By CAMIE HOWARD
The BYU women’s volleyball team was victorious in all three matches Friday and Saturday — proving its status as a top-four team.
After beating WAC opponent UTEP, 15-2, 15-0 and 15-9, in an afternoon scrimmage Friday, the Cougars swept past seventh-ranked UC Santa Barbara later that same night, winning 15-10, 15-6 and 15-3.
The University of New Mexico met the same fate on Saturday night. BYU won its 15th match in a row, shutting out the Lobos in three-straight games
“Being No. 4 is legitimate now,” BYU head coach Elaine Michaelis said. “They really did it — they played very well.”
As if the excitement of beating UC Santa Barbara was not enough Friday, Michaelis also chalked up her 800th college victory with BYU’s win over UTEP.
Michaelis says in her history of coaching BYU, she only remembers one or two down years.
“I’ve had the fortune of being in a good situation,” Michaelis said. “I’ve worked with wonderful people and good coaches.”
Not even close to feeling burnt-out, Michaelis said she attributes her success as a coach to working with great kids.
“That’s what makes the difference,” she said. “I’ve been very lucky.”
BYU did not need much luck in its win over UC Santa Barbara. The Cougars’ middle attack stopped the Gauchos in their tracks.
Suffering from a little tendonitis in her knee, middle blocker Nina Puikkonen sat out most of the UTEP match. However, she recovered just in time to have the best game of her career against UC Santa Barbara with 19 kills, eight digs and four blocks.
“(Friday) night I saw things a lot more clear,” Puikkonen said. “I just knew what to do.”
Sitting out Saturday night, Puikkonen did not play in the New Mexico match. The tendonitis in her knee had flared up again, and Puikkonen decided a rest was necessary.
“Having Nina out of the New Mexico game gave Alyssa and Natalie some playing time,” Michaelis said.
However, getting used to a new set of players on the floor took some time, Michaelis said.
“We started out slow in the first couple of games (against New Mexico),” she said. “But once we got focused, everyone relaxed and we did a nice job of maintaining concentration.”
Every player on the team had an exceptional weekend, she added.
“Everybody found their niche and played well,” Michaelis said. “Al (Anna-Lena Smith) does a real good job of distributing the ball — you have to give her a lot of credit.”
Smith had 120 assists for the entire weekend’s play while racking up a total of 17 kills.
BYU outside hitter, Helen Hjorth, also contributed with nine kills and 12 digs against UTEP, nine kills and seven digs against UC Santa Barbara, and four kills and 11 digs against New Mexico.
Hjorth says the heavy weekend schedule is something BYU should be expected to play.
“We’re used to practicing — we should be in top shape,” Hjorth said.
BYU rightside hitter Korie Rogers agreed and said she looked at the weekend matches as an opportunity for BYU to show its skill and talent as a volleyball team.
Rogers also racked up her share of kills, scoring nine against UTEP, 10 against UC Santa Barbara and nine against New Mexico.
Michaelis said the entire weekend was great, not only because BYU won, but because of the support shown by the fans.
“We were pleased to see the crowd that showed up,” Michaelis said. “It means a lot to the team.”
