BYU Bounces Back, Defeat Aztecs in Four

PROVO -- All-American Nina Puikkonen was one block away from a triple-double in the Cougars victory over SDSU, 30-27, 15-30, 30-28, 31-29. BYU improves to 11-2 overall and 5-1 in the conference, while the Aztecs fall to 10-5 overall and 4-2 in Mountain West Conference play.

"SDSU is a very good team," BYU head coach Elaine Michaelis said. "The Aztecs were very aggressive on the attack."

On the way to recording the 19th-straight home win, the Cougars struggled in the second game. "The serve was aggressive and we didn't pass very well," Michaelis said.

Puikkonen recorded a season-high 21 kills along with 12 digs and nine blocks in front of 2,429 fans, a season high attendance for the Smith Fieldhouse.

Jackie Bundy recorded 12 kills, many of which powered the Cougars through a late fourth-game rally to win the match. "I wasn't prepared for their blocking to be as good as it was," Bundy said. "We made some adjustments and we were able to get some kills through."

"Jackie (Bundy) helped the team with her strong serves," Michaelis said. "In both games she served a string of points that disrupted the Aztec offense."

The Aztecs featured Zlatina Anguelova who finished 23 kills, 11 digs and nine blocks against the Cougars.

BYU's Sunny Mahe had 11 kills and Lauren Richards had 10 kills, making them two of four Cougars that finished with 10 or more kills.

Michaelis attributed some of the 37 team hitting errors to poor passing. "Passing is something that we will be working on," she said.

BYU hosts MWC opponent UNLV Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse.

Volleyball Box Score
                            The Automated ScoreBook
           SDS Aztecs vs BYU Cougars (Oct 12, 2001 at BYU PROV UTAH)
    SDS Aztecs             |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  AKPORIAYE, NICOLE...  4| 11   3  21  .381|  0|  0   0|  0|  6| 1  4  0|  0|  14.0
 5  MAGNUSON, Katie.....  4|  9   9  34  .000|  1|  3   0|  1| 14| 1  0  0|  0|  13.0
 10 WRIGHT, Melissa.....  4|  1   1   5  .000| 57|  0   0|  0|  8| 0  2  0|  2|   2.0
 11 SCHAUERMANN, Megan..  4|  8   3  19  .263|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  1  1|  0|   8.5
 15 ANGUELOVA, Zlatina..  4| 23   6  53  .321|  0|  2   0|  3| 11| 1  8  2|  0|  30.0
 16 McPARTLAND, Aspen...  4| 10   6  26  .154|  1|  1   1|  0|  9| 0  5  0|  0|  13.5
 7  CURRIER, Rochelle...  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 8  GREGG, Robyn........  4|  2   0   3  .667|  0|  0   2|  0| 14| 0  0  0|  0|   2.0
 9  PFRENZINGER, Christy  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 64  28 161  .224| 59|  6   3|  4| 65| 3 20  3|  2|  83.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 13.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  16  6  40  .250   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2  15  2  34  .382   SDS Aztecs.......... 27 30 28 29  10 - 5  ; 4 - 2 MWC
   3  17 12  42  .119   BYU Cougars......... 30 15 30 31  11 - 2  ; 5 - 1 MWC
   4  16  8  45  .178
    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..  4|  7   2  31  .161|  4|  0   0|  0| 16| 0  1  0|  0|   7.5
 5  PUIKKONEN, Karina...  4|  6   4  16  .125| 48|  1   0|  0|  5| 0  7  0|  0|  10.5
 9  PUIKKONEN, Nina.....  4| 21   9  50  .240|  1|  2   2|  4| 12| 2  7  1|  0|  28.5
 10 BUNDY, Jackie.......  4| 12   9  28  .107|  0|  1   2|  0|  6| 0  5  2|  0|  15.5
 12 CRABBE, Uila........  4|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   2|  1| 14| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 15 MAHE, Sunny.........  4| 11   5  31  .194|  5|  0   1|  1|  8| 0  3  0|  0|  12.5
 6  STEELE, Lindsey.....  1|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 11 RICHARDS, Lauren....  4| 10   8  24  .083|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  1  2|  0|  10.5
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 67  37 182  .165| 58|  4   7|  6| 61| 2 24  5|  0|  85.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 14.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  20  9  50  .220   Site: BYU PROV UTAH (SMITH FIELDHOUSE)
   2  12  8  38  .105   Date: Oct 12, 2001   Attend: 2429   Time: 2H
   3  16  8  44  .182   Referees: ANNETTE COTTLE, BILL PEER, MARINDA ASHMAN
   4  19 12  50  .140