PROVO -- Locked in a defensive battle the entire match in front of a season-high crowd of 2194, the BYU women's volleyball team was edged by instate rival No. 22 Utah 31-33, 30-23, 28-30, 30-26 Friday night in the Smith Fieldhouse. The loss drops the Cougars to 11-15 overall and 6-6 in the Mountain West Conference, while the Utes improve to 20-6, 9-3.

"We did a nice job serving tonight that got them out of their offense," BYU coach Karen Lamb said. "We needed some spark from some people who had been playing well. We didn't have a good offensive match with the exception of Carrie (Bowers) and Karina (Puikkonen)."

One bright spot for the Cougars was the play of junior middle blocker Carrie Bowers who has been suffering from two stress fractures in her feet. Bowers elevated her game with a .429 hitting percentage in putting down 10 kills to go with a career-high nine digs and four blocks.

"Carrie Bowers played one of her best games this year especially with her stress fractures," Lamb said. "It's even more impressive because she hasn't been able to practice the past several weeks."

The first game set the tone for the night as neither team could sustain an attack. Bowers came out strong and recorded three kills in the Cougars' first five points. BYU and Utah each held leads as large as three points. The Utes went up 25-22 to force the Cougars into a timeout. BYU stormed back to tie the game at 26-26 on the strength of two kills by freshman outside hitter Kim Wilson. BYU held a game point advantage at 29-28 when senior rightside hitter Allison Larson knocked Ute libero Jackie Morrill backwards with a kill down the line. However, the Utes eventually battled back to take the game.

In game two, BYU fell behind 1-2, but proceeded to reel off a 7-1 run aided by three Larson kills to take control. The Utes got to within three points on four occasions, but could not get any closer. The Cougars ended the game on a 6-2 run when Kim Turner put a backside set into the net.

Game three was close again, but Utah held the slight advantage in the early going. After sophomore outside hitter Lindsey Metcalf committed an attacking error, Utah took its largest lead at 18-14 to force BYU into a timeout. Out of the timeout, BYU regained the serve and on a block by Laura Nielsen and Metcalf, and Neilsen's serve then carried the Cougars on a 7-1 run as BYU took a 22-20 lead. The game would go back and forth until hitting errors by Nielsen and Wilson.

The Cougars fell behind early in the last game, 2-7, but battled back to tie the game at 11-11. Utah had control of the game, however, and every time the Cougars would climb close, the Utes would answer as they took the match.

Wilson led four Cougars in double-digit kills as she had a match-high 16. Larson had 14 kills and five blocks, Metcalf had her fifth double-double of the season with 11 kills and 10 digs and Bowers had 10 kills.

Last week's MWC Player of the Week Karina Puikkonen continues her stellar play with her fifth double-double of the season with 46 assists and 12 digs. Puikkonen also hit a match-high .500 with eights kills and five blocks.

Utah was led by the double-double duo of Sylva Strzinkova with 15 kills and 11 digs and Kim Turner with 14 kills and 16 digs.

The Utes improved to 11-61 all-time against the Cougars and with the win swept the season series between the two teams for the first time in history.

BYU will play its final conference matches when it hosts Wyoming and Colorado State, Nov. 15 and 16, respectively.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                Utah vs BYU Cougars (Nov 08, 2002 at Provo, UT)
    Utah                   |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  HUNDLEY, Shelly.....  2|  4   1  15  .200|  1|  1   0|  0|  2| 0  1  0|  1
 6  KARTCHNER, Kelsie...  4|  7   2  17  .294| 51|  2   6|  0|  5| 0  3  1|  3
 10 STRZINKOVA, Sylva...  4| 15   6  47  .191|  2|  0   0|  0| 11| 1  4  1|  0
 14 SCHULZ, Sabine......  4|  5   5  20  .000|  1|  0   2|  2|  7| 1  3  0|  0
 15 TURNER, Kim.........  4| 14   4  32  .312|  2|  4   0|  0| 16| 0  8  0|  0
 16 PHILLIPS, Lyndsey...  4|  7   6  22  .045|  1|  0   2|  0|  2| 0  6  0|  0
 2  MORRILL, Jackie.....  4|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  2| 18| 0  0  0|  0
 5  BEAL, Brenda........  3|  4   1  11  .273|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  4  1|  0
 7  WHITING, Britt......  2|  2   1   4  .250|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  2  0|  0
 9  LEICHLITER, Danielle  2|  5   3  13  .154|  0|  2   0|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  1
 17 HORNER, Taryn.......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 63  29 181  .188| 59|  9  11|  4| 64| 2 31  3|  5
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 17.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  16  8  50  .160   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2  16  5  46  .239   Utah................ 33 23 30 30  20-6, 9-3 MWC
   3  12  8  41  .098   BYU Cougars......... 31 30 28 26  11-15, 6-6 MWC
   4  19  8  44  .250
    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...  4|  8   1  14  .500| 46|  0   1|  0| 12| 1  4  0|  1
 6  METCALF, Lindsey....  4| 11   6  37  .135|  3|  0   0|  7| 10| 0  3  0|  0
 8  BOWERS, Carrie......  4| 10   1  21  .429|  0|  1   1|  0|  9| 0  4  1|  0
 15 WILSON, Kimberly....  4| 16   9  45  .156|  1|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  0  1|  0
 17 MAHAFFEY, Michelle..  4|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   0|  0| 11| 0  0  0|  0
 18 NIELSEN, Laura......  4|  7   7  26  .000|  0|  1   1|  0|  2| 0  7  0|  0
 5  CASTILLO, Sahara....  4|  0   0   1  .000|  2|  2   4|  1| 11| 0  0  0|  0
 7  LARSON, Allison.....  4| 14  11  33  .091|  3|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  5  0|  0
 12 CRABBE, Uila........  4|  0   0   1  .000|  4|  0   0|  1| 14| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 66  35 178  .174| 61|  4   7|  9| 75| 1 23  2|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 12.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  16 11  47  .106   Site: Provo, UT (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  21  2  42  .452   Date: Nov 08, 2002   Attend: 2194   Time: 2h 20m
   3  17 15  52  .038   Referees: JOHN MARTIN, MYLIE JEWKES, KAREN MARSHAL
   4  12  7  37  .135

