Cougars Drop Hard Fought Match to No. 3 USC

PROVO -- The BYU women's volleyball team played well through the first two games, but No. 3 USC used a balanced attack to sweep the Cougars in the opening match of the BYU Mizuno Classic Thursday, 23-30, 27-30, 15-30.

"I think we came out to win today," head coach Karen Lamb said. "I know before we were more worried about doing our jobs, but today we played with abandon."

After a crafty kill by Karina Puikkonen put the Cougars up 13-10 in the first game, the Trojans called a timeout. USC then reeled off a 7-1 run to force BYU to take a timeout. Freshman Provo native Kim Wilson made her debut against the Trojans, and recorded her first kill on her first collegiate attempt out of the timeout, to draw the Cougars to 15-17. That was as close as the Cougars would be as USC slowly extended its lead before Lauren Killian sealed the game with a kill.

"I didn't even know I was going to play tonight," Wilson said. "All of a sudden Karen (Lamb) told me I was going to play front row. I was nervous, but I just tried to swing hard and be aggressive."

The second game was filled with long rallies, but BYU fell into a quick 0-3 hole. After consecutive Staci Venski kills, BYU found itself down 1-5, but the Cougars slowly clawed their way back into the game thanks to a slew of Trojan hitting errors. Wilson recorded a kill down the line to tie the game at 10-10. BYU led by as many as three points and Allison Larson picked up a service ace to put the Cougars up 26-23 and force a USC timeout. The Trojans again came out strong after a timeout with another 7-1 to seal the game with an Emily Adams kill.

"We definitely competed hard," Lamb said. "But we needed to win that second game. I think we showed glimpses of the team we can be as we gain consistency."

USC was a team possessed in the third game as it outhit BYU .417 to .034. BYU was behind from the onset, and fell behind by as much as 15 points before Katie Olsovsky ended the match with her third kill.

BYU was led by Carrie Bowers who had team-highs with seven kills and a .429 attack percentage. Uila Crabbe continues to be a defensive presence as she compiled 13 digs. Overall the Cougars outdug the Trojans 49-44 and also had the advantage in service aces 5-4.

The Trojans had a balanced attack as six players had at least seven kills. Keao Burdine led the charge with nine kills followed by Alicia Robinson (8), Killian (8), April Ross (7), Venski (7) and Adams (7). USC outhit BYU .300 to .053 and held a 10-3 blocking advantage.

With five new starters the young Cougar team is experiencing some growing pains, but Lamb is confident in her team.

"It's a hard balance right now between urgency and patience," Lamb said. "We're trying to win volleyball matches, but it doesn't happen overnight. I think we got better in a lot of ways tonight. I really like this team and I have a lot of confidence that we will be successful."

The loss drops the Cougars to 1-3, while the Trojans improve to 4-0. USC has won 12 straight games to start its season.

BYU will play two matches Friday. The Cougars will take on Oral Roberts at Noon and will play Wake Forest at 4 p.m. The night match will feature No. 3 USC against No.6 Florida at 7 p.m. All matches are scheduled to be held in the Smith Fieldhouse.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                USC vs BYU Cougars (Sep 05, 2002 at Provo, Utah)
    USC                    |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  ANDERSON, Toni......  3|  0   0   1  .000| 24|  0   0|  0|  5| 0  1  0|  3
 4  DAVIS, Nicole.......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  1| 12| 0  0  0|  0
 8  BURDINE, Keao.......  3|  9   2  25  .280|  1|  0   2|  1|  6| 1  0  0|  0
 13 ROBINSON, Alicia....  3|  8   4  17  .235|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 1  2  1|  0
 14 ROSS, April.........  3|  7   3  22  .182|  0|  1   4|  1| 11| 0  1  0|  0
 21 VENSKI, Staci.......  3|  7   1  17  .353|  0|  0   1|  2|  1| 0  2  1|  0
 1  LINDQUIST, Tracy....  3|  0   0   0  .000| 20|  1   0|  0|  5| 0  0  0|  0
 2  MARIANI, Julie......  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 9  ADAMS, Emily........  3|  7   0  16  .438|  1|  1   2|  0|  3| 0  6  0|  0
 15 KILLIAN, Lauren.....  3|  8   3  14  .357|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  4  0|  0
 33 OLSOVSKY, Katie.....  2|  3   0   8  .375|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  1|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 49  13 120  .300| 46|  4  10|  5| 44| 2 16  3|  3
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 10.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  15  3  35  .343   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  17  8  49  .184   USC................. 30 30 30  4-0, 0-0 Pac-10
   3  17  2  36  .417   BYU Cougars......... 23 27 15  1-3, 0-0 MWC
    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...  3|  5   0   8  .625| 27|  2   1|  0|  7| 0  1  0|  0
 3  VARNER, April.......  3|  5   6  26 -.038|  1|  0   2|  0|  7| 0  0  0|  0
 6  METCALF, Lindsey....  3|  3   5  11 -.182|  0|  1   0|  1|  5| 0  1  0|  1
 8  BOWERS, Carrie......  3|  7   1  14  .429|  0|  0   0|  0|  7| 0  1  0|  0
 9  BROWN, Alexis.......  3|  6   6  19  .000|  1|  1   4|  0|  6| 0  1  0|  0
 17 MAHAFFEY, Michelle..  3|  0   1   1-1.000|  3|  0   0|  2|  4| 0  0  0|  0
 5  CASTILLO, Sahara....  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 7  LARSON, Allison.....  3|  4   5  17 -.059|  0|  1   1|  0|  0| 1  0  0|  0
 10 WEBB, Erin..........  2|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 12 CRABBE, Uila........  3|  0   0   1  .000|  1|  0   0|  1| 13| 0  0  0|  0
 15 WILSON, Kimberly....  3|  4   4  15  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  1|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 34  28 113  .053| 33|  5   8|  4| 49| 1  4  1|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 3.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  10 11  37 -.027   Site: Provo, Utah (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  15  9  47  .128   Date: Sep 05, 2002   Attend: 1151   Time: 1h 35m
   3   9  8  29  .034   Referees: TOM GIVEN, BRUCE GRANT, KAREN MARSHAL

