Cougar Offense Off in Loss to No. 3 Florida
Bowers, Richards Named to All-Tournament Team
GAINESVILLE -- In a battle for the tournament championship it was the host, No. 3 Florida, that prevailed over BYU 3-0 (30-24, 30-19, 30-21) Friday in the finals of the Campus USA Credit Union Invitational.
The Cougars (2-1) kept it a close match at the beginning, but were unable to sustain a consistent attack against the Gators (4-1).
"We were things going in the first game, but couldn't keep it going," BYU coach Karen Lamb said. "Overall, though, this was a great team for us to play. It was a good measure for our team and gave us a good idea of what we need to do to improve."
BYU scored three consecutive points to start the match with a kill by Carrie Bowers and two by Lindsey Metcalf. The Gators would take the lead 5-4, but the Cougars fought back with a 4-0 run. After Florida tied the game at 13-13, the teams would trade sideouts, until the Gators took the lead for good at 17-16.
In the second game, the Cougars fell behind early as the Gators used a quick 7-0 run to take a 7-1 lead. Florida then reeled off another 7-0 run to extend its lead to 22-9. BYU was unable to sustain any run of its own, as it couldn't run off more than three consecutive points.
The third game followed the same storyline as the second, as the Gators used a 6-0 run to start. Aury Cruz led Florida's opening barrage with three kills. Bowers led the Cougar charge with five kills in the game, but the opening cushion established by Florida proved too much for BYU to handle.
"Our offense isn't in sync yet, and Florida had a leg up on us because they played last week," Lamb said. "They seemed to be in their system all day, so holding them to a .222 team attack percentage is something that I'm encouraged by."
For the match, the Cougars hit .052 and were even with the Gators with 10 team blocks each.
The Cougars were led by Bowers for the third consecutive match, as she put down a team-high 13 kills while hitting .243 (13-4-37). She also picked up three digs, and two blocks. Kim Wilson came off the bench to spark the offense with nine kills, hitting .240 and also picking up seven digs.
Lauren Richards posted her second double-double in three matches, as she had 23 assists to go with 10 digs. She also had two blocks and BYU's lone service ace.
The Gators were led by All-American and tournament MVP Cruz who had a match-high 16 kills with a .227 attack percentage.
For the tournament, Bowers led the team by recording 50 kills (5.00 kills per game), with a .443 attack percentage, 17 digs (1.70 dpg) and seven blocks (0.70 bpg). Richards tallied 106 assists (10.60 apg), 16 kills (1.60 kpg), 25 digs (2.50 dpg), five aces (0.50 sapg) and five blocks (0.50 bpg).
"Carrie really had a tremendous tournament," Lamb said. "She is an extremely competitive player and her play is great for the team."
BYU will return home for the start of school next week before departing for Springfield, Mo., on Thursday, where it will take part in the Southwest Missouri State Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational. The Cougars will play Arkansas and North Texas on Friday, and Saint Louis and SMS on Saturday.
The Cougars will make their home debut Sept. 12 against No. 18 Ohio State in the BYU Mizuno Classic.
Volleyball Box Score
2003 BYU Women's Volleyball Stats
BYU Cougars vs FLORIDA (Aug 30, 2003 at Gainesville, FL)
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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3 VARNER, April....... 2| 2 3 19 -.053| 0| 0 0| 2| 3| 0 2 0| 0
5 RICHARDS, Lauren.... 3| 6 5 16 .062| 23| 1 1| 0| 10| 0 2 2| 1
6 METCALF, Lindsey.... 3| 4 7 23 -.130| 0| 0 1| 0| 11| 0 3 0| 0
8 BOWERS, Carrie...... 3| 13 4 37 .243| 4| 0 0| 0| 3| 0 2 0| 0
14 HARTSOCK, Lindsy.... 2| 1 1 5 .000| 0| 0 1| 0| 0| 0 5 0| 0
18 NIELSEN, Laura...... 3| 0 4 7 -.571| 0| 0 4| 0| 0| 0 4 1| 0
4 TOGO, Melanie....... 2| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 2| 0 0 0| 0
7 WILSON, Kim......... 2| 9 3 25 .240| 3| 0 1| 1| 7| 0 1 0| 0
9 BROWN, Lexi......... 1| 0 1 1-1.000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 1 0| 0
12 CRABBE, Uila........ 3| 0 0 0 .000| 3| 0 0| 0| 11| 0 0 0| 0
15 CASTILLO, Sahara.... 1| 0 0 2 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
TEAM................ | | | | 1| | |
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Totals.............. 3| 35 28 135 .052| 33| 1 8| 4| 47| 0 20 3| 1
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 10.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 14 12 46 .043 GAME SCORES 1 2 3 TEAM RECORDS
2 10 6 39 .103 BYU Cougars......... 24 19 21 2-1
3 11 10 50 .020 FLORIDA............. 30 30 30 4-1
FLORIDA | 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 Sherri Williams..... 3| 12 3 21 .429| 0| 0 2| 0| 1| 1 3 0| 0
8 Rachel Engel........ 3| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 2| 0| 10| 0 0 0| 0
9 Aury Cruz........... 3| 16 6 44 .227| 0| 2 2| 1| 12| 2 1 0| 0
10 Benavia Jenkins..... 3| 10 3 25 .280| 0| 0 1| 0| 3| 1 1 0| 0
23 Lauren Moscovic..... 3| 1 0 5 .200| 40| 0 0| 0| 3| 0 0 0| 0
33 Jane Collymore...... 3| 8 4 20 .200| 1| 2 1| 0| 14| 0 1 0| 0
7 Michelle Chatman.... 1| 1 0 2 .500| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
13 Amber McCray........ 3| 0 4 9 -.444| 2| 0 0| 0| 0| 2 2 0| 0
15 Jen Mandes.......... 3| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 17| 0 0 0| 0
22 Taylor Williams..... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 1| 0 0 0| 0
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Totals.............. 3| 48 20 126 .222| 43| 4 8| 1| 61| 6 8 0| 0
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 10.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 15 8 43 .163 Site: Gainesville, FL (O'Connell Center)
2 17 5 39 .308 Date: Aug 30, 2003 Attend: 4297 Time: 1:31
3 16 7 44 .205 Referees: Donna Carter, Leisa Jordan