Surging Cougars Defeat Cowgirls in Five

LARAMIE -- One day after Wyoming swept No. 16 Utah, the BYU women's volleyball team walked into the MultiPurpose Gym Saturday, and for the second consecutive night came out on top of a five-game thriller 33-31, 16-30, 30-23, 20-30, 15-11. The Cougars improve their Mountain West Conference record to 4-3 and 9-12 overall, while the Cowgirls drop to 3-4 MWC and 17-5 overall.

"This was a total team effort," BYU coach Karen Lamb said. "Wyoming is a solid team that is playing great volleyball. We're improving our consistency and finding ways to win, though."

The match was a display of stellar offensive play, with numerous career-highs achieved by the Cougars, as BYU hit .330 and Wyoming would hit .342. The Cougars had an advantage in kills with an 84-74 edge.

Game one would be a precursor to how the match would see-saw all night. Wyoming enjoyed its largest lead of the game at 12-9, but BYU stormed back with one of its most impressive runs of the season, taking 10 of the next 12 points, to enjoy a 19-14 lead. The lead was short-lived, however, as the Cowgirls went on an 8-3 run to tie the game at 22-22. The teams traded points until BYU pulled away late for the win.

Wyoming came back in game two with its best offensive output for the match hitting .542 while stifling the Cougars into hitting .162. The Cowgirls were powered by a 15-2 run, which was keyed by a 9-0 run.

Game three was an offensive show as Wyoming hit .438, but BYU played its most impressive game of the season offensively in racking up 26 kills and hitting .590. BYU was staunch down the stretch as it scored eight of the last nine points.

The Cowgirls stayed alive in the fourth game and took hold of the momentum as they took a game that they led until the Cougars tied it at 22-22. It was point-for-point from that time, but Wyoming managed to take the game.

Like the previous night at Colorado State, BYU took control of the fifth game and didn't look back, as it hit .571 while holding Wyoming to a match-low .118 attack percentage.

"I'm really proud of our team," Lamb said. "We won both of our matches this week, but most importantly we found ways to win and this team is starting to really believe in itself. We're making plays at crucial times in matches."

Junior setter Karina Puikkonen tossed up a career-high 69 assists and tied a career-high with 11 kills, for her fourth double-double of the season, as she paced the high-octane Cougar attack.

Sophomore outside hitter April Varner put down a career-high 23 kills and senior right side hitter Allison Larson provided career-highs of 18 kills and a .500 attack percentage, to account for almost half of BYU's kills.

In her second match since returning from a broken foot, junior middle blocker Laura Nielsen continued her difference-making play in the Cougar lineup as she tied a career-high with 11 kills, set on Friday against the Rams. She also had a team-high four blocks and two digs.

Other Cougars tying career-highs include Michelle Mahaffey with two service aces, Sahara Castillo with three service aces and Kim Wilson with 13 kills.

The Cowgirls were led by Michele Rauter who had a match-high 24 kills to go with 12 digs for a double-double. Sara Maytorena also had a double-double with 20 kills and a career-high 10 blocks.

With the win BYU improves its all-time record over Wyoming to 51-3. The next match-up between the two teams will be Nov. 15 in Provo, Utah at 7 p.m.

BYU will return to Provo to host UNLV Friday and San Diego State Saturday. Both matches will be held in the Smith Fieldhouse and are scheduled for 7 p.m.

Volleyball Box Score
                      MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE VOLLEYBALL
               BYU vs Wyoming (Oct 19, 2002 at Laramie, Wyoming)
    BYU                    |     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| 11   3  19  .421| 69|  1   1|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 3  VARNER, April.......  5| 23  14  55  .164|  1|  0   2|  2|  5| 0  2  0|  0
 5  CASTILLO, Sahara....  5|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  3   5|  0|  9| 0  0  0|  0
 8  BOWERS, Carrie......  5|  8   1  23  .304|  0|  2   1|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 17 MAHAFFEY, Michelle..  5|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  2   1|  1| 10| 0  0  0|  0
 18 NIELSEN, Laura......  5| 11   3  18  .444|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  4  0|  0
 7  LARSON, Allison.....  5| 18   1  34  .500|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  2  0|  0
 12 CRABBE, Uila........  5|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  5| 11| 0  0  0|  0
 15 WILSON, Kimberly....  5| 13   4  27  .333|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  5| 84  26 176  .330| 74|  8  11|  8| 41| 0  8  0|  0
 
