Bohler Gym
Bohler Gym Pullman WA 99163
PULLMAN -- Playing in its season opener Friday, the No. 23 BYU women's volleyball team started slowly before coming on strong against Gonzaga at the 13th Annual Les Schwab Cougar Challenge. Backed by tide-turning serving and dominating performances from its middle blockers the Cougars came away with a 27-30, 30-27, 30-19, 30-21 win at Bohler Gym.
With the win, first-year Cougar coach Karen Lamb earned her first victory as BYU's head coach, but not without a few tense moments. After losing game one, the Cougars were down 22-25 in the second game, but Michelle Mahaffey substituted for Allison Larson and served the Cougars back into the match.
"We just refused to lose game two," Lamb said. "We could've easily lost that game, but we displayed tremendous poise."
Entering the season opener, uncertainty loomed in the middle for the Cougars after the losses of three-time All-American Nina Puikkonen and three-year starter Jackie Bundy. Carrie Bowers and Lexi Brown dominated offensively and defensively, though, as they picked up where their predecessors left off.
Brown, playing in her first career match, led the Cougars with a .619 attack percentage and eight blocks, while picking up 14 kills and two service aces. Bowers, in her first career start, recorded 11 kills without an attack error to hit .440, while recording six blocks and four digs.
"We started taking advantage of our middles as the match wore on," Lamb said. "Lexi was very composed for playing in her first-ever match, and Carrie also played very well. Our middle was solid."
After committing 13 service errors in the first two games, the Cougars tightened their service game and missed only four serves in the last two games. BYU also compiled seven attack errors in each of the first two games, but sliced that to four as it dominated the third game by hitting .424, while holding Gonzaga to a .000 attack.
After being held to a .000 attack percentage in the first game, Long Beach State transfer April Varner proceeded to rack up 13 kills with a ..324 attack percentage for the match. Varner also tallied 13 digs to record a double-double in her Cougar debut.
Two-time all-Mountain West Conference setter Karina Puikkonen set-up the attack with 43 assists, but she also had six blocks, nine digs and eight kills with a .333 attack percentage. Lindsey Metcalf, making her debut on the rightside, also chipped in with a double-double as she had 15 assists and 12 digs.
For the match Brown, Bowers, Varner and Puikkonen recorded 46 kills while committing only six attacking errors. BYU hit .287 as a team while holding Gonzaga to a .126 attack percentage. The Cougars also outblocked the Bulldogs 15 to 4.
MWC Co-Defensive Specialist of the Year Uila Crabbe was utilized as a libero in the match, and she picked up where she left off last season by recording 16 digs.
"Uila played libero and did a nice job passing to set-up our attack," Lamb said.
Hosted by Washington State University, the tournament features BYU, Gonzaga, Nevada and Washington State. The tournament runs through Saturday when BYU will take on Nevada at 10 a.m. and Washington State at 7 p.m. In addition, Washington State will play Gonzaga at Noon, while Gonzaga takes on Nevada at 5 p.m.
Volleyball Box ScoreBYU Cougars 2002 Season
Gonzaga vs BY (Aug 30, 2002 at Pullman, Washington)
Gonzaga | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN
## Name GP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
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2 Vagstad, Kari....... 4| 2 2 12 .000| 0| 1 0| 0| 1| 0 0 0| 0
4 Finnerty, Mary...... 4| 9 8 41 .024| 1| 1 2| 0| 10| 0 0 0| 0
9 Paulino, Shawn...... 4| 2 1 10 .100| 37| 0 0| 0| 6| 0 1 0| 3
11 Davis, Christina.... 4| 14 9 38 .132| 1| 0 2| 1| 12| 1 1 0| 0
12 Cullen, Abby........ 4| 16 7 44 .205| 0| 2 2| 0| 2| 0 3 0| 0
13 Kozen, Natasha...... 4| 7 3 14 .286| 2| 0 0| 0| 3| 0 1 2| 0
1 Perry, Missy........ 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
3 Herrera, Jessica.... 4| 0 0 0 .000| 1| 1 1| 0| 3| 0 0 0| 0
7 Campbell, Laura..... 4| 0 0 0 .000| 1| 0 0| 0| 3| 0 0 0| 0
10 Signor, Heather..... 4| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 4| 17| 0 0 0| 0
TEAM................ | | | | 2| | |
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Totals.............. 4| 50 30 159 .126| 43| 5 7| 7| 57| 1 6 2| 3
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 4.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 16 6 41 .244 GAME SCORES 1 2 3 4 TEAM RECORDS
2 11 6 32 .156 Gonzaga............. 30 27 19 21 0-1
3 11 11 40 .000 BY.................. 27 30 30 30 1-0
4 12 7 46 .109
BY | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN
## Name GP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
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2 PUIKKONEN, Karina... 4| 8 3 15 .333| 43| 1 2| 0| 9| 0 6 2| 1
3 VARNER, April....... 4| 13 2 34 .324| 1| 1 3| 1| 13| 0 2 1| 0
6 METCALF, Lindsey.... 4| 8 9 31 -.032| 15| 2 2| 1| 12| 0 4 0| 0
