PROVO -- Beset yet again by injuries, this time to its top offensive threat, the BYU women's volleyball team dropped a Mountain West Conference match to upstart UNLV 30-17, 27-30, 18-30, 25-30 Friday in the Smith Fieldhouse. The loss snapped the Cougars' two-match win streak and evened their MWC record at 4-4 while falling to 9-13 overall. The Rebels extended their win streak to three and stand at 3-5, 7-14.

Sophomore outside hitter April Varner, BYU's go to attacker, had led the Cougars in kills in each of their last four matches and was coming off a career-high 23 kills at Wyoming Saturday. Varner sprained her ankle Wednesday in practice and is expected to be out two to three weeks.

"I am not one to make excuses," BYU coach Karen Lamb said. "But tonight our injuries really caught up with us. When you don't have all your players everybody has to play their best and tonight we struggled."

Compounding matters, sophomore outside hitter Lindsey Metcalf made her return to the lineup, but continues to be hobbled by a sprained ankle and is restricted in her movements. Junior middle blocker Carrie Bowers has stress fractures in both feet and sat out of practices this week to play in this weekend's matches.

"Lindsey is still not 100 percent," Lamb said. She couldn't really move, she couldn't jump well, her ankle is still bothering her. So we tried to adjust with the players we have."

After two impressive win s over Colorado State and Wyoming last week, the Cougars came out a determined albeit depleted team.

The first game started slowly as both teams exchanged points. BYU started to pull away as true freshman Kim Wilson dominated the play. Wilson put down her fifth kill in as many chances to put the Cougars up 17-12 and forced a Rebel timeout. Out of the timeout Wilson put down another kill to spur a 4-0 Cougar run, which forced yet another Rebel timeout. With UNLV on its heels, BYU pulled away and sealed the game on a dump by Karina Puikkonen. Wilson was a perfect six for six in the game and led BYU to a match-high .400 hitting percentage in game one.

"We played well in the first game," Lamb said. "Then we got out of our flow and couldn't get back on track."

In the final three games, BYU struggled to seize the momentum and UNLV started to execute. In the fourth game with the game tied at 4-4, UNLV staged a monumental 12-0 run to take a stranglehold on the match. The Cougars would stage a late rally and closed to gap to 25-29 on the strength of three kills by Wilson, but UNLV clinched the match on the next rally.

"I don't feel bad about our team at all," Lamb said. "Under the circumstances I feel good about our players because they're doing their best."

With Varner out, and Metcalf and Bowers at less than 100 percent, Wilson, a native of Provo, shouldered the load with a team-high 31 attack attempts. Wilson finished the night with career highs of 17 kills and a .387 attack percentage. Allison Larson also finished with doube-digit kills as she had 12.

"Kim is playing well of late and she is gaining a lot of valuable experience," Lamb said.

Defensively middle blocker Laura Nielsen picked up a career-high six blocks on the night and defensive specialist Uila Crabbe played a steady match putting up a match-high 18 digs.

UNLV was led by three players with double-digit kills. Patricia Assuncao led the way with 13 kills, followed by Blair Wilkes and Leiana Oswald, who each recorded 12 kills.

With starting middle blocker Lexi Brown out for the season with a torn ACL and middle blocker Laura Nielsen returning last week after missing a significant portion of the season due to a broken foot, the Cougar injury list this season has been long.

"I just want to see this team healthy, because I know we can be a great team," Lamb said.

The Cougars will play MWC leader San Diego State Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse. The match against the Aztecs is Cosmo Kids Club Night where Cosmo will be present with toys, free prizes and food. Family admission is $10.

                              Volleyball Box Score
               UNLV vs BYU Cougars (Oct 25, 2002 at Provo, Utah)
    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.........  4|  2   1   4  .250| 44|  1   1|  0|  8| 1  1  1|  2
 3  ASSUNCAO, Patricia..  4| 13   9  40  .100|  0|  0   1|  2|  8| 1  3  1|  0
 5  CHASE, Shannon......  3|  4   2  14  .143|  1|  0   0|  1|  3| 1  0  0|  0
 7  FACHNER, Sarah......  4|  6   5  15  .067|  0|  1   0|  0|  0| 1  3  0|  0
 11 WILKES, Blair.......  4| 12   3  22  .409|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 1  3  0|  0
 15 KIRSCHNER, Christina  4|  3   3  14  .000|  0|  1   1|  0|  1| 0  6  2|  0
 4  OSWALD, Leiana......  3| 12   2  26  .385|  1|  2   2|  0|  6| 0  1  0|  0
 6  MAYES, Tera.........  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 9  OCASIO-CLEMENTE, She  1|  1   0   2  .500|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0
 10 HENDRICKS, Jodi.....  1|  0   2   2-1.000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 18 FRANCHINI, Nina.....  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  2| 18| 0  0  0|  0
 20 FRANCO, Adriana.....  1|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 25 LEWIS, Amy..........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 53  27 139  .187| 48|  5   6|  5| 51| 5 18  4|  2
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 14.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1   6  7  31 -.032   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2  16  7  35  .257   UNLV................ 17 30 30 30  7-14, 3-5 MWC
   3  18  4  38  .368   BYU Cougars......... 30 27 18 25  9-13, 4-4 MWC
   4  13  9  35  .114
    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...  4|  6   2  12  .333| 46|  0   2|  0|  6| 0  4  0|  1
 5  CASTILLO, Sahara....  4|  0   4  10 -.400|  1|  1   3|  0|  5| 0  1  0|  0
 6  METCALF, Lindsey....  4|  7   6  25  .040|  1|  0   3|  3|  9| 0  3  0|  0
 7  LARSON, Allison.....  4| 12   7  27  .185|  2|  2   6|  0|  0| 0  2  0|  0
 8  BOWERS, Carrie......  4|  8   4  23  .174|  1|  2   0|  0|  1| 0  5  0|  0
 18 NIELSEN, Laura......  4|  5   1  13  .308|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  6  0|  0
 10 WEBB, Erin..........  2|  2   2   8  .000|  0|  0   1|  2|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 12 CRABBE, Uila........  4|  0   0   1  .000|  2|  0   0|  0| 18| 0  0  0|  0
 15 WILSON, Kimberly....  4| 17   5  31  .387|  0|  0   0|  0|  5| 0  1  0|  0
 17 MAHAFFEY, Michelle..  4|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   1|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 57  31 150  .173| 54|  5  17|  5| 50| 0 22  0|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 11.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  19  5  35  .400   Site: Provo, Utah (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  13  7  35  .171   Date: Oct 25, 2002   Attend: 734   Time: 1H 50M
   3  12  8  41  .098   Referees: GARY HOUGHTON, DAPHNE NELSON, KAREN MARSHAL
   4  13 11  39  .051