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 4.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct   
   1  22  8  48  .292   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  4  5  TEAM RECORDS
   2  12  7  31  .161   BYU................. 33 16 30 29 15  9-12 (4-3 MWC)
   3  26  3  39  .590   Wyoming............. 31 30 23 31 11  17-5 (3-4 MWC)
   4  15  7  44  .182  
   5   9  1  14  .571  
    Wyoming                |     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|  4   0   7  .571| 64|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  2  0|  0
 2  RAUTER, Michele.....  5| 24   9  43  .349|  0|  1   1|  1| 12| 1  0  0|  0
 4  ROSLUND, Jill.......  5|  8   0  14  .571|  0|  5   0|  0|  2| 0  4  0|  0
 9  MAYTORENA, Sara.....  5| 20   6  41  .341|  2|  1   0|  0|  5| 0 10  0|  0
 13 POWERS, Leah........  5|  8   1  18  .389|  0|  0   2|  1|  4| 0  9  0|  0
 14 LATIMER, Vanessa....  5|  1   2   7 -.143|  1|  1   1|  2| 19| 0  0  0|  0
 6  MILLER, Amanda......  5|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  4|  8| 0  0  0|  0
 7  ROEBKEN, Lindsey....  5|  9   5  19  .211|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  5| 74  23 149  .342| 67|  8   4|  8| 53| 1 26  0|  0
 
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 14.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct   
   1  15  6  35  .257   Site: Laramie, Wyoming (MultiPurpose Gym)
   2  15  2  24  .542   Date: Oct 19, 2002   Attend: 925   Time: 2:10    
   3  16  2  32  .438   Referees: Kim Pickering, Donna Wigton
   4  20  7  41  .317  
   5   8  6  17  .118

PROVO -- The BYU women's volleyball team will continue its Mountain West Conference schedule and complete its four-match road trip as it travels to play at MWC leader Colorado State, Oct. 18, and Wyoming, Oct. 19.

The Cougars are off to a 2-3 start in MWC play and are 7-12 overall. They are coming off a week in which they lost a pair of hard fought matches to instate rivals Utah State and No. 16 Utah.

"Injury and inexperience could be excuses for our record, but I'm not making any excuses" BYU coach Karen Lamb said. "We want to win, but we also want to improve and come together as a team. The losses don't bother me as much, as long as we're competing hard and continuing to improve."

With starting redshirt middle blocker Lexi Brown out for the season with a torn ACL, BYU's other starting middle blocker Carrie Bowers, bothered by a sore foot all season, is questionable for this weekend's play. Converted middle blocker Lindsey Metcalf sprained her ankle against USU and is also questionable. Not all is bad for the Cougars, though, as junior transfer middle blocker Laura Nielsen, sidelined for three weeks with a broken foot, is scheduled to return to action this week.

After flirting with inconsistency all season, sophomore outside hitter April Varner is starting to be a consistent force. Last week she led the Cougars in kills in both their matches against USU (17) and No. 16 Utah (13). She also led the team with a .241 attack percentage and tied for the team lead with 19 total digs. Varner picked up her team-leading seventh double-double against USU with 17 kills and 12 digs.

In the Rams and the Cowgirls, the Cougars will be taking on two rising teams.

Colorado State

Colorado State, No. 18 in the preseason USA Today/AVCA Coaches Poll, has won six of its last seven and is a perfect 5-0 in conference play this season.

The Cougars hold a 42-12-1 all-time mark against the Rams and are 15-8 in Fort Collins. Since running off an 18-match winning streak between 1988-1997, BYU is 3-6 against CSU. The teams met twice last year; both Ram sweeps. CSU has swept BYU only four times in series history.

Wyoming

Wyoming is off to one of its best starts ever under first-year head coach Jim Barnes. The Cowgirls recently had an 11-match winning streak snapped, but have won 12 of their last 14.

BYU holds a 50-3 all-time record versus the Cowgirls, including a 19-2 record in Laramie. The Cougars swept all three meetings last year, and currently enjoy a 25-match winning streak against the Cowgirls dating back to 1990, including a 10-match win streak at Wyoming. BYU has swept the last 12 meetings between the two teams.

"To be successful and win matches this weekend we need to serve and pass well," Lamb said. "We've been blocking and playing solid defense for the most part, but we're getting better offensively. This team will be a late bloomer and there's a real possibility that we will do very well as the season progresses."

The Cougars return home to next week to continue their MWC schedule as they take on UNLV, Oct. 25, and San Diego State, Oct. 26.