Dec. 8, 2000

By DOROTHY KNOELL
The Daily Herald

PROVO, Utah - The first pay-back match went well for the 12th-ranked BYU women's volleyball team.

The Cougars (26-6) can only hope attempt No. 2 goes equally well this weekend.

BYU lost to Utah State in a three-game sweep in Logan early in the year, then got back at the Aggies last weekend in the NCAA sub-regional final at the Smith Fieldhouse, winning 15-9, 15-10, 15-10. That victory advanced them to the Central Regional this weekend in Lincoln, Neb.

The Cougars' first-round game in the regional will be against fifth-ranked Arizona (27-4), which beat the Cougars in four games early this season -- in fact, just a couple of days after the Aggies beat BYU.

Now, BYU faces the Wildcats again Friday at 4 p.m. The second game will pit Ohio State (26-6) against top-ranked Nebraska (30-0).

"I think it (the earlier match) gives us a good perspective of the quality of team they are," BYU coach Elaine Michaelis said about the Cougars' first-round matchup. "They have a very good record and they played very well against us the first time.

"We know what we're up against. We have a lot of respect for them because of that meeting. It helps us to know their personnel and be a little more prepared this time."

Arizona coach David Rubio said that facing BYU earlier in the season meant that neither team would "have any secrets" from the other. But he expected BYU to be better now than when the Cougars played at Arizona.

"Any time you play a team early in the year that is as physically talented as they are, with a young setter (redshirt freshman Karina Puikkonen), the learning curve is much greater," Rubio said. "As they played throughout the season, the players improve and the setter becomes more familiar with the attackers.

"I expect them to be much different than they were three months ago."

The winners of Friday's matches advance to Saturday's 6 p.m. final. The winner of the final will go to the Final Four in Richmond, Virginia.

One of Arizona's losses this season was to MWC regular-season champion Colorado State, which split regular-season matches with BYU and lost to the Cougars in the finals of the MWC tournament.

Arizona is led by a trio of hitters, Allison Napier (6-foot-2 outside hitter), Marisa DaLee (6-3 middle blocker) and Lisa Rutledge (6-2 outside hitter), who average 3.97, 3.49 and 3.04 kills per game, respectively. Arizona has a team hitting percentage of .323.

The Cougars, who have won 13 matches in a row, are led by 6-3 middle blocker Nina Puikkonen, who averages 4.17 kills per game and 1.89 blocks per game.

The Cougars are the No. 2 blocking team in the nation. Nebraska is the top blocking team in the country.