Metcalf's 17 Blocks Helps Cougars Down UNLV 3-2

LAS -- Behind a career-high 17 blocks by newly converted middle blocker Lindsey Metcalf, the BYU women's volleyball team clawed its way to a come-from-behind 29-31, 26-30, 30-24, 30-25, 19-17 win over UNLV Saturday night. The win improves the Cougars record to 6-9, 1-1 Mountain West Conference, while the Rebels drop to 4-11, 0-2.

"Everyone contributed tonight," BYU coach Karen Lamb said. "After we lost the first two games we bounced back and made plays when we needed them."

Playing in her second match as a middle blocker, Metcalf was especially effective against the Rebels. With middle blockers Lexi Brown and Laura Nielsen sidelined due to injury, Metcalf made the switch from outside hitter and debuted in her new position Friday against San Diego State.

The Cougars compiled 24.0 team blocks against UNLV, the fourth highest in team history, while Metcalf's 17 blocks is the fourth-best all-time mark by a BYU player.

"Lindsey had an incredible match," Lamb said. "Especially considering we had to move her to a position she had never played before."

Metcalf also racked up 13 digs for a solid defensive double-double effort and she also chipped in five kills while hitting .267. April Varner had her team-leading fifth double-double of the year in recording career-highs with 19 kills and four blocks to go with 14 digs.

The Cougars struggled to find consistency in their newly implemented 6-2 system in the early going against the Rebels, and after losing the first game and falling behind in the second, Lamb made the decision to switch back to a more conventional 5-1 system.

Although the Cougars lost the second game, they fought back to take the next two games to knot the match at 2-2.

BYU was on the brink of winning the match at 14-10 in the fifth game, but UNLV stormed back with a 5-0 run to seize the lead and stood one point from a win. Cougar senior rightside hitter Allison Larson accepted a Karina Puikkonen set, however, and took a big swing for a kill to stem the Rebel tide, and spur BYU to the win.

"Whether it was a big block or a big swing we seemed to come up with the big plays when we needed them," Lamb said.

Larson recorded her first career double-double as a Cougar with 16 kills and a career-high 10 blocks while adding a career-best four assists. Freshman outside hitter Kim Wilson set career-highs with 13 kills and nine digs. Carrie Bowers also reached double-digits in kills with 13 while also setting a career-high with two service aces.

Blair Wilkes, who had match-high with 22 kills and a .474 attack percentage, led UNLV. Patricia Assuncao and Shannon Chase also had double-digit kills for the Rebels as they recorded 14 and 15, respectively.

BYU outblocked UNLV 24.0-11.0 while out hitting the Rebels .235 to .132. The win for the Cougars marks the first time this season they have come back from a 0-2 deficit to win a match, and they improve their record in five-game matches to 2-1 on the year.