PROVO -- Coming off its most offensively dominating week of the season with wins over New Mexico and Air Force, the BYU women's volleyball team will host No. 22 Utah in a Mountain West Conference and instate showdown Friday at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse. The Cougars' lone match this week will be televised on KBYU and broadcast on the radio through BYU-Radio.

Friday night's match is billed as Girl Scout, Cougar Club and Ward Night where each group will receive special discounts. In a double-bill the BYU men's volleyball team will have its official blue-white scrimmage immediately following the BYU-Utah match.

BYU (11-14, 6-5 MWC) has three home conference matches against Utah, Wyoming and Colorado State remaining before the MWC Tournament Nov. 21-23.

In orchestrating the precise BYU attack last week, junior setter Karina Puikkonen garnered MWC Player of the Week honors. Puikkonen led the team to a .363 hitting percentage and five different BYU players had 20 kills or more with four of those five hitting over .300. On the week she averaged 14.57 assists per game, 1.86 kpg, 1.43 dpg and 2.00 bpg while averaging .667 (13-1-18).

A team victimized by injury this year, starting middle blocker Carrie Bowers was rested last week to alleviate the pain of two stress fractures in her feet. With outside hitter April Varner still out with a severely sprained ankle, BYU was missing its top offensive and defensive players.

Erin Webb stepped in for Bowers and was a force recording 20 kills (2.86 kpg) and 12 blocks (1.71 bpg) on the week. Her partner in the middle, Laura Nielsen, continues to be a consistently effective player. She currently leads the MWC with a .415 attack percentage and ranks sixth in blocks (1.35). Nielsen had 20 kills and hit .429 against the Lobos and Falcons.

Despite injuries and numerous lineup adjustments, the adjustment by and resurgent play of Puikkonen is factoring into the Cougars' improving play of late. Since starting the season 5-9 in which it was outhit .166 to .192, the Cougars have gone 6-5 (5-2 on the road) dramatically improving their attack and have outhit their opponents .225 to .193 during the stretch. True freshman Kim Wilson been the biggest benefactor of increased playing time and has been on a tear. After hitting -.010 in her first 21 games, Wilson has turned it around to hit .230 and stands second on the team with 3.07 kpg.

UTAH

Utah (19-6, 8-3) is riding a five-match win streak since losing back-to-back matches at Wyoming and Colorado State. The Utes are currently ranked 22nd in the AVCA/USA Today Coaches Top 25 Poll, and were ranked as high as No. 8 earlier this season. In its previous meeting with BYU, Utah swept the Cougars (Oct. 11) in a closely contested match.

The Cougars are 61-10 all-time versus the Utes, including 30-2 at home. The Utes, though, have taken the last three matches against the Cougars.

Three-time MWC Player of the Week Kim Turner leads the Utes with team highs in kills per game (4.23), hitting percentage (.335) and blocks per game (1.28) in conference play this season. Sylva Strzinkova is second on the team in kills per game (3.85) and digs per game (2.28).

TELEVISION, RADIO AND INTERNET INFORMATION

The match will be televised in Utah on KBYU-TV, channel 11, on the Dish Network (channel 9403), DirectTV PLUS (channel 374) and AT&T Digital Cable in Utah (channel 34). BYU-Radio will also broadcast the match and is available on Dish Network, extended package (channel 980).

A video and audio stream of the match will also be available on the Internet on the BYU women's volleyball homepage at www.byucougars.com.

NEXT WEEK

The Cougars will close out its regular season conference schedule with a pair of matches at the Smith Fieldhouse next week. BYU will face Wyoming, Nov. 15, and Colorado State, Nov. 16. Both matches are scheduled for 7 p.m.

Additional television and radio information:
TO RECIEVE BYU TELEVISION
Dish Network (channel 9403)
DirecTV PLUS (channel 374)
AT&T Digital Cable in Utah (channel 34)
Cox Digital Cable in Arizona (channel 112) and Nevada (channel 384)
All-American Cable System in Mesa, Arizona (channel 97)
Cowley Cable Television in Cowley, Wyoming
Eagle West L.L.C. Cable in Arizona and Nevada
Cable America in Mesa, AZ (channel 97)
Spanish Fork City Cable in Spanish Fork, UT (channel 40)
TO RECEIVE BYU RADIO
Dish Network, extended package (channel 980)
All-American Cable System in Mesa, Arizona (channel 97)