Personal
Parents are Christopher and Kristina Neilson ... older brother Eric was a four-year starting forward on the BYU basketball team (1996-1997, 1999-2002) ... has one other older brother, Nathan (22) and a younger sister Alison (15) ... Sister-in-law, Anna-Lena Smith, was a two-time All-American setter at BYU (1998-1999) ... home and family life major.
Before BYU
RICKS COLLEGE: SOPHOMORE - (2001): Region 18 District All-Tournament North team selection ... named to the SWAC All-Region 18 Second Team ... Ricks College outstanding women's volleyball athlete ... Spokane Tournament MVP ... starter played in 139 games and led the team with 433 kills (3.12 per game) and was second with a .312 attack percentage ... also led the team defensively with 22 solo blocks, 161 total blocks and 1.16 blocks per game.
FRESHMAN - (2000): Competed in 14 games recording 17 kills with a .282 attack percentage ... also recorded two digs and five blocks ... played with current Cougar teammate Sahara Castillo.
HIGH SCHOOL - (1996-1999): Four-year letterwinner at Irvington High School in Fremont, Calif. ... team MVP in 1999 ... 1999 Argus News Player of the Year ... first-team all-league 1997-1999, second-team all-league 1996 ... twice named Argus News Athlete of the Week (1999) ... also lettered three years in basketball.
Stats
2003 SEASON & CAREER MATCH HIGHS
Kills
Season: 8 (twice)
Career: 15 vs Air Force, 11/2/02
Attempts
Season: 21 vs Rice, 9/13/03
Career: 32 vs UNLV, 11/21/02
Hitting Percentage
Season: .636 at Air Force, 10/3/03
Career: .643 at Colorado St., 10/18/02
Assists
Season: 1 (four times)
Career: 1 (seven times overall)
Digs
Season: 6 vs North Texas, 9/5/03
Career: 8 vs UNLV, 11/21/02
Block Solo
Season: 2 vs North Texas, 9/5/03
Career: same (twice)
Block Assist
Season: 7 vs Ohio State, 9/12/03
Career: 9 (twice)
Total Blocks
Season: 8 vs Ohio State, 9/12/03
Career: 11 at Air Force, 11/2/02
Aces
Season: 5 vs North Texas, 9/5/03
Career: same
YEAR-BY-YEAR STATISTICS
Year MP-GP K E A Pct. Ast. SA SE RE Dig BS BA TB BE BHE
2002 21-74 175 64 372 .298 3 6 29 1 48 8 81 89 8 0
2003 30-90 123 33 280 .321 4 16 33 0 51 8 104 112 13 2
Total 51-164 298 97 652 .308 7 22 62 1 99 16 185 201 21 2
MATCH-BY-MATCH STATISTICS
2003 BYU Women's Volleyball
BYU Cougars Individual Game-by-Game (as of Apr 10, 2004)
All matches
#18 NIELSEN, Laura
|-------ATTACK------| SET |-SERVE-| PASS DEF |-------BLOCK------| GEN
Date Opponent GP K E TA Pct A SA SE RE DIG BS BA BE Total BHE
Aug 29, 2003 vs AMERICAN............ 4 7 1 10 .600 1 2 3 0 2 0 2 1 2.0 0
Aug 29, 2003 vs RUTGERS............. 3 5 1 8 .500 0 1 4 0 2 0 2 0 2.0 0
Aug 30, 2003 at FLORIDA............. 3 0 4 7 -.571 0 0 4 0 0 0 4 1 4.0 0
09-05-03 vs Arkansas............ 2 1 0 4 .250 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 0.0 0
09-05-03 vs North Texas......... 4 3 2 8 .125 0 5 1 0 6 2 3 0 5.0 0
09-06-03 vs Saint Louis......... 3 5 0 8 .625 0 0 3 0 4 0 4 0 4.0 0
09-06-03 at SMS................. 3 0 1 5 -.200 0 0 0 0 2 0 4 0 4.0 0
Sep 12, 2003 OHIO STATE............. 4 6 3 20 .150 0 0 3 0 3 1 7 0 8.0 0
Sep 13, 2003 RICE................... 4 7 2 21 .238 1 0 0 0 3 0 4 2 4.0 0
Sep 13, 2003 PENN STATE............. 5 6 1 11 .455 0 0 0 0 2 1 5 0 6.0 0
Sep 19, 2003 UTAH VALLEY............ 2 4 1 9 .333 0 1 1 0 2 0 2 0 2.0 0
Sep 20, 2003 NEVADA................. 3 8 2 16 .375 1 0 1 0 2 0 3 2 3.0 0
Sep 26, 2003 COLORADO STATE......... 3 4 1 13 .231 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 1 3.0 0
Sep 27, 2003 WYOMING................ 3 2 1 5 .200 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 1 3.0 0
Oct 02, 2003 at New Mexico.......... 3 3 0 7 .429 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 2 3.0 0
Oct 03, 2003 at Air Force........... 5 7 0 11 .636 0 0 0 0 1 0 5 0 5.0 1
Oct 07, 2003 at Weber State......... 3 4 1 10 .300 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 6.0 0
Oct 17, 2003 SAN DIEGO STATE........ 5 8 2 13 .462 0 0 1 0 2 1 5 0 6.0 0
Oct 18, 2003 UNLV................... 3 4 1 14 .214 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 1 6.0 1
Oct 24, 2003 at Wyoming............. 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 4.0 0
Oct 25, 2003 at Colorado State...... 1 3 0 3 1.000 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1.0 0
Oct 31, 2003 NEW MEXICO............. 2 6 0 7 .857 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 3.0 0
Nov 07, 2003 at Utah................ 3 5 1 9 .444 1 0 3 0 4 1 6 2 7.0 0
Nov 14, 2003 at UNLV................ 3 5 1 13 .308 0 0 1 0 0 0 5 0 5.0 0
Nov 15, 2003 at San Diego State..... 1 1 0 2 .500 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 2.0 0
Nov 21, 2003 vs Utah................ 1 1 2 3 -.333 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 2.0 0
Nov 25, 2003 UTAH STATE AGGIES...... 5 5 1 14 .286 0 2 2 0 2 0 3 0 3.0 0
Nov 28, 2003 EASTERN MICHIGAN....... 2 4 2 8 .250 0 0 1 0 3 0 2 0 2.0 0
Dec 04, 2003 vs New Mexico State.... 3 6 2 12 .333 0 1 0 0 5 1 4 0 5.0 0
Dec 05, 2003 at Hawai`i............. 3 3 0 9 .333 0 1 2 0 1 0 2 0 2.0 0
Totals.............................. 90 123 33 280 .321 4 16 33 0 51 8 104 13 112.0 2
Games played: 90
Kills per game: 1.37
Assists per game: 0.04
Service aces per game: 0.18
Digs per game: 0.57
Blocks per game: 1.24
Named to the All-Mountain West Conference team ... named MWC Player of the Week (10/21) ... in MWC play she was second in hitting percentage (.353) and fifth in blocks per game (1.40) ... did not play in the first six matches of the season, but she stepped into the lineup full-time after Lexi Brown went down for the year against Weber State (9/10) ... she missed six matches (9/27-10/11) with a broken foot ... in her first match back at Colorado State, she hit a career-high .643 (11 kills).