It will be a battle of the felines this week as the BYU Cougars head to the City of Angels to compete against the Loyola Marymount Lions. This will be the women’s volleyball team’s first WCC road match, but its second conference match of the season.
Following the team’s home victory last week against Saint Mary’s, Head Coach Shawn Olmstead said, “This match is over and we start preparation for LMU immediately. We have film on them and we will practice all week to work on the things that will help us beat them.”
“They have a good volleyball program and since we are heading there we have to be ready to play,” Olmstead said. “However, we are a tough team too and our players are playing good volleyball.”
BYU was able to practice for an entire week uninterrupted by matches, which enabled the Cougars time to rest and better prepare for LMU.
The Cougars are currently led by sophomore opposite hitter Jennifer Hamson, who has 214 kills this season, and junior setter Heather Hannemann, who has 526 assists this season. Other standouts include senior outside hitter Christie Carpenter with 105 kills and junior middle blocker Nicole Warner with 99 kills.
Senior outside hitter Casey Thurston said the coaches always have a plan to help them prepare for upcoming matches.
“Our coaches watch a lot of film and they always have a game plan ready to help us win,” Thurston said.
LMU is 2-1 at home but will have to find an answer for the momentum BYU has gained over the past couple of weeks to uphold that current winning record.
“Like I have told the kids, as long as we play our game, we are good,” Olmstead said. “We just have to focus on playing our game.”
BYU will play LMU tonight at 7 in Los Angeles and then will head south to play San Diego on Oct. 1. The Cougars will not have another home match until Oct. 6 in the Smith Fieldhouse.
