BYU Handles No. 19 Gauchos In Three

PROVO -- All-American Nina Puikkonen recorded 16 kills and eight blocks to lead BYU as the Cougars defeated UC Santa Barbara, 30-27, 30-26, 30-23, Wednesday in front of 1,037 volleyball fans at the Smith Fieldhouse. The Cougars, ranked 14th in the USA Today/AVCA Top 25 Poll , improved to 7-1 on the season with the victory while No. 19 UCSB dropped to 3-6.

"After beating the Gauchos, I feel good," said BYU head coach Elaine Michaelis. "Santa Barbara is a nice ball control team. You have to be aggressive and put the ball away to win."

The Cougar attack was aggressive with 57 kills in three games, an average of 19 kills per game. BYU finished the night with a .276 hitting percentage after a third-game .464 attack percentage. Sunny Mahe and Jackie Bundy supported the attack with 12 kills each.

UCSB's Danielle Bauer had a match-high 18 kills while hitting .279. The Gauchos' Brooke Niles had a match high 13 digs and a team- best three blocks.

Michaelis credited the defense for supporting the attack with 12 total team blocks and 49 digs. "We had a blocking party in the third game," Michaelis said. The Cougar defense recorded two more digs than UCSB, a team known for its superb ball control.

"There is still room for improvement," Nina Puikkonen said. "It was nice to see my offense improved in both the attack and the serve."

Puikkonen moved into second place, past former All-American Amy Steele Gant , in all-time block assists at BYU. She needs two more blocks to also surpass Gant into second in total blocks.

Setter Karina Puikkonen fed the Cougars the ball 43 times, while she also contributed with four blocks and two service aces. "I feel more confident each time I play," Karina Puikkonen said. "I see things better and communicate better."

BYU will look to extend its 16-match home win streak against Mountain West Conference opponent New Mexico Friday at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse.

Volleyball Box Score
          UCSB Gauchos vs BYU Cougars (Sep 26, 2001 at BYU PROVO UTAH)
    UCSB Gauchos           |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  LAMPE, Brie.........  3|  6   2  15  .267|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0|   6.5
 4  NELSON, Kristin.....  3|  1   0   4  .250|  0|  0   1|  1|  8| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 7  GUERRA, Courtney....  3|  4   6  21 -.095|  1|  0   0|  0|  7| 0  0  0|  0|   4.0
 8  MENZEL, Erica.......  3|  5   6  24 -.042|  0|  0   0|  1|  8| 0  1  0|  0|   5.5
 12 BAUER, Danielle.....  3| 18   6  43  .279|  0|  1   1|  2|  3| 0  2  0|  0|  20.0
 16 NILES, Brooke.......  3|  2   1   7  .143| 30|  2   0|  1| 13| 1  2  0|  1|   6.0
 5  RUNDLE, Brooke......  1|  0   0   1  .000| 10|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 9  McFARLAND, Casey....  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  8| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 10 EDMONDS, Francina...  2|  0   0   2  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0|   0.5
 17 CARROLL, Niki.......  3|  9   1  14  .571|  1|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0|   9.5
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 45  22 131  .176| 42|  3   2|  5| 47| 1  8  0|  1|  53.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 5.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  14  4  49  .204   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  15  9  47  .128   UCSB Gauchos........ 27 26 23  3 - 6; 1 - 1 BWC
   3  16  9  35  .200   BYU Cougars......... 30 30 30  7 - 1; 1 - 0 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|  5   3  13  .154|  0|  0   0|  0| 11| 0  2  1|  0|   6.0
 5  PUIKKONEN, Karina...  3|  6   1  14  .357| 43|  2   1|  0|  7| 0  4  0|  0|  10.0
 9  PUIKKONEN, Nina.....  3| 16   6  36  .278|  1|  0   0|  2|  6| 1  7  0|  1|  20.5
 10 BUNDY, Jackie.......  3| 12   3  25  .360|  2|  1   3|  1|  8| 0  2  1|  0|  14.0
 12 CRABBE, Uila........  3|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  9| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 15 MAHE, Sunny.........  3| 12   2  28  .357|  6|  2   3|  0|  6| 1  4  0|  0|  17.0
 4  WARNICK, Becky......  2|  5   4  12  .083|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  1  0|  0|   5.5
 6  STEELE, Lindsey.....  1|  0   0   3  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 7  LARSON, Allison.....  1|  1   1   2  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 57  20 134  .276| 52|  5   7|  3| 49| 2 20  2|  1|  74.0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 12.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  23  9  57  .246   Site: BYU PROVO UTAH (SMITH FIELDHOUSE)
   2  17  7  49  .204   Date: Sep 26, 2001   Attend: 1073   Time: 1H 30M
   3  17  4  28  .464   Referees: TOM GIVEN, KIM NORMAN, KAREN MARSHALL