By Brian Hintze
The BYU women’s volleyball team swept the Mizuno Classic and upset the No. 1 and No. 2 teams Stanford and Long Beach State in championship fashion last weekend in the Smith Fieldhouse.
The Cougars defeated No. 2 Long Beach State Saturday night, Sept. 9, 15-17,12-15, 15-13, 15-1 and 15-6 after a huge victory over Stanford on Friday.
The Cougars had their backs against the wall, down 2-0 in the match and 5-9 in the third game against Long Beach State.
Then things began to happen.
Scoring 10 of the next 14 points, BYU ripped game three out from under the 49ers.
While just barely keeping their head above water in games one, two and three, BYU emerged in the final two games.
In the fourth game, the Cougars took command of the scoring and the match by jumping out to a 9-0 start.
Lead by the serving and net play of tournament MVP Nina Puikkonen, the Cougars finished the fifth game and the match with a 15-6 victory.
Puikkonen ended the match with 25 kills, four service aces and 12 digs.
“I think this had to be a career night for Nina,” said coach Elaine Michaelis.
Natalie Whittaker also played a significant role in the win.
Sunny Tonga also contributed 21 kills, a .487 attack percentage and five digs in the victory.
Friday night the Cougars beat Stanford in a convincing fashion, 15-9, 13-15, 15-6 and 15-8.
“Stanford has tradition,” Michaelis said. “They are always at the top. A win over Stanford is just great. It doesn’t happen too often to too many people.”
With the match tied at 1-1, BYU came out of the break on fire.
All tournament selection Jackie Bundy led the Cougar’s third game charge with seven kills.
Puikkonen’s seven kills and Sunny Tonga’s eight finished off the Cardinals in the fourth game and the match.
Freshman setter Karina Puikkonen had seven kills, .357 hitting percentage, 11 digs and 56 assists in the match.
“I think BYU is a very good team. They are tough to contain because they have five good hitters,” said Stanford head coach Denise Corlett. “If you focus on one, another one comes right around the corner.”
“They are legitament contenders (for the national championship) if they stay healthy.”
BYU also defeated Fairfield Saturday afternoon 15-9, 15-4 and 15-3.
With the win over Long Beach State, the Cougars completed a sweep of the Mizuno Classic and extended their record to 5-1.
“Wins over one and two tells us that maybe we belong up there with them so we better play like it,” Michaelis said.
Three BYU players received tournament honors.
Both Tonga and Bundy were named to the All-Tournament Team and Nina Puikkonen was named tournament MVP.
The Cougars will face the Utah State Aggies on Tuesday night in Logan before returning home Friday and Saturday night to face Arizona and Temple.
