It was a long and busy haul for the BYU women’s volleyball team, as the Cougars took the Utah Invitational in Salt Lake to increase the consecutive win streak to seven matches.
The tournament kicked off with the Cougars sweeping the UC Riverside Highlanders 25-20, 25-14, 25-16 on Friday night. Senior Christie Carpenter and sophomore Jennifer Hamson led the Cougars in kills, combining for a total of 16. Junior Heather Hannemann had 23 assists, contributing to the success of the hitters, and Nicole Warner had six blocks.
“We worked really hard to prepare for all of our matches,” Hamson said, “and we got better each set we played.”
The Cougars faced a tough Eastern Michigan team on Saturday morning. Eastern Michigan was the favorite heading into the tournament, defeating the University of Utah on Friday night. BYU ended Eastern Michigan’s eight-match win streak, defeating the Eagles 25-19, 25-23, 16-25, 25-8. Carpenter stole the show, contributing 17 kills and 12 digs.
“Carpenter did very well. She had some big swings and made crucial plays when we needed it,” BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said in a news release.
Hamson added 13 kills thanks to Hannemann’s setting game, who had 32 assists. Junior libero Kendalyn Hartsock was the star of the defense with 21 digs.
“I thought Heather [Hannemann] was excellent along with Jen [Hamson] and Christie [Carpenter],” said Olmstead, “but you really can’t single one player out. The team played very well together.”
BYU took on rival University of Utah on Saturday night in a Deseret First Dual match-up. The Utes beat the Cougars the last time the two squads faced off. This time, Cougars defeated the Utes 25-20, 25-17, 25-14.
It was the first time freshmen Katie Vaughn experienced playing against rival Utah. She said the experience was “very, very exciting and we were all really pumped to beat [the Utes].”
It was an exciting tournament for the Cougars with multiple players standing out. Carpenter was named the tournament MVP with Hamson and Hannemann being named to the All-Tournament team.
“I thought we did really well,” Olmstead said, “and we are going to enjoy this win and get back at it on Monday.”
The Cougars’ next match will be against Utah State on Tuesday in Logan.
