In addition to her 31 assists, junior setter Karina Puikkonen hit .545 with seven kills and only one error in 11 attempts Saturday against No. 6 Florida. (Photo by Jaren Wilkey/BYU Photo)

PROVO -- A spirited BYU women's volleyball team was swept by No. 6 Florida Saturday 26-30, 27-30, 20-30 in the Smith Fieldhouse in the final match of the BYU Mizuno Classic.

"We started well in tonight's match," head coach Karen Lamb said. "Florida's got a nice athletic team, but we just couldn't generate enough offense."

Florida came out strong in game one, and put BYU in a 8-16 hole after a kill by Lauren Moscovic. After a Moscovic serve, Karina Puikkonen put down a kill to turn the tide. BYU proceeded to reel off a 6-0 run after kills by Allison Larson and Erin Webb, a service ace by Puikkonen and two consecutive kills by Lexi Brown. The Cougars pulled to within two at 14-16 and managed to tie the game at 20-20, but the Gators pulled away late to take the game.

BYU fell behind early again in the second match as the Gators behind six kills by Jacque Robinson built an 18-9 lead. The Cougars, though, clawed their way back into the game spiked by a 5-0 run with Carrie Bowers serving. BYU pulled to within two at 27-29 after a Lindsey Metcalf ace, but were unable to pull the game out.

The Gators turned their serving up a notch in the third game as the Cougars were unable to get their offense on track. Florida's lead bulged at 15-6 as they cruised to take the match.

"We're getting better," Lamb said. "We have been extremely solid with our block this season and tonight we could've been better with our block. They're an athletic team that can really jump and we were early on our timing, so it put us out of sync. We did manage to adjust though, and if we keep attacking we'll start making more plays."

The Cougars were led by all-tournament performer Carrie Bowers as she had a team-high eight kills. Puikkonen continues to be a force as she racked up seven kills with only one attack error while hitting .545. She also compiled 31 assists, five digs and three blocks.

"If we make one or two less errors per player we win those first two games," Bowers said. "I can see the improvement we're making, but I just wish we could finish strong and be a tougher team."

Florida was led by Jacque Robinson, who had a monster night with 21 kills while hitting .486. Overall the Cougars were outhit .079 to .342 and were outblocked for only the second time this season 7-15.

The loss drops the Cougars to 2-5 overall and they were 1-3 in the tournament. With the win the Gators improve to 5-1.

The Cougars have two days off before returning on Tuesday to the Smith Fieldhouse to host Weber State at 7 p.m.

2002 BYU Mizuno Classic All-Tournament Team

Keao Burdine, USC -- MVP

April Ross, USC

Emily Adams, USC

Nicole McCray, Florida

Benevia Jenkins, Florida

Patricia Menezes, Oral Roberts

Carrie Bowers, BYU

2002 Mizuno Classic (team finishes):

USC (3-0)

Florida (2-1)

Oral Roberts (2-1)

BYU (1-3)

Wake Forest (0-3)

                              Volleyball Box Score
           FLORIDA GATORS vs BYU Cougars (Sep 07, 2002 at Provo, Ut)
    FLORIDA GATORS         |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 7  CHATMAN, Michelle...  3|  9   2  18  .389|  1|  0   1|  0|  4| 0  2  1|  0
 8  ENGEL, Rachel.......  2|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   0|  2|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 10 JENKINS, Benavia....  3|  5   0  13  .385|  1|  3   1|  0|  5| 2  7  1|  0
 12 MCCRAY, Nicole......  3|  8   4  17  .235|  2|  0   2|  1|  8| 1  4  0|  0
 23 MOSCOVIC, Lauren....  3|  2   0   5  .400| 44|  0   1|  0| 13| 1  2  1|  1
 33 COLLYMORE, Jane.....  3| 10   4  24  .250|  0|  0   4|  1|  4| 0  3  1|  0
 3  WILLIAMS, Sherri....  1|  1   1   2  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 13 REHME, Ellen........  2|  0   0   3  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 15 MANDES, Jen.........  3|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   0|  1|  9| 0  0  0|  1
 22 WILLIAMS, Taylor....  1|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   2|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 56 ROBINSON, Jacque....  3| 21   4  35  .486|  0|  0   0|  0|  4| 0  4  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 56  15 120  .342| 48|  3  11|  5| 48| 4 22  4|  2
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 15.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  18  2  41  .390   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  20  6  39  .359   FLORIDA GATORS...... 30 30 30  5-1, 0-0 SEC
   3  18  7  40  .275   BYU Cougars......... 26 27 20  2-5, 0-0 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
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  PUIKKONEN, Karina...  3|  7   1  11  .545| 31|  1   0|  0|  5| 0  3  0|  0
 3  VARNER, April.......  3|  7   5  21  .095|  2|  0   0|  0|  6| 0  1  1|  0
 8  BOWERS, Carrie......  3|  8   5  25  .120|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  4  0|  0
 9  BROWN, Alexis.......  3|  6   2  17  .235|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  3  0|  0
 10 WEBB, Erin..........  2|  1   4  16 -.188|  1|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 12 CRABBE, Uila........  3|  1   1   4  .000|  1|  1   0|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  0
 5  CASTILLO, Sahara....  2|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 6  METCALF, Lindsey....  3|  1   1   5  .000|  0|  3   1|  1|  4| 0  1  1|  0
 7  LARSON, Allison.....  2|  3   6  20 -.150|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 15 WILSON, Kimberly....  2|  6   3  17  .176|  1|  0   0|  1|  2| 0  2  0|  0
 17 MAHAFFEY, Michelle..  3|  0   1   2 -.500|  3|  0   0|  1| 15| 0  0  0|  0
 18 NIELSEN, Laura......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 40  29 139  .079| 39|  5   1|  3| 42| 0 14  2|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 7.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  15 12  58  .052   Site: Provo, Ut (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  13  9  43  .093   Date: Sep 07, 2002   Attend: 1150   Time: 1h 50m
   3  12  8  38  .105   Referees: TOM GIVEN, KIM NORMAN, KAREN MARSHALL