PROVO -- Clinging to a one-game lead over Wyoming in the Mountain West Conference standings, three Cougars had career matches as BYU started and ended strong in a five-game marathon win (30-25, 30-14, 28-30, 28-30, 12-15). The Cougars improve to 12-15 overall and 7-6 in the MWC, while the Cowgirls fall to 20-9, 5-8.

"That's a good Wyoming team that we faced tonight," BYU coach Karen Lamb said. "We played very well for two games, then Wyoming came out with fire in the next two, but we dug deep to win the match."

Senior rightside hitter Allison Larson led the BYU hit parade as she put down a career-high 20 kills while hitting .400. Freshman outside hitter Kimberly Wilson and sophomore outside hitter Lindsey Metcalf also set career-highs in kills with 18 and 17 kills, respectively. Laura Nielsen was the fourth Cougar with double-digit kills as she recorded 14 while hitting a match-high .632.

"I thought Allison had a really nice match tonight," Lamb said. "They couldn't seem to stop her. Kim and Lindsey also had some really big swings."

BYU and Wyoming struggled in the first game as the teams combined for 17 attack errors; 10 by the Cougars. The Cougars ran a balanced attack, though, in compiling 19 kills, as six players had three or more kills in the game.

The second game was close to start, but BYU slowly pulled away building a six-point lead at 14-8 and forcing Wyoming into a timeout. Out of the timeout, the Cougars slowly started to build on their lead eventually stretching it to 26-11, before cruising to the win. BYU hit a match-high .387 in the game while holding Wyoming to a match-low -.067 attack percentage.

Between the second and third games former BYU head volleyball coach Elaine Michaelis was honored in a surprise presentation by over 50 of her former players for her 40 years of coaching the volleyball program.

The Cowgirls came out with fire in the third and fourth games, edging the Cougars in each game to force a decisive fifth game.

BYU took a quick 1-0 lead in the final game and led throughout, building its lead to as many as four (11-7) before Wilson sealed the match with a kill.

Metcalf also put up a match-high 19 digs for her fifth double-double of the season. Junior defensive specialist Uila Crabbe was also a defensive force with 18 digs. BYU outblocked Wyoming on the night 15.0-11.0 and junior middle blocker Carrie Bowers led BYU with a match-high seven blocks.

The Cougars will host MWC-leader Colorado State Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse. The Rams are coming off a 3-1 win at No. 21 Utah tonight.

                              Volleyball Box Score
          Wyoming Cowgirls vs BYU Cougars (Nov 15, 2002 at Provo, UT)
    Wyoming Cowgirls       |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  DOMAN, Amy..........  5|  2   0   7  .286| 52|  2   2|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  1
 2  RAUTER, Michele.....  5| 15   7  57  .140|  0|  0   3|  2| 12| 0  3  0|  0
 4  ROSLUND, Jill.......  5| 11   7  24  .167|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  4  0|  1
 9  MAYTORENA, Sara.....  5| 12   9  33  .091|  3|  1   2|  0|  8| 0  5  0|  0
 10 PERLEE, Hana........  5|  0   0   5  .000|  0|  0   1|  0| 11| 0  0  0|  0
 13 POWERS, Leah........  5| 12   4  33  .242|  0|  0   2|  0|  5| 0  7  0|  0
 6  MILLER, Amanda......  5|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   0|  1|  5| 0  0  0|  1
 7  ROEBKEN, Lindsey....  5|  7   5  22  .091|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  3  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  5| 59  32 182  .148| 55|  3  11|  3| 44| 0 22  0|  3
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 11.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  11  7  39  .103   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  4  5  TEAM RECORDS
   2   7  9  30 -.067   Wyoming Cowgirls.... 25 14 30 30 12  20-9, 5-8 MWC
   3  17  4  44  .295   BYU Cougars......... 30 30 28 28 15  12-15, 7-6 MWC
   4  16  8  43  .186
   5   8  4  26  .154
    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|  7   2  14  .357| 66|  0   0|  0|  6| 1  2  0|  0
 6  METCALF, Lindsey....  5| 17   9  36  .222|  0|  0   2|  1| 19| 0  6  0|  0
 8  BOWERS, Carrie......  5|  5   6  21 -.048|  1|  0   3|  0|  5| 0  7  1|  0
 15 WILSON, Kimberly....  5| 18  10  54  .148|  0|  0   0|  0|  4| 1  1  2|  1
 17 MAHAFFEY, Michelle..  5|  0   1   1-1.000|  2|  2   1|  0| 11| 0  0  0|  0
 18 NIELSEN, Laura......  5| 14   2  19  .632|  0|  0   1|  0|  2| 1  5  1|  0
 5  CASTILLO, Sahara....  5|  0   0   1  .000|  1|  1   4|  0|  9| 0  0  0|  1
 7  LARSON, Allison.....  5| 20   6  35  .400|  1|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  3  0|  0
 10 WEBB, Erin..........  1|  1   0   2  .500|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 12 CRABBE, Uila........  5|  0   0   2  .000|  3|  0   0|  2| 18| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  5| 82  36 185  .249| 74|  3  11|  3| 76| 3 24  4|  2
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 15.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  19 10  46  .196   Site: Provo, UT (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  16  4  31  .387   Date: Nov 15, 2002   Attend: 1034   Time: 2H 25M
   3  21 10  40  .275   Referees: KEN TAYLOR, BRUCE GRANT, KAREN MARSHAL
   4  17  8  49  .184
   5   9  4  19  .263

