PROVO -- Led by a balanced offensive attack and strong defense, the No. 17 BYU women's volleyball team upset No. 1 Stanford 15-9, 13-15, 15-6, 15-8 Friday in the BYU Mizuno Classic in the Smith Fieldhouse. BYU, who faces No. 2 Long Beach State Saturday at 7 p.m., improved to 4-1 while Stanford dropped to 4-2.

The Cougars finished the night with four players with 12 or more kills. Juniors Nina Puikkonen and Jackie Bundy led the way with 16 kills apiece. Puikkonen also led the Cougars with a .393 hitting percentage and a season-high 10 total blocks. It was the first win for the Cougars over the Cardinal since 1987.

"Stanford has tradition and is always up there (in the national polls)," BYU coach Elaine Michaelis said. "A win over Stanford is just great."

The Cougar defense held Stanford to a .052 hitting percentage and the only junior Tara Conrad finished with double-digit kills with 14. Besides dishing out 56 assists on the night, BYU freshman setter Karina Puikkonen led the Cougars with 11 digs. The strong defense and balanced offense overcame poor serving by BYU. They finished with 20 service errors and only one service ace.

"We scored 13 points in the second game and had nine service aces," Michaelis said. "We were scoring whenever we got the ball in the court. Michelle (Otteson) came in and served well when Nina (Puikkonen) had trouble finding her serve."

Stanford coach Denise Corlett was also impressed by the Cougars.

"I think BYU is a very good team," Corlett said. "They are very tough to contain with five really good hitters. If they can stay healthy, I think BYU is a legitimate contender."

The Cougars will face another big challenge tomorrow when they finish play in the BYU Mizuno Classic by facing Fairfield at noon and No. 2 Long Beach State at 7 p.m.

Long Beach State Defeats Oral Roberts 3-0 In BYU Mizuno Classic

PROVO, Utah -- Long Beach State sophomore and Orem native Sarah Connor led the 49ers to a 15-9, 15-13, 15-5 win over Oral Roberts Friday in the BYU Mizuno Classic. The win improves Long Beach State to 6-0 on the season. Oral Roberts fell to 1-6.

Connor finished with 15 kills and a .467 hitting percentage to pace Long Beach State. Oral Roberts had three players that finished with 10 kills.

Fairfield Defeats Oral Roberts 3-0 In BYU Mizuno Classic

PROVO, Utah -- Led by sophomore middle blocker Conny Paul, Fairfield defeated Oral Roberts 15-12, 15-7, 15-8 Friday in the first match of the day at the BYU Mizuno Classic. The win improves Fairfield's record to 2-3 on the season while Oral Roberts fell to 1-5.

Paul finished with a match-high 17 kills and a .533 hitting percentage. Leading the way for Oral Roberts was sophomore middle blocker Patricia Dominguez who had 10 kills in a losing effort.

Volleyball Box Score
      No.1 Stanford Card. vs BYU Cougars (Sep 08, 2000 at BYU PROVO,UTAH)
    No.1 Stanford Card.    |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 10 CONRAD, Tara........  4| 14  14  37  .000|  1|  1   1|  1|  5| 1  8  0|  0
 13 IVY, Ashley.........  4|  7   5  18  .111|  0|  0   3|  0|  6| 1  1  0|  0
 17 KAGAWA, Lindsay.....  4|  3   2  10  .100| 46|  0   2|  0|  8| 0  3  0|  0
 18 CHAMBERS, Michelle..  4|  6  11  26 -.192|  0|  0   0|  0| 14| 1  1  0|  0
 21 HARVEY, Jennifer....  2|  0   2   5 -.400|  0|  1   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 24 SANDRIK, Sara.......  3|  9   8  32  .031|  0|  0   1|  0|  4| 0  4  0|  0
 5  LAWRENCE, Emily.....  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 6  McGEE, Sara.........  4|  9   4  22  .227|  0|  0   1|  0|  5| 0  5  1|  0
 7  DUKES, Sara.........  3|  9   2  23  .304|  2|  0   1|  0|  6| 0  2  2|  0
 8  BROWNELL, Jamie.....  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 57  48 173  .052| 49|  2   9|  1| 53| 3 24  3|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 15.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1   8 12  31 -.129   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2  16 11  40  .125   No.1 Stanford Card..  9 15  6  8  4 - 2
   3  10 11  41 -.024   BYU Cougars......... 15 13 15 15  4 - 1
   4  23 14  61  .148
    BYU Cougars            |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  PUIKKONEN, Karina...  4|  7   2  14  .357| 56|  1   3|  0| 11| 0  3  1|  1
 9  PUIKKONEN, Nina.....  4| 16   5  28  .393|  0|  0   4|  0|  9| 4  6  0|  0
 10 BUNDY, Jackie.......  4| 16   9  41  .171|  3|  0   3|  1|  7| 2  7  1|  0
 12 LAYTON, Melissa.....  4| 12   6  31  .194|  2|  0   5|  0|  4| 0  2  0|  0
 14 TONGA, Kalani.......  4|  9   6  27  .111|  2|  0   0|  1|  7| 0  4  0|  0
 15 TONGA, Sunny........  4| 15   6  39  .231|  2|  0   5|  0| 10| 0  5  0|  0
 2  WHITTAKER, Natalie..  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  0
 17 OTTESON, Michelle...  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 75  34 180  .228| 65|  1  20|  2| 52| 6 27  2|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 19.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  11  8  34  .088   Site: BYU PROVO,UTAH (SMITH FIELDHOUSE)
   2  22 15  52  .135   Date: Sep 08, 2000   Attend: 2326   Time: 2H 5M
   3  17  2  41  .366   Referees: TERRI JACKSON, QUINETTE DUNN, KAREN MARSHALL
   4  25  9  53  .302