PROVO -- Coming off its most impressive wins of the season at Colorado State and Wyoming last week, the BYU women's volleyball team returns to the Smith Fieldhouse to continue its Mountain West Conference schedule by hosting UNLV Friday and San Diego State Saturday. Both matches are scheduled for 7 p.m., and the match against the Aztecs is being billed as Cosmo Kids Club Night.

The Cougars improved their MWC record to 4-3 (9-12 overall) as they stand in a two-way tie for second in the conference with Utah. Last week BYU outlasted MWC leader CSU and Wyoming in five-game thrillers on consecutive nights.

As the Cougars look to build upon their increasing improvement, junior middle blocker Laura Nielsen is a key factor. Nielsen missed six matches because of a broken foot and returned to the lineup against the Rams. Her presence was instrumental in the Cougars' wins, and for her efforts Nielsen earned MWC Player of the Week honors. She had a career-high 11 kills in each match (2.44 kpg), a career-high .643 attack percentage against CSU (.531 for the week) and she led the team with four blocks in each match (0.89 bpg).

BYU's outside attack is starting to come to life as well. Sophomore April Varner collected a team-high 35 kills on the weekend, including a career-high 23 kills at Wyoming. With increased playing time true freshman Kim Wilson is gaining confidence and experience as she was third on the team with 25 kills in the two matches while hitting .305. On the rightside, Allison Larson continues to produce as she amassed 29 kills including career-highs of 18 kills and a .500 attack percentage at Wyoming.

As a team, BYU continues to be one of the top blocking teams in the nation. The Cougars are currently ranked 12th, averaging 3.06 blocks per game.

Hit with a bevy of injuries this season, BYU has officially lost one of its key players for the season, as redshirt freshman middle blocker Lexi Brown had surgery to repair a torn ACL. Sophomore Lindsey Metcalf continues to be hobbled by a sprained ankle and her status is day-to-day.

The Rebels and Aztecs have had contrasting season, but both teams are coming off a pair of wins over conference opponents last week.

UNLV

The Rebels (6-14, 2-5 MWC) started the season 4-4, but endured a 10-match losing streak to fall to 4-14, before sweeping a pair of MWC matches against Air Force and New Mexico last weekend. Currently tied for fourth in the MWC, UNLV is winless on the road this season (0-6). BYU is 10-1 overall vs. UNLV and took a five-game match from the Rebels on Sept. 28.

The Rebels are led by Patricia Assuncao, who has led UNLV in kills in its last four matches. In MWC play she is averaging a team-high 3.36 kpg and 1.44 dpg while hitting .227.

San Diego State

The Aztecs (15-9, 6-1) are off to a fast start in MWC play and have been winning in impressive fashion. Since breaking an 11-match losing streak to BYU Sept. 27 the Aztecs have won five of their last seven matches. Last weekend SDSU was 2-1 with a pair of wins over New Mexico and UNLV, and a sweep at the hands of San Diego. BYU has dominated the series in recent years as it has won 22 of 26 matches since 1990. The overall record between the two teams stands at 25-14 in favor of BYU.

SDSU has a varied offense with three players averaging over three kills per game in MWC play. Leading the group is Aspen McPartland, who has twice been named MWC Player of the Week this season, who averages 3.11 kpg and a team-leading 3.53 dpg while hitting .345. Zlatina Anguelova is tops on the team with 3.78 kpg while Rochelle Currier is second with 3.63 kpg.

PARKING NOTICE FOR BYU HOME MATCHES

The construction of the new BYU Athletic Complex has changed parking procedures, but parking will still be available. Parking will be available in the lot east of Zion's Bank (accessible from University Avenue and Canyon Drive) and west of the Richards Building (accessible from 1230 N. Bulldog Avenue).