PROVO -- In preparation for the Mountain West Conference Women's Volleyball Championship, BYU will close out its MWC schedule as it hosts Wyoming Friday and Colorado State Saturday. Both matches are scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse and the Cougars and Cowgirls match will be broadcast on BYU-Radio.

Plagued by an injury-filled season BYU lost a close four-game match to No. 21 Utah last week. With April Varner still hobbled by a severely sprained ankle, Lindsey Metcalf and Carrie Bowers still ailing from a sprained ankle and feet stress fractures, respectively, the Cougars continue their injury-themed season as they host the Cowgirls and MWC-leading Rams this weekend.

With Varner, the Cougars' top offensive force out, true freshman Kim Wilson has developed into a consistent attacker. Wilson has led the Cougars in kills in five of the past seven matches averaging 3.64 kills per game during that stretch, more than doubling the 1.66 kpg she averaged in the first 15 matches of the season.

Junior middle blocker Laura Nielsen continues to be effective and is tied for third in the MWC with a .333 hitting percentage while averaging 2.48 kpg.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Cougar block remains a team strength as they stand third in the MWC with 2.80 bpg. Individually Neilsen is second in the MWC with 1.41 bpg and Lindsey Metcalf is fourth with 1.36 bpg. Nationally the Cougars are the No. 13 blocking team with 3.14 bpg.

Junior setter and two-time all-MWC Karina Puikkonen continued to display her all-around skills as she tossed up 46 assists, had 12 digs, five blocks and eight kills while hitting a match-high .500 against Utah.

WYOMING (20-8, 5-7 MWC)

First-year head coach Jim Barnes took over a team that returned four starters, including Sara Maytorena who has twice been named MWC Player of the Week this season.

The Cowgirls have won 20 matches for the sixth time in their 31 history, and first time since 1989 (24-7). After starting the year 15-2, Wyoming is 5-6 in its last 11 matches.

BYU is 51-3 all-time vs. Wyoming with a 25-1 record against the Cowgirls at home. BYU currently rides a 26-match winning streak against Wyoming and have swept 12 of the past 13 matches against the Cowgirls. The Cougars won a five-game match at Wyoming, Oct. 19.

COLORADO STATE (18-8, 10-2)

A team that returned only two starters, Colorado State is the current MWC leader by one match over Utah and San Diego State. BYU and SDSU are the only teams to defeat CSU in MWC play this season.

In MWC play, the Rams lead in four key offensive categories; hitting percentage (.257), assists (14.82), kills (15.89) and service aces (1.98).

BYU is 43-12-1 all-time vs. Colorado State, including a 22-4 mark at home. After reeling off an 18-match winning streak against the Rams between 1988 and 1997, the Cougars are 4-6 against the Rams in the 10 matches since. In their last meeting, the Cougars defeated the Rams at the Moby for the fist regular season win by a conference opponent since 1997, a streak of 38 matches.

COUGARS IN UPCOMING WEEKS

BYU will travel to Fort Collins, Colo., to play in the MWC Tournament, Nov. 21-23. The Cougars close out their regular season schedule with matches against No. 3 Hawai'i, Nov. 26, and No. 16 Arizona, Nov. 29.

BYU-RADIO INFORMATION

BYU-Radio is available on the Dish Network, extended package (channel 980) and online through the scheudule link on the BYU women's volleyball homepage.