BYU Loses To Notre Dame In Shamrock Invitational

SOUTH BEND -- In the final match of the Shamrock Invitational, Notre Dame defeated No. 15 BYU 5-15, 10-15, 15-10, 15-10, 15-10 Saturday in South Bend, Ind. The loss drops the Cougars to 1-1 overall and improves Notre Dame's record to 2-0.

BYU started strong winning the first two games 15-5, 15-10, but the Irish won the next three games to take the match.

"We had them on the ropes and we let them off," BYU coach Elaine Michaelis said. "We played really well in the first two games, but we made some mistakes in the third and they got some momentum. They are a good team and have some experienced players that take advantage of opportunities."

BYU finished the night with nine service aces, including four in the first two games. They also out-blocked the Irish 21-12.

All-American Nina Puikkonen finished the night with 18 kills, two service aces, nine digs and six block assists. Junior middle blocker Jackie Bundy led the Cougar defense with two solo blocks and 12 block assists. Bundy was also one of three Cougars with 13 or more digs.

Sophomore Sunny Tonga, the Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year, also finished with 18 kills and a .368 hitting percentage. She also finished the night with 13 digs. Freshman setter Karina Puikkonen finished the night with 41 assists and eight block assists in just her second collegiate match.

The Cougars will host Kansas State Tuesday at 5 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse. They will also host the Mizuno Classic Thursday through Saturday.

Volleyball Box Score
     BYU Cougars vs Notre Dame Irish (Sep 02, 2000 at South Bend, Indiana)
    BYU Cougars            |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  PUIKKONEN, Karina...  5|  4   1  11  .273| 41|  1   2|  1|  6| 0  8  0|  3
 9  PUIKKONEN, Nina.....  5| 18   8  41  .244|  1|  2   3|  1|  9| 0  6  1|  1
 10 BUNDY, Jackie.......  5|  9   7  23  .087|  3|  1   0|  0| 13| 2 12  0|  0
 12 LAYTON, Melissa.....  5|  9   6  33  .091|  2|  2   3|  1| 14| 0  3  1|  0
 14 TONGA, Kalani.......  5|  8   4  23  .174|  1|  1   2|  2|  7| 0  5  0|  0
 15 TONGA, Sunny........  5| 18   4  38  .368|  4|  2   2|  0| 13| 0  2  0|  0
 2  WHITTAKER, Natalie..  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  5| 66  30 169  .213| 52|  9  12|  5| 62| 2 36  2|  4
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 20.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  13  2  26  .423   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  4  5  TEAM RECORDS
   2  15  8  40  .175   BYU Cougars......... 15 15 10 10 10  1-1
   3  17  9  44  .182   Notre Dame Irish....  5 10 15 15 15  2-0
   4  12  6  39  .154
   5   9  5  20  .200
    Notre Dame Irish       |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  BOYLAN, Denise......  5|  3   1  10  .200| 50|  1   2|  0| 10| 0  3  0|  2
 3  GORALSKI, Malinda...  5|  6   2  18  .222|  1|  0   0|  0|  3| 1  6  0|  0
 4  KREHER, Kristy......  5| 23   9  50  .280|  6|  0   1|  1| 17| 1  2  0|  0
 6  BOMHACK, Marcie.....  5|  7   6  36  .028|  0|  0   0|  2|  7| 0  0  0|  0
 7  GIRTON, Christi.....  5| 18   8  36  .278|  2|  0   3|  1|  8| 0  3  0|  0
 14 ALDERETE, Janie.....  5|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  2|  4| 0  0  0|  0
 5  KINDER, Jessica.....  5|  2   5  17 -.176|  0|  3   0|  0|  8| 0  1  0|  0
 9  JAMEYSON, Jo........  4|  3   3  17  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  2  0|  0
 10 FLETCHER, Kim.......  2|  3   0   6  .500|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0
 11 KEARA, Coughlin.....  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  1|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 13 MOEN, Christa.......  4|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  1   0|  2|  6| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  5| 65  34 190  .163| 60|  5   7|  9| 63| 2 18  0|  2
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 11.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1   8 10  28 -.071   Site: South Bend, Indiana (Joyce Center)
   2  16 11  46  .109   Date: Sep 02, 2000   Attend: 723   Time: 1:55
   3  16  5  55  .200   Referees: John Walton, Nancy Nester
   4  16  7  42  .214   Shamrock Invitational
   5   9  1  19  .421