Oct. 19, 1999
PROVO, Utah – Nina Puikkonen?s 20 kills led the eighth-ranked Brigham Young Cougars to a 15-12, 15-7, 15-7 non-conference win over Notre Dame here Tuesday night in front of a crowd of 1,218 at the Smith Fieldhouse. With the loss, the Irish dropped to 10-5 overall, while the Cougars improved to 14-2.
The Irish were led by sophomore opposite Kristy Kreher (Brimingham, Mich.), who led the team in kills with 13 and digs with 10 for her third double-double of the season. Senior Mary Leffers (Tampa, Fla.) added seven kills for the Irish and junior setter Denise Boylan (Lisle, Ill.) had 29 assists.
In game one, the Irish began with an early 4-0 lead, before the Cougars could score their first point of the night on a block. The Irish then scored to two more points to increase their lead to five points at 6-1. Brigham Young then slowly continued to climb back in the game, tying the score at eight, nine, 10 and 11, before taking the lead at 12-11 and eventually winning, 15-12.
Notre Dame built up another early lead in the second game, jumping out to a 5-0 score. BYU then scored five unanswered points to tie the match at five. The Irish retook the lead on a hitting error by Cougar Nina Puikkonen at 6-5, but BYU came back to tie the score at six points. A kill by Puikkonen put Brigham ahead for good on the then next point, winning the second game, 15-7 after three game points.
In the third game, it was Brigham Young that took the early lead and kept it for good, winning the game and the match, 15-7.
The Irish travel to the University of Utah Wednesday night (Oct. 20) for a match with the Utes at 7 p.m.