BYU Mizuno Classic Concludes as No. 6 Florida Sweeps BYU

PROVO -- A spirited BYU women's volleyball team was swept by No. 6 Florida Saturday 26-30, 27-30, 20-30 in the Smith Fieldhouse in the final match of the BYU Mizuno Classic.

"We started well in tonight's match," head coach Karen Lamb said. "Florida's got a nice athletic team, but we just couldn't generate enough offense."

Florida came out strong in game one, and put BYU in a 8-16 hole after a kill by Lauren Moscovic. After a Moscovic serve, Karina Puikkonen put down a kill to turn the tide. BYU proceeded to reel off a 6-0 run after kills by Allison Larson and Erin Webb, a service ace by Puikkonen and two consecutive kills by Lexi Brown. The Cougars pulled to within two at 14-16 and managed to tie the game at 20-20, but the Gators pulled away late to take the game.

BYU fell behind early again in the second match as the Gators behind six kills by Jacque Robinson built an 18-9 lead. The Cougars, though, clawed their way back into the game spiked by a 5-0 run with Carrie Bowers serving. BYU pulled to within two at 27-29 after a Lindsey Metcalf ace, but were unable to pull the game out.

The Gators turned their serving up a notch in the third game as the Cougars were unable to get their offense on track. Florida's lead bulged at 15-6 as they cruised to take the match.

"We're getting better," Lamb said. "We have been extremely solid with our block this season and tonight we could've been better with our block. They're an athletic team that can really jump and we were early on our timing, so it put us out of sync. We did manage to adjust though, and if we keep attacking we'll start making more plays."

The Cougars were led by all-tournament performer Carrie Bowers as she had a team-high eight kills. Puikkonen continues to be a force as she racked up seven kills with only one attack error while hitting .545. She also compiled 31 assists, five digs and three blocks.

"If we make one or two less errors per player we win those first two games," Bowers said. "I can see the improvement we're making, but I just wish we could finish strong and be a tougher team."

Florida was led by Jacque Robinson, who had a monster night with 21 kills while hitting .486. Overall the Cougars were outhit .079 to .342 and were outblocked for only the second time this season 7-15.

The loss drops the Cougars to 2-5 overall and they were 1-3 in the tournament. With the win the Gators improve to 5-1.

The Cougars have two days off before returning on Tuesday to the Smith Fieldhouse to host Weber State at 7 p.m.

2002 BYU Mizuno Classic All-Tournament Team

Keao Burdine, USC -- MVP

April Ross, USC

Emily Adams, USC

Nicole McCray, Florida

Benevia Jenkins, Florida

Patricia Menezes, Oral Roberts

Carrie Bowers, BYU

2002 Mizuno Classic (team finishes):

USC (3-0)

Florida (2-1)

Oral Roberts (2-1)

BYU (1-3)

Wake Forest (0-3)

                              Volleyball Box Score
           FLORIDA GATORS vs BYU Cougars (Sep 07, 2002 at Provo, Ut)
    FLORIDA GATORS         |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 7  CHATMAN, Michelle...  3|  9   2  18  .389|  1|  0   1|  0|  4| 0  2  1|  0
 8  ENGEL, Rachel.......  2|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   0|  2|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 10 JENKINS, Benavia....  3|  5   0  13  .385|  1|  3   1|  0|  5| 2  7  1|  0
 12 MCCRAY, Nicole......  3|  8   4  17  .235|  2|  0   2|  1|  8| 1  4  0|  0
 23 MOSCOVIC, Lauren....  3|  2   0   5  .400| 44|  0   1|  0| 13| 1  2  1|  1
 33 COLLYMORE, Jane.....  3| 10   4  24  .250|  0|  0   4|  1|  4| 0  3  1|  0
 3  WILLIAMS, Sherri....  1|  1   1   2  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 13 REHME, Ellen........  2|  0   0   3  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 15 MANDES, Jen.........  3|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   0|  1|  9| 0  0  0|  1
 22 WILLIAMS, Taylor....  1|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   2|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 56 ROBINSON, Jacque....  3| 21   4  35  .486|  0|  0   0|  0|  4| 0  4  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 56  15 120  .342| 48|  3  11|  5| 48| 4 22  4|  2
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 15.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  18  2  41  .390   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  20  6  39  .359   FLORIDA GATORS...... 30 30 30  5-1, 0-0 SEC
   3  18  7  40  .275   BYU Cougars......... 26 27 20  2-5, 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|  7   1  11  .545| 31|  1   0|  0|  5| 0  3  0|  0
 3  VARNER, April.......  3|  7   5  21  .095|  2|  0   0|  0|  6| 0  1  1|  0
 8  BOWERS, Carrie......  3|  8   5  25  .120|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  4  0|  0
 9  BROWN, Alexis.......  3|  6   2  17  .235|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  3  0|  0
 10 WEBB, Erin..........  2|  1   4  16 -.188|  1|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 12 CRABBE, Uila........  3|  1   1   4  .000|  1|  1   0|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  0
 5  CASTILLO, Sahara....  2|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 6  METCALF, Lindsey....  3|  1   1   5  .000|  0|  3   1|  1|  4| 0  1  1|  0
 7  LARSON, Allison.....  2|  3   6  20 -.150|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 15 WILSON, Kimberly....  2|  6   3  17  .176|  1|  0   0|  1|  2| 0  2  0|  0
 17 MAHAFFEY, Michelle..  3|  0   1   2 -.500|  3|  0   0|  1| 15| 0  0  0|  0
 18 NIELSEN, Laura......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 40  29 139  .079| 39|  5   1|  3| 42| 0 14  2|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 7.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  15 12  58  .052   Site: Provo, Ut (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  13  9  43  .093   Date: Sep 07, 2002   Attend: 1150   Time: 1h 50m
   3  12  8  38  .105   Referees: TOM GIVEN, KIM NORMAN, KAREN MARSHALL

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)