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Anonymous
| Posted: 5 Sep 2002 | Updated: 8 Nov 2020
Cougars Drop Hard Fought Match to No. 3 USC
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PROVO -- The BYU women's volleyball team played well through the first two games, but No. 3 USC used a balanced attack to sweep the Cougars in the opening match of the BYU Mizuno Classic Thursday, 23-30, 27-30, 15-30.
"I think we came out to win today," head coach Karen Lamb said. "I know before we were more worried about doing our jobs, but today we played with abandon."
After a crafty kill by Karina Puikkonen put the Cougars up 13-10 in the first game, the Trojans called a timeout. USC then reeled off a 7-1 run to force BYU to take a timeout. Freshman Provo native Kim Wilson made her debut against the Trojans, and recorded her first kill on her first collegiate attempt out of the timeout, to draw the Cougars to 15-17. That was as close as the Cougars would be as USC slowly extended its lead before Lauren Killian sealed the game with a kill.
"I didn't even know I was going to play tonight," Wilson said. "All of a sudden Karen (Lamb) told me I was going to play front row. I was nervous, but I just tried to swing hard and be aggressive."
The second game was filled with long rallies, but BYU fell into a quick 0-3 hole. After consecutive Staci Venski kills, BYU found itself down 1-5, but the Cougars slowly clawed their way back into the game thanks to a slew of Trojan hitting errors. Wilson recorded a kill down the line to tie the game at 10-10. BYU led by as many as three points and Allison Larson picked up a service ace to put the Cougars up 26-23 and force a USC timeout. The Trojans again came out strong after a timeout with another 7-1 to seal the game with an Emily Adams kill.
"We definitely competed hard," Lamb said. "But we needed to win that second game. I think we showed glimpses of the team we can be as we gain consistency."
USC was a team possessed in the third game as it outhit BYU .417 to .034. BYU was behind from the onset, and fell behind by as much as 15 points before Katie Olsovsky ended the match with her third kill.
BYU was led by Carrie Bowers who had team-highs with seven kills and a .429 attack percentage. Uila Crabbe continues to be a defensive presence as she compiled 13 digs. Overall the Cougars outdug the Trojans 49-44 and also had the advantage in service aces 5-4.
The Trojans had a balanced attack as six players had at least seven kills. Keao Burdine led the charge with nine kills followed by Alicia Robinson (8), Killian (8), April Ross (7), Venski (7) and Adams (7). USC outhit BYU .300 to .053 and held a 10-3 blocking advantage.
With five new starters the young Cougar team is experiencing some growing pains, but Lamb is confident in her team.
"It's a hard balance right now between urgency and patience," Lamb said. "We're trying to win volleyball matches, but it doesn't happen overnight. I think we got better in a lot of ways tonight. I really like this team and I have a lot of confidence that we will be successful."
The loss drops the Cougars to 1-3, while the Trojans improve to 4-0. USC has won 12 straight games to start its season.
BYU will play two matches Friday. The Cougars will take on Oral Roberts at Noon and will play Wake Forest at 4 p.m. The night match will feature No. 3 USC against No.6 Florida at 7 p.m. All matches are scheduled to be held in the Smith Fieldhouse.
Volleyball Box Score
USC vs BYU Cougars (Sep 05, 2002 at Provo, Utah)
USC | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN
## Name GP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
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3 ANDERSON, Toni...... 3| 0 0 1 .000| 24| 0 0| 0| 5| 0 1 0| 3
4 DAVIS, Nicole....... 3| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 1| 12| 0 0 0| 0
8 BURDINE, Keao....... 3| 9 2 25 .280| 1| 0 2| 1| 6| 1 0 0| 0
13 ROBINSON, Alicia.... 3| 8 4 17 .235| 0| 0 0| 0| 1| 1 2 1| 0
14 ROSS, April......... 3| 7 3 22 .182| 0| 1 4| 1| 11| 0 1 0| 0
21 VENSKI, Staci....... 3| 7 1 17 .353| 0| 0 1| 2| 1| 0 2 1| 0
1 LINDQUIST, Tracy.... 3| 0 0 0 .000| 20| 1 0| 0| 5| 0 0 0| 0
2 MARIANI, Julie...... 2| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 1 1| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
9 ADAMS, Emily........ 3| 7 0 16 .438| 1| 1 2| 0| 3| 0 6 0| 0
15 KILLIAN, Lauren..... 3| 8 3 14 .357| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 4 0| 0
33 OLSOVSKY, Katie..... 2| 3 0 8 .375| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 1| 0
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Totals.............. 3| 49 13 120 .300| 46| 4 10| 5| 44| 2 16 3| 3
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 10.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 15 3 35 .343 GAME SCORES 1 2 3 TEAM RECORDS
2 17 8 49 .184 USC................. 30 30 30 4-0, 0-0 Pac-10
3 17 2 36 .417 BYU Cougars......... 23 27 15 1-3, 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
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2 PUIKKONEN, Karina... 3| 5 0 8 .625| 27| 2 1| 0| 7| 0 1 0| 0
3 VARNER, April....... 3| 5 6 26 -.038| 1| 0 2| 0| 7| 0 0 0| 0
6 METCALF, Lindsey.... 3| 3 5 11 -.182| 0| 1 0| 1| 5| 0 1 0| 1
8 BOWERS, Carrie...... 3| 7 1 14 .429| 0| 0 0| 0| 7| 0 1 0| 0
9 BROWN, Alexis....... 3| 6 6 19 .000| 1| 1 4| 0| 6| 0 1 0| 0
17 MAHAFFEY, Michelle.. 3| 0 1 1-1.000| 3| 0 0| 2| 4| 0 0 0| 0
5 CASTILLO, Sahara.... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
7 LARSON, Allison..... 3| 4 5 17 -.059| 0| 1 1| 0| 0| 1 0 0| 0
10 WEBB, Erin.......... 2| 0 0 1 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
12 CRABBE, Uila........ 3| 0 0 1 .000| 1| 0 0| 1| 13| 0 0 0| 0
15 WILSON, Kimberly.... 3| 4 4 15 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 1| 0
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Totals.............. 3| 34 28 113 .053| 33| 5 8| 4| 49| 1 4 1| 1
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 3.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 10 11 37 -.027 Site: Provo, Utah (Smith Fieldhouse)
2 15 9 47 .128 Date: Sep 05, 2002 Attend: 1151 Time: 1h 35m
3 9 8 29 .034 Referees: TOM GIVEN, BRUCE GRANT, KAREN MARSHAL