The Cougars open their home schedule Thursday through Saturday with the annual BYU Mizuno Classic, which features two of the top-six teams in the nation. BYU will play host to No. 3 USC, No. 6 Florida, Oral Roberts and Wake Forest. All matches will be held in the Smith Fieldhouse.

All four teams traveling to the Mizuno Classic hold winning records, including USC and Florida with perfect 3-0 records.

BYU will welcome No. 3 USC Thursday at 7 p.m in a match that will be televised on KBYU, channel 11 in Utah, and on BYU Television, a satalitte and cable channel. The Trojans are fresh off an effort in which they claimed the Radisson Hotel Roberts/Nike Classic tournament title by sweeping No. 2 Nebraska on Monday. BYU currently stands 6-9 all-time against the Trojans. The last meeting between the two teams was a Trojan sweep in the 1994 BYU Mizuno Classic (9/16).

On Friday the Cougars will host Oral Roberts at Noon and Wake Forest at 4 p.m. Oral Roberts started the year 2-0 with wins over Dayton and Baylor at the Long Beach State Mizuno Invitational, but fell to the fifth-ranked host team. The Cougars have met the Golden Eagles twice (1997 and 2000). Both matches were in the BYU Mizuno Classic, and the Cougars swept both matches. Wake Forest enters the Mizuno Classic with a 2-1 record on the season. This is the first-ever meeting between BYU and Wake Forest.

The Cougars finish the tournament with a Saturday match-up against No. 6 Florida at 7 p.m. The Gators have won nine consecutive games to open the season in defeating UAB, Rhode Island and No. 21 Illinois. The two teams last met December 10, 1999, when the Gators bounced the Cougars, 3-0, from the NCAA Tournament in the Mountain Regional. BYU is 3-3 all-time against Florida.

After winning its season opener against Gonzaga at the Les Schwab Cougar Classic, BYU dropped a close match to Nevada and was swept by host Washington State last week. The play of senior Allison Larson and freshman Lexi Brown shone at the tournament as each was named to the all-tournament team.

Offensively, the Cougars are led by Larson and April Varner, who are averaging 3.25 and 2.75 kills per game, respectively. BYU is being outhit .143 to .158 and has yet to establish a consistent basis for attack.

Despite the Cougars' offensive maladies, their defense has been staunch. BYU's middle blocking tandem of Carrie Bowers and Lexi Brown average 1.92 and 1.67 blocks per game, respectively. As a team the Cougars are outblocking opponents 45.5-20 this season. Mountain West Conference Co-Defensive Specialist of the Year Uila Crabbe leads the Cougars this year with 4.25 digs per game. Lindsey Metcalf and April Varner are both averaging 3.08 dpg.

On Friday, other matches will feature Wake Forest vs. USC at 10 a.m. and Florida vs. USC at 7 p.m. Saturday matches will pit Florida vs. Oral Roberts at Noon and Oral Roberts vs. Wake Forest at 5 p.m.

TICKET INFORMATION

This season admission to matches will be $5 for the public and $4 for senior citizens, youth, faculty and students. All Sport Cards will be honored for all regularly scheduled women's volleyball matches. In addition, this year families will be able to attend matches for $10, while wards and groups will be $20. Saturday night's match against Florida is Family Night, and free posters will be available as well as a team autograph signing.

BYU Mizuno Classic
Smith Fieldhouse (5,000)
Provo, Utah
Thursday, Sept. 5
BYU (1-2) vs. No. 3 USC (3-0) - 7 p.m. - (kbyu-tv/byutv/byu radio)
Friday, Sept. 6
Wake Forest (2-1) vs. USC - 10 a.m.
BYU vs. Oral Roberts (2-1) - Noon
BYU vs. Wake Forest - 4 p.m.
No. 6 Florida (3-0) vs. No. 3 USC - 7 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 7
Florida vs. Oral Roberts - Noon
Oral Roberts vs. Wake Forest - 5 p.m.
BYU vs. No. 6 Florida - 7 p.m. - (byu radio)