Smith Fieldhouse
Smith Fieldhouse Provo UT 84606
PROVO -- Led by the hitting of sophomore Nina Puikkonen, the BYU women's volleyball team came from behind to defeat Wisconsin 3-1 (6-15, 15-10, 15-4, 15-9) Saturday at the Smith Fieldhouse in Provo, Utah. The win, which improves BYU's record to 28-4, advances the Cougars to the regional semifinal for the fourth straight year.
Puikkonen, who was named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year, lifted the Cougars from a 1-0 deficit to take the next three games and give BYU the victory. She finished the night with 24 kills and a .477 hitting percentage while also contributing seven blocks.
The Cougars hit --.080 in the first game which was the first game of the season that saw the Cougars hit a negative team percentage. They bounced back to hit .364 in the second and took the game 15-10.
The BYU block was also a strong key to the victory. The Cougars had 20 team blocks to the Badgers' eight. Sophomore Jackie Bundy led both teams with nine blocks and 14 digs. Senior Mari Carpenter, who didn't play in the first round match against Princeton last night because of a sore back, finished with 10 kills and a career-high eight blocks.
Freshman Erin Byrd and senior Allyson Ross led the way for the Badgers. Byrd finished the night with a double-double, tallying 12 kills and13 digs. Ross, playing in the final match of her career, ended the night with 11 kills and eight digs.
The Cougars advance to play Florida in the regional semifinal. The Gators defeated Illinois 3-2 to advance. BYU leads the all-time series 3-2 with Florida, but the Gators won the last match between the two teams 3-1 in the Florida Invitational in 1997.
1999 NCAA Tournament, Second Round
BYU vs. Wisconsin
December 4, 1999
Smith Fieldhouse, BYU
BYU Coach Elaine Michaelis:
"As you can tell I'm excited. I'm just very pleased with our performance. We had a little lapse in the first game but put it aside and went back to work."
"We passed extremely well and got our offense on track. We had a great block and that was the reason we served well. Serve and receive are the most important parts of the game and I thought we played those well."
"(Wisconsin) plays in a tough conference and did well. (Beating them) shows us we belong where our dreams have been and that we can play with the best people. They are some of the best."
Anna-Lena Smith, Setter, BYU
"We made a lot of unforced errors in the first game. We knew we were the ones who beat us, not them, and so we picked it up. I thought our passing rotation was better and that we served better."
"We're coming together at the right time."
Mari Carpenter, Outside Hitter, BYU
(on not playing against Princeton)
"The team's so well-rounded. I was just eager to play tonight. It always stinks just having to watch."
Wisconsin Coach Pete Waite:
"This is a game of playing together. We need to be playing on all cylinders to beat a team like BYU. We played well in the first game but we didn't play well the rest of the match."
"They outserved us and clearly outblocked us."
Lizzy Fitzgerald, Setter, Wisconsin
"I thought our passers did a good job but I just didn't distribute the ball around enough."
Allyson Ross, Outside Hitter, Wisconsin
"We had a great chance tonight. We were very prepared, we knew their players, but we didn't produce."
Volleyball Box ScoreWISCONSIN BADGERS vs Brigham Young (Dec 04, 1999 at BYU PROVO UT)
WISCONSIN BADGERS | 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 FITZGERALD, Lizzy... 0| 2 0 5 .400| 42| 1 2| 0| 4| 1 1 1| 0
4 ROSS, Allyson....... 0| 11 5 25 .240| 3| 0 4| 1| 8| 0 1 0| 0
5 GARDNER, Jamie...... 0| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 2 0| 0| 6| 0 0 0| 0
8 MEYER, Marie........ 0| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
12 MAASTRICHT, Jenny... 0| 10 10 48 .000| 3| 1 2| 1| 9| 1 1 0| 1
13 BYRD, Erin.......... 0| 12 8 37 .108| 0| 0 1| 0| 13| 0 0 0| 0
15 SHIELDS, Morgan..... 0| 0 0 0 .000| 2| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
17 KENNEDY, Kelly...... 0| 10 5 25 .200| 0| 1 0| 0| 6| 2 0 0| 0
18 LIVINGSTON,Sherisa.. 0| 9 7 29 .069| 0| 0 0| 0| 2| 1 3 1| 0
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Totals.............. 4| 54 35 169 .112| 50| 5 9| 2| 48| 5 6 2| 1
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 8.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 11 5 26 .231 GAME SCORES 1 2 3 4 TEAM RECORDS
2 15 9 45 .133 WISCONSIN BADGERS... 15 10 4 9 22-10 14-6
3 7 8 33 -.030 Brigham Young....... 6 15 15 15 28-4 13-1
4 21 13 65 .123
Brigham Young | 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 WHITTAKER, Natalie.. 4| 0 0 1 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 4| 0 0 0| 0
3 SMITH, Anna-Lena.... 4| 4 1 9 .333| 52| 1 1| 0| 6| 0 2 1| 2
6 KENNEDY, Emily...... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
8 BOWER, Caroline..... 4| 7 3 20 .200| 3| 0 2| 0| 11| 0 5 1| 0
9 PUIKKONEN, Nina..... 4| 24 3 44 .477| 1| 0 4| 1| 7| 0 7 0| 0
10 BUNDY, Jackie....... 4| 8 6 22 .091| 1| 1 1| 3| 14| 1 8 0| 0
12 LAYTON, Melissa..... 4| 3 1 6 .333| 3| 0 3| 0| 12| 0 1 0| 0
14 CARPENTER, Mari..... 4| 10 9 33 .030| 0| 0 0| 0| 2| 2 6 0| 0
15 TONGA, Sunny........ 3| 10 3 19 .368| 3| 0 1| 1| 1| 0 4 0| 0
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Totals.............. 4| 66 26 154 .260| 63| 2 12| 5| 57| 3 33 2| 2
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 19.5
Game K E TA Pct
1 7 9 25 -.080 Site: BYU PROVO UT (SMITH FIELDHOUSE)
2 21 5 44 .364 Date: Dec 04, 1999 Attend: 817 Time: 1H 45M
3 14 4 24 .417 Referees: JOAN POWELL, ANNE PUFAHL, C. RAUSHER/ MARSHALL
4 24 8 61 .262
