BYU Sweeps Past New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE -- Jumping out early and playing one of its best overall matches of the year, No. 16 BYU downed New Mexico in three games Saturday at Johnson Arena in Albuquerque.

Senior middle blocker Jackie Bundy hit .526 with 13 kills to lead BYU to the 30-18, 30-18, 30-21 victory, its third straight win in as many nights. All-American middle blocker Nina Puikkonen added 12 kills for the Cougars, her 19th consecutive match with more than 10 kills.

"We played about as well as we have played all year," BYU coach Elaine Michaelis said. "We played with good intensity and we played smart volleyball. We were able to control the tempo and not let them get any runs. Our serve game was effective, which kept them out of their offense."

BYU never let the Lobos get anything going and cruised to the win. The Cougars hit .368 in game one, .294 in game two and finished with a .400 attack percentage in the third game to keep the pressure on the Lobos. New Mexico finished stronger in game three with a .258 attack percentage but was unable to slow down the Cougar attack.

"New Mexico is an improved team," Michaelis said. "They are playing better than earlier in the year but we played very well tonight."

Overall, BYU out hit the Lobos .355 to .143 and had 55 kills to New Mexico's 33. The Cougars recorded seven service aces with only five service errors. Bundy and Uila Crabbe each had two aces while Natalie Whittaker, Sunny Mahe and Karina Puikkonen each had one. Crabbe had a match-best 13 digs for BYU while Whittaker had a solid overall effort with eight kills and a .333 attack percentage with six digs.

Malena Thompson and Anna Reines each tallied 10 kills to lead the Lobo attack. New Mexico dropped to 3-17 overall and 1-10 in the Mountain West Conference with the loss. BYU improved to 15-4 and 8-2 to stay in second place along with No. 15 Utah.

The Cougars will look for its fourth straight road win Tuesday when they face Weber State in Ogden, Utah. BYU will then host MWC leader Colorado State Friday and Wyoming Saturday at the Smith Fieldhouse.

Volleyball Box Score
                            The Automated ScoreBook
      BYU Cougars vs New Mexico Lobos (Oct 27, 2001 at Albuquerque, N.M.)
    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|  8   2  18  .333|  1|  1   0|  1|  6| 0  2  0|  0|  10.0
 5  PUIKKONEN, Karina...  3|  7   0   9  .778| 41|  1   0|  0|  6| 0  3  0|  1|   9.5
 9  PUIKKONEN, Nina.....  3| 12   5  22  .318|  2|  0   1|  0|  5| 0  4  0|  0|  14.0
 10 BUNDY, Jackie.......  3| 13   3  19  .526|  2|  2   3|  1|  3| 0  4  0|  0|  17.0
 12 CRABBE, Uila........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  2   0|  0| 13| 0  0  0|  0|   2.0
 15 MAHE, Sunny.........  3|  6   2  20  .200|  5|  1   1|  0|  5| 0  3  0|  0|   8.5
 11 RICHARDS, Lauren....  3|  9   5  19  .211|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  1|  0|   9.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 55  17 107  .355| 52|  7   5|  2| 39| 0 16  1|  1|  70.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 8.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  18  4  38  .368   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  18  8  34  .294   BYU Cougars......... 30 30 30  15-4, 8-2 MWC
   3  19  5  35  .400   New Mexico Lobos.... 18 18 21  3-17, 1-10 MWC
    New Mexico Lobos       |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  REINES, Anna........  3| 10   5  27  .185|  0|  0   1|  0|  2| 0  1  0|  0|  10.5
 2  HAYES, Lynzie.......  2|  1   2   5 -.200|  2|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  2  1|  0|   2.0
 5  THOMPSON, Malena....  3| 10   4  23  .261|  0|  0   1|  1|  5| 0  1  1|  0|  10.5
 6  SHIELDS, Vanessa....  3|  4   2  11  .182|  1|  1   1|  2|  6| 0  3  0|  0|   6.5
 9  GRIFFIN, Kelly......  3|  2   0  10  .200| 22|  0   2|  0|  6| 0  0  1|  0|   2.0
 13 KAVENY, Cayse.......  3|  4   4  16  .000|  1|  0   0|  1|  2| 0  1  0|  2|   4.5
 10 BURNS, Blaire.......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   2|  1|  3| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 11 MASTEN, Staci.......  2|  1   0   1 1.000|  0|  0   0|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  1|   1.0
 14 KIRSCH, Ashley......  2|  1   2   4 -.250|  2|  0   0|  1|  1| 0  2  0|  0|   2.0
 15 TIXIER, Alex........  3|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  1   1|  1|  6| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 33  19  98  .143| 28|  2   8|  7| 35| 0 10  3|  3|  40.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 5.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  11  7  33  .121   Site: Albuquerque, N.M. (Johnson Arena)
   2   9  7  34  .059   Date: Oct 27, 2001   Attend: 324   Time: 1:20
   3  13  5  31  .258   Referees: Patsy Malta, Cedric AllRunner
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