7 LARSON, Allison..... 4| 15 8 32 .219| 0| 0 4| 0| 2| 0 4 0| 0
8 BOWERS, Carrie...... 4| 11 0 25 .440| 2| 0 1| 0| 4| 0 6 0| 0
9 BROWN, Alexis....... 4| 14 1 21 .619| 0| 2 4| 0| 0| 0 8 0| 0
12 CRABBE, Uila........ 4| 1 0 1 1.000| 2| 0 0| 2| 16| 0 0 0| 0
17 MAHAFFEY, Michelle.. 4| 0 1 1-1.000| 0| 1 1| 1| 5| 0 0 0| 0
TEAM................ | | | | 0| | |
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Totals.............. 4| 70 24 160 .287| 63| 7 17| 5| 61| 0 30 3| 1
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 15.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 14 7 47 .149 Site: Pullman, Washington (Bohler Gym)
2 21 7 43 .326 Date: Aug 30, 2002 Attend: 53 Time: 1:46
3 18 4 33 .424 Referees: Lyman Johnson, Barbara Silvey
4 17 6 37 .297
BYU joins Nevada, Gonzaga and host Washington State at Les Schwab Cougar Challenge Friday and Saturday
PROVO -- Ranked 23rd in the USA Today/AVCA Top 25 Poll, BYU opens the 2002 season in Pullman, Wash., Friday and Saturday at the 13th annual Les Schwab Cougar Challenge hosted by Washington State. The Cougars face Gonzaga Friday at 4 p.m. PDT before two matches Saturday. BYU plays Nevada at 10 a.m. PDT and host Washington State in the finale at 7 p.m. PDT.
In the first year under recently appointed head coach Karen Lamb, BYU has an inexperienced but talented team. The Cougars return two starters in All-Mountain West setter Karina Puikkonen and 2001 MWC Co-Defensive Specialist of the Year Uila Crabbe.
Puikkonen averaged 12.65 assists while leading the team with a .400 attack percentage last season. Crabbe averaged 2.47 digs per game a year ago and could see more time on the court this year with the rules change allowing the use of the libero position. The libero is a back-row only player who does not need to substitute out of the game.
Senior outside hitter Allison Larson could be another key performer for the Cougars in 2002. After limited action in her first season in Provo, Larson will have a chance to showcase the talents that earned her NJCAA All-America honors at Columbia Basin College in Pasco, Wash. In all, BYU returns eight letterwinners from last year's 20-9 team that lost 3-2 to Utah State in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Among the newcomers expected to make an immediate impact is sophomore outside hitter April Varner. The 6-foot transfer played for NCAA runner-up Long Beach State last season after a redshirt year in 2000. Varner was an all-state hitter at Skyline High School in Salt Lake City.
The last meeting between BYU and Gonzaga was a 3-0 Cougar sweep at the 1995 Washington State Cougar Challenge. BYU has yet to drop a game to the Bulldogs with two other victories in Provo. The West Coast Conference school returns four starters and nine letterwinners from last year's 9-17 team that is now under the direction of first-year coach Kip Yoshimura. Sophomore outside hitter Christina Davis returns after leading the Bulldogs last year with 3.13 kills per game.
BYU will face Nevada for only the second time. The first match was a 3-0 Cougar victory back in Provo in 1985. The Wolf Pack returns three starters among four letterwinners from last year's 17-8 team that tied for second in the Western Athletic Conference. Three key seniors return for coach Devin Scrugs (81-59 in five years at Nevada) in middle blocker Michelle More (3.86 kpg), setter Jill Couwenhoven (11.52 apg) and defensive specialist Emily Baracco (2.01 dpg).
BYU faces host Washington State for the eighth time, holding a 5-1-1 advantage in the series. BYU won the last match 3-0 at the 1998 BYU Invitational and is 5-0 at home vs. the Crimson Cougars, but Washington State is 1-0 at home and picked up its only series victory in the prior meeting at the 1995 Cougar Challenge in Pullman. Crimson swept Blue in that match as five of the seven contests have been clean sweeps. BYU won in 1984, 1985, 1989 and 1993, with the 1989 match going five games. The only tie in the series was a 1-1 result in the first meeting on a neutral floor in 1979. Washington State returns six starters and nine letterwinners from last year's 17-12 team that finished sixth in the Pac-10 with a 6-6 mark and hosted the first round of the NCAA tournament, falling to Hawaii in three games. Senior outside hitters LaToya Harris (3.59 kpg) and Adrian Hankoff (3.21 kpg) are two of five returning seniors for coach Cindy Fredrick. Fredrick has compiled a 245-164 record in 13 seasons since taking over the program after BYU's Karen Lamb left in 1989 to take care of her young family when husband Barry accepted a football coaching job at San Diego State. Frederick is 331-224 overall in 17 seasons.
13th Annual Les Schwab Cougar Challenge Volleyball TournamentBohler Gym (capacity 3,000)
Friday, August 30
4 p.m. BYU vs. Gonzaga
7 p.m. Washington State vs. Nevada
Saturday, August 31
10 a.m. BYU vs. Nevada
Noon Washington State vs. Gonzaga
5 p.m. Gonzaga vs. Nevada
7 p.m. Washington State vs. BYU
