Cougars Hitting on All Cylinders in Win over Lobos

PROVO -- Senior Allison Larson led four Cougars with double-digit kills as BYU swept New Mexico 30-27, 30-20, 30-13 Saturday at the Smith Fieldhouse. With the win, BYU improved to 7-10 overall and 2-2 in the Mountain West Conference while the Lobos fell to 6-10 and 1-2.

"We attacked everything tonight and played with a lot of confidence," BYU coach Karen Lamb said. "Our passing was good and we made plays. I was proud of the way we competed and hustled. Our outsides played particularly well I thought."

Larson, BYU's rightside hitter, hit a team-leading and career-best .458 attack percentage while putting down a match-high 13 kills with only two errors in 24 attempts. Sophomore outside hitter April Varner added 12 kills while hitting .409 while junior middle blocker Carrie Bowers and freshman outside Kim Wilson each contributed 11 kills for the Cougars.

Junior setter Karina Puikkonen tossed up 48 assists while helping BYU achieved its third-highest team attack percentage of the season at .355. Sophomore middle blocker Lindsey Metcalf hit .400 while Bowers hit .375 and Wilson a career-best .360. Puikkonen was the only player to hit below .360, with 2 kills and three errors in 10 attempts.

New Mexico hit .113 for the night with Vanessa Shields leading the attack with nine kills while Anna Reines added seven. The Lobos' Blaire Burns equaled BYU's Metcalf for match-high dig honors with 13 while Varner completed a double-double for BYU with 12 digs to go with her 12 kills.

The first game was tight throughout until BYU scored four straight points to turn a 27-26 New Mexico advantage into a 30-27 victory. Varner put down two of the four points, including the game winner. In game two, BYU jumped out to a 10-4 lead and was able to keep the momentum. Larson won the game with her 11th kill of the match, swinging from the right side and using the Lobo block to her advantage.

BYU kept rolling in the decisive game, hitting an amazing .516. With the score tied at 6-6, BYU tallied eight consecutive points with Bowers serving to kill any possible New Mexico comeback. Bowers finished with two aces along with Wilson while Metcalf had a match-high three service winners for the Cougars. BYU's seven aces equaled the team's season high.

Overall, BYU outblocked the Lobos 9.5 to 3.0 and came up with 58 digs to 44 for New Mexico. The Lobos had three aces.

BYU plays two instate matches next week, taking on Utah State Tuesday before meeting MWC-favorite Utah Friday in Salt Lake City.

                              Volleyball Box Score
             NEW MEXICO vs BYU Cougars (Oct 05, 2002 at PROVO, UT)
    NEW MEXICO             |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  REINES, Anna........  3|  7   9  33 -.061|  0|  0   1|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 5  MEIHACK, Monica.....  3|  1   1   9  .000| 29|  1   2|  0|  8| 0  1  2|  1
 6  SHIELDS, Vanessa....  3|  9   3  26  .231|  0|  1   0|  1|  3| 1  0  0|  0
 8  SONDRUP, Chelsea....  3|  6   0  12  .500|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  1|  0
 11 MASTEN, Staci.......  3|  3   4   9 -.111|  1|  0   0|  2|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 13 KAVENY, Cayse.......  2|  3   3  12  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 1  1  0|  0
 2  HAYES, Lynzie.......  3|  6   1  20  .250|  3|  1   0|  1|  7| 0  0  0|  0
 10 BURNS, Blaire.......  3|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   0|  2| 13| 0  0  0|  0
 15 SANCHEZ, Andrea.....  3|  0   0   2  .000|  0|  0   0|  1|  8| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 35  21 124  .113| 33|  3   3|  7| 44| 2  2  3|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 3.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  18  6  40  .300   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2   9  7  48  .042   NEW MEXICO.......... 27 20 13  6-10,1-2 MWC
   3   8  8  36  .000   BYU Cougars......... 30 30 30  7-10, 2-2 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
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  PUIKKONEN, Karina...  3|  2   3  10 -.100| 48|  0   0|  0|  7| 0  1  1|  1
 3  VARNER, April.......  3| 12   3  22  .409|  1|  0   1|  1| 12| 0  4  0|  0
 6  METCALF, Lindsey....  3|  8   2  15  .400|  2|  3   2|  1| 13| 1  5  2|  0
 7  LARSON, Allison.....  3| 13   2  24  .458|  2|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  2  0|  0
 8  BOWERS, Carrie......  3| 11   2  24  .375|  0|  2   1|  0|  2| 0  3  0|  0
 15 WILSON, Kimberly....  3| 11   2  25  .360|  0|  2   1|  1|  9| 0  2  1|  0
 12 CRABBE, Uila........  3|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  8| 0  0  0|  0
 17 MAHAFFEY, Michelle..  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  7| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 57  14 121  .355| 53|  7   5|  3| 58| 1 17  4|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 9.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  19  5  39  .359   Site: PROVO, UT (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  22  9  51  .255   Date: Oct 05, 2002   Attend: 699   Time: 1h 30m
   3  16  0  31  .516   Referees: VERNA KLUBNIKIN, ANETTE COTTLE, KAREN MARSHALL