Cougars Top Wyoming In Three Straight

PROVO -- Nina Puikkonen and No. 16 BYU bounced back after Friday's loss, to defeat the Cowgirls in three straight games Saturday at the Smith Fieldhouse. The Cougars improved to 17-5 overall as they won, 30-16, 30-20, 30-27, and Wyoming dropped to 8-12 overall.

The Cougars cleared the bench in the third game as they improved to 9-3 in Mountain West Conference play and Wyoming fell to 3-8 in conference play.

"It's good to give everyone an opportunity play," BYU head coach Elaine Michaelis said. "They all work hard in practice and deserve an opportunity to put their skills on the court."

After the tough loss to Colorado State, Puikkonen came out swinging, putting down 6 kills in the first game on the way to 10 kills for the match and four blocks, which all came in the first game. Jackie Bundy finished with 12 kills, seven digs and three blocks. Natalie Whittaker finished with nine kills and nine digs, shining with Puikkonen and Bundy on Senior Night at the Smith Fieldhouse.

BYU's senior triumvirate, Puikkonen, Bundy and Whittaker, were honored before the last home game of the regular season. The three were honored along with sole Wyoming senior Rachel Lau, who led the Cowgirls with 10 kills on the night.

"We will lose three of our top players, and three of the best people you'll ever know," Michaelis said. "I told my seniors, 'I'm glad it's not over yet.' We still have a lot of volleyball to play this year."

Karina Puikkonen dominated the passing and set the tone for the Cougar attack with 36 assists.

"Wyoming had no answer for Karina," Michaelis said. "She put the ball up high and tight."

The Cougars will travel to Las Vegas to play UNLV Nov. 9, and on to San Diego to play San Diego State Nov. 10.

Volleyball Box Score
                            The Automated ScoreBook
         Wyoming Cowgirls vs BYU Cougars (Nov 03, 2001 at BYU PROVO UT)
    Wyoming Cowgirls       |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  DOMAN, Amy..........  3|  4   1   9  .333| 27|  0   0|  0|  5| 0  0  0|  1|   4.0
 4  ROSLUND, Jill.......  3|  2   1   6  .167|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  1  0|  0|   2.5
 6  ROBINETT, Melissa...  3|  7   7  23  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  3  0|  0|   8.5
 9  MAYTORENA, Sara.....  3|  7   8  27 -.037|  3|  0   2|  0|  8| 0  2  0|  0|   8.0
 14 LATIMER, Vanessa....  3|  5   4  18  .056|  1|  0   2|  2|  4| 0  0  0|  0|   5.0
 16 LAU, Rachel.........  3| 10   5  28  .179|  1|  1   2|  0|  4| 1  0  0|  0|  12.0
 12 JARMAN, Katie.......  3|  0   1   3 -.333|  0|  0   1|  0|  7| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 35  27 114  .070| 32|  1   8|  2| 32| 1  6  0|  1|  40.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 4.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  10 13  38 -.079   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  11  6  36  .139   Wyoming Cowgirls.... 16 20 27   8 - 12  3 - 8 MWC
   3  14  8  40  .150   BYU Cougars......... 30 30 30  17 -  5  9 - 3 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|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  WHITTAKER, Natalie..  3|  9   3  23  .261|  0|  1   0|  0|  9| 0  2  0|  0|  11.0
 5  PUIKKONEN, Karina...  3|  9   1  12  .667| 36|  0   0|  0|  7| 1  2  1|  0|  11.0
 9  PUIKKONEN, Nina.....  3| 10   5  19  .263|  1|  0   0|  0|  5| 0  4  0|  0|  12.0
 10 BUNDY, Jackie.......  3| 12   7  25  .200|  4|  0   1|  0|  7| 0  3  0|  1|  13.5
 12 CRABBE, Uila........  3|  0   0   1  .000|  1|  0   0|  0|  6| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 15 MAHE, Sunny.........  2|  6   1  13  .385|  2|  1   1|  0|  2| 0  0  1|  0|   7.0
 4  WARNICK, Becky......  1|  3   2   7  .143|  1|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   3.0
 6  STEELE, Lindsey.....  1|  3   1   5  .400|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  2  0|  0|   4.0
 7  LARSON, Allison.....  1|  1   0   2  .500|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0|   1.5
 8  BOWERS, Carrie......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 11 RICHARDS, Lauren....  1|  0   1   2 -.500|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 1  0  0|  0|   1.0
 17 MAHAFFEY, Michelle..  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  1|  2| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 53  21 109  .294| 45|  2   3|  1| 42| 2 14  2|  1|  64.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 9.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  14  4  28  .357   Site: BYU PROVO UT (SMITH FIELDHOUSE)
   2  21  8  42  .310   Date: Nov 03, 2001   Attend: 971   Time: 1H 15M
   3  18  9  39  .231   Referees: VERNA KLUBNIKIN, MAILE JEWKES, KAREN MARSHALL