BYU will return home to host its first home conference matches of the season. The Cougars will play Air Force Friday at 7 p.m. and New Mexico Saturday at 8 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                BYU Cougars vs UNLV (Sep 28, 2002 at Las Vegas)
    BYU Cougars            |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  PUIKKONEN, Karina...  5|  6   6  16  .000| 50|  1   4|  0|  5| 0  5  0|  2
 3  VARNER, April.......  5| 19   4  46  .326|  2|  0   2|  3| 14| 1  3  0|  0
 6  METCALF, Lindsey....  5|  5   1  15  .267|  1|  0   2|  3| 13| 3 14  1|  0
 7  LARSON, Allison.....  5| 16   7  36  .250|  4|  0   0|  0|  3| 0 10  0|  0
 8  BOWERS, Carrie......  5| 13   6  26  .269|  0|  2   1|  0|  3| 0  5  0|  0
 15 WILSON, Kimberly....  5| 13   6  42  .167|  0|  1   1|  2|  9| 0  3  0|  0
 5  CASTILLO, Sahara....  3|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 12 CRABBE, Uila........  5|  1   0   1 1.000|  8|  2   3|  0| 13| 0  0  0|  0
 17 MAHAFFEY, Michelle..  5|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  6| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  5| 73  30 183  .235| 65|  6  13|  8| 68| 4 40  1|  2
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 24.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  15  6  39  .231   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  4  5  TEAM RECORDS
   2  15  7  34  .235   BYU Cougars......... 29 26 30 30 19  6-9,1-1 MWC
   3  19  5  40  .350   UNLV................ 31 30 24 25 17  4-11,0-2 MWC
   4  15  6  40  .225
   5   9  6  30  .100
    UNLV                   |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  KING, Nicki.........  5|  2   1   6  .167| 57|  2   0|  1|  7| 0  0  0|  3
 3  ASSUNCAO, Patricia..  5| 14   6  34  .235|  1|  0   0|  0|  4| 2  5  0|  0
 4  OSWALD, Leiana......  4|  7  12  35 -.143|  0|  0   0|  1|  5| 0  2  0|  0
 5  CHASE, Shannon......  5| 15  12  57  .053|  1|  3   0|  1| 14| 0  2  0|  1
 7  FACHNER, Sarah......  5|  1   5  12 -.333|  1|  1   1|  0|  3| 0  3  0|  0
 11 WILKES, Blair.......  5| 22   4  38  .474|  0|  1   1|  0|  0| 1  1  0|  0
 6  MAYES, Tera.........  5|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   0|  0|  6| 0  0  0|  0
 10 HENDRICKS, Jodi.....  2|  4   1   9  .333|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  2  0|  0
 12 KEITH, Tarin........  2|  8   4  20  .200|  1|  0   1|  0|  7| 0  1  0|  0
 18 FRANCHINI, Nina.....  5|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  3| 13| 0  0  0|  0
 25 LEWIS, Amy..........  5|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  5| 73  45 212  .132| 61|  8   3|  6| 63| 3 16  0|  4
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 11.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  17 12  46  .109   Site: Las Vegas (Cox Pavilion)
   2  19  6  44  .295   Date: Sep 28, 2002   Attend: 466   Time: 2:25
   3  16 10  47  .128   Referees: Helen McAnany, Eric Asami
   4  12 10  44  .045
   5   9  7  31  .065

To Play San Diego State and UNLV

PROVO -- After a 5-8 start to its season, the BYU women's volleyball team, beset by inexperience and injury, welcomes the beginning of Mountain West Conference play, as it takes on San Diego State Friday and UNLV Saturday.

"This is an important weekend for our team," head coach Karen Lamb said. "We have been consistently improving our play as a team and we have had a good week of practices. We know we need to play well and win."

With its offense searching for consistency, it's been BYU's block that has kept them in matches. The Cougars are currently No. 7 nationally with 3.42 blocks per game, and junior middle blocker Carrie Bowers is fourth nationally with 1.69 bpg.

Junior setter Karina Puikkonen continues to be an all-around force. In addition to dishing out 10.53 assists per game she is averaging 1.56 kills, 1.84 digs, 1.24 blocks and 0.33 service aces per game.

Allison Larson leads the Cougars with 2.64 kpg as she settles into the rightside hitter position. Larson and Bowers led BYU last week as each chalked up 2.19 bpg.

On the injury front, redshirt freshman middleblocker Lexi Brown continues to be sidelined with a torn ACL and junior transfer middle blocker Laura Nielsen is out of the lineup with a broken foot.

In San Diego State and UNLV, the Cougars will face teams that are headed in opposite directions.

The Aztecs are coming off a tournament championship, on the strength of winning three matches, at the Black and Gold Challenge hosted by Wake Forest. San Diego State has also reeled off a streak in which they've won five of six matches.

Junior middleblocker Aspen McPartland was named tournament MVP as she recorded two double-doubles in three matches as well as garnering a career-high 19 kills versus Wake Forest. BYU is 25-13 overall against San Diego State with its last meeting a Cougar sweep.

UNLV is coming off a winless weekend, where it lost three matches at the Fresno State Quadrangular. Including an exhibition loss to Olymp Praha Monday, a professional team from the Czech Republic, the Rebels have lost six consecutive matches and have dropped eight of their past nine.

Leiana Oswald leads the Rebel attack as she averages 3.23 kpg with a .184 attack percentage. BYU is 9-1 all-time versus UNLV with the last meeting resulting in UNLV's first-ever win against the Cougars (1-3) in 2001.

BYU is scheduled to play San Diego State Friday at 8 p.m. MDT and UNLV Saturday at 8 p.m. MDT. The Cougars will next be at home when they host Air Force and New Mexico on Oct. 4 and 5, respectively.