has 150 kills this
season.
Freshman Leiana Oswald has notched double-digit kills in 12 matches this season, including six
straight. Oswald is No. 7 in the MWC with 3.54 kills per game.
Leiana Oswald is No. 10 on the UNLV single season attempts list with 715.
Maria Julia-Goes broke her 1999 season record of 586 assists with 657 and counting in 2000. She is
fourth on the UNLV all-time season list and No. 3 on the career list with 1,243 assists.
Utah Utes (17-6, 8-4 MWC)
Head Coach: Beth Launiere
Overall Record: 197-144 (11th year)
School Record: 197-144 (11th year)
The Utes will look to close out the conference season on a strong note after dropping three of
their last four league matches. Utah travels to Air Force and New Mexico this week. The Utes, who
defeated the Lobos and Falcons in Salt Lake City earlier this season, trail 25-26 in the series with
UNM and lead Air Force 5-0 all-time.
Utah would solidify a No. 3 seed in the MWC Championship with a pair of victories this week. The
Utes were a No. 3 seed in the inaugural MWC Championship last season.
Utah has given new meaning to ³team² this season. Utah has a league-high 24 MWC records this
season, 16 of which are team records. Although the Utes are tied for third in the MWC standings,
only one Ute player appears in the top four of any category in the conference statistics (Lucie
Turkova is fourth in the MWC for assists at 11.8 per game).
Senior Brooke Barton ranks fourth on the Utes all-time service ace list with 120. Barton has a
team-high 23 this season.
Junior McKelle Stilson is fourth on the Utah all-time block list with 348, and third on the block
assist chart with 308.
Wyoming Cowgirls (10-19, 2-10 MWC)
Head Coach: Susan Judge
Overall Record: 105-115 (7th year)
School Record: 68-83 (5th year)
Wyoming travels to UNLV and San Diego State this week. The Cowgirls lead the Rebels 6-3 in series
play, but trail the Aztecs 17-2 all-time.
The Cowgirls would need to sweep their final road matches, and UNLV would need to lose its final
two conference matches for Wyoming to tie for sixth in the MWC standings. The Cowgirls would still
fall into the No. 7 seed for the MWC Championship by virtue of the tie breaker.
Freshman Michele Rauter set a conference record with a career-high 27 digs in a five-game match
vs. New Mexico last week. Rauter has a team-high 298 digs this season.
The Cowgirls had five players with 10 or more kills vs. New Mexico, led by Michele Rauter with 15.
Senior Jamie Burke recorded her 16th double figure kill match this season with 10 kills vs. New
Mexico. Burke also had 14 digs vs. the Lobos, marking her ninth double-double this season.
Senior middle blocker Melody Friehauf is the all-time block leader at Wyoming with 601 career
blocks. Her 154 for the season is No. 3 on the single season list.
Melody Friehauf continued her assault on the Cowgirl record book by moving up to No. 3 on the
all-time kill list. In four seasons, Friehauf has 1,262 career kills, including 286 this season.
Freshman Katy Brown recorded her third double-double of the season with 47 assists and 10 digs vs.
New Mexico last week.
