PROVO -- Thanks to a .533 hitting percentage in the decisive fifth game, 16th-ranked BYU defeated No. 23 Colorado, 33-35, 30-26, 26-30, 30-27, 15-10, in the opening match of the Mizuno Classic. The Cougars improved to 4-1 with the win in front of 1,537 fans at the Smith Fieldhouse. The Buffaloes dropped their first match of the year, falling to 3-1.
"We played the fifth game about as well as you can play in rally scoring," said BYU head coach Elaine Michaelis. "We served tough, the ball was popping-off them on the return. They had trouble getting anything going."
Michaelis said sophomore setter Karina Puikkonen came up big for the team in Thursday's win. "Karina ran a good offense, and she blocked and served very well. She deserves a lot of the credit."
Karina had 10 kills, breaking her previous career high of nine, while also hitting a blistering .529 attack percentage to lead BYU. Senior middle blocker Jackie Bundy came up big in the final three games while recording her first career triple-double with 15 kills, 12 digs and 10 blocks.
"I didn't feel like I played well the first two games," said Bundy, "I decided I needed to go all out after that."
All-American senior middle blocker Nina Puikkonen led the Cougars with 19 kills and passed former Cougar All-American Gale Johnson's 1,340 kills to move into fifth place on BYU's career kills list. Sunny Mahe added 11 kills for BYU while Uila Crabbe had a match-high 13 digs.
Five Buffaloes recorded double-digit kills, led by Kim Taskey and Monique Gerlach with 16 kills apiece. Setter Elizabeth Gower played well, putting up a triple-double with 12 kills and 11 digs along with 53 assists.
Thanks to a strong hitting performance in the final two games, the Cougars finished the match with a .280 attack percentage compared the Buffs' .214 percentage.
"Colorado is a good ranked team," Michaelis said. "That team is going to beat a lot of good teams this year."
Colorado will face Southwest Missouri State Friday in the Mizuno Classic. The Cougars finish the Classic Saturday when they host SMS at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse.
Volleyball Box Score
Colorado Buffaloes vs BYU Cougars (Sep 06, 2001 at BYU PROVO UT)
Colorado Buffaloes | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN
## Name GP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
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2 BARKMAN, Meghan..... 5| 15 4 41 .268| 5| 1 1| 0| 8| 1 4 0| 1| 19.0
7 TASKEY, Kim......... 5| 16 9 44 .159| 9| 3 4| 5| 12| 0 0 0| 0| 19.0
10 RUSSELL, Sonja...... 5| 15 9 39 .154| 2| 1 3| 0| 11| 0 3 0| 0| 17.5
11 GOWER, Elizabeth.... 5| 12 2 21 .476| 53| 1 5| 0| 11| 1 0 0| 2| 14.0
12 VESANOVIC, Monica... 5| 0 0 0 .000| 1| 0 2| 0| 7| 0 0 0| 0| 0.0
15 GERLACH, Monique.... 5| 16 4 36 .333| 1| 1 3| 0| 9| 0 2 0| 0| 18.0
1 VILLWOCK, Sara...... 2| 0 3 4 -.750| 0| 0 0| 0| 1| 0 0 0| 0| 0.0
6 ROBERGE, Josee...... 5| 3 4 11 -.091| 2| 0 0| 0| 4| 0 6 0| 0| 6.0
8 FREDRICKSON, Sara... 2| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 1 0| 0| 0.5
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Totals.............. 5| 77 35 196 .214| 73| 7 18| 5| 63| 2 16 0| 3| 94.0
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 10.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 20 5 44 .341 GAME SCORES 1 2 3 4 5 TEAM RECORDS
2 12 7 43 .116 Colorado Buffaloes.. 35 26 30 27 10 3 - 1
3 21 6 47 .319 BYU Cougars......... 33 30 26 30 15 4 - 1
4 17 12 43 .116
5 7 5 19 .105
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
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2 WHITTAKER, Natalie.. 5| 8 2 21 .286| 2| 0 2| 0| 9| 1 1 0| 0| 9.5
5 PUIKKONEN, Karina... 5| 10 1 17 .529| 56| 1 2| 0| 7| 1 2 1| 0| 13.0
9 PUIKKONEN, Nina..... 5| 19 8 39 .282| 1| 3 9| 1| 11| 0 2 2| 0| 23.0
10 BUNDY, Jackie....... 5| 15 7 33 .242| 2| 0 2| 1| 12| 1 9 1| 0| 20.5
12 CRABBE, Uila........ 5| 0 0 3 .000| 3| 0 2| 3| 13| 0 0 0| 0| 0.0
15 MAHE, Sunny......... 5| 11 3 33 .242| 5| 1 1| 2| 9| 0 6 0| 0| 15.0
4 WARNICK, Becky...... 5| 9 4 22 .227| 0| 0 0| 0| 1| 0 2 0| 0| 10.0
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Totals.............. 5| 72 25 168 .280| 69| 5 18| 7| 62| 3 22 4| 0| 91.0
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 14.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 17 6 36 .306 Site: BYU PROVO UT (SMITH FIELDHOUSE)
2 13 8 40 .125 Date: Sep 06, 2001 Attend: 1537 Time: 2h 15m
3 17 6 37 .297 Referees: TERRI JACKSON, BRUCK GRANT, KAREN MARSHALL
4 16 4 40 .300
5 9 1 15 .533