For the second time this season, the BYU women’s volleyball team had a five-game match against the LMU Lions, and BYU (19-7, 8-4) defeated LMU (13-12, 6-5) 3-2.
It was an important match for the Cougars to win since they are one place ahead of LMU in the West Coast Conference standings.
“We fought hard,” junior middle blocker Nicole Warner said. “We did not want to lose in the Fieldhouse. We love playing in here.”
The Cougar offense stole the show early on and propelled the team to a solid lead. Middle blockers Kathryn LeCheminant and Warner were unstoppable combining for eight kills. The Lions made a comeback late in the set that caused BYU to call a timeout and regroup defensively, but a service error by LMU would end the game, 25-18.
Unlike the first set, the second proved to be a continuous battle for the lead. The Cougars had seven errors, which kept the Lions in the game. Late in the game, BYU had a 23-20 lead over LMU, but the Cougars could not keep the ball in play and the Lions tied it up at 23-23. A clutch kill by senior outside hitter Casey Thurston put the Cougars up by one.
The very next play would shatter the Lions’ hopes of tying up the match. Junior setter Heather Hannemann and LeCheminant had a perfect block at the net to end the set in BYU’s favor, 25-23.
“We got them out of system, we didn’t ace them a ton, but I felt that we got them out of system,” coach Shawn Olmstead said. “[LMU] didn’t pass great and they are a good passing team.”
For the Cougars, the third set was a heartbreaking loss after they came back from a six point deficit to battle late in the game. Senior outside hitter Christie Carpenter tipped it perfectly over the LMU blockers and had a vital kill to keep the Cougars in the game. Down 24-22, Warner stepped up for the Cougars with a beautifully placed kill to put the win within the Cougar’s grasp. However, LMU did allow for a Cougar sweep and finished off the game 23-25.
It was a sloppy fourth set for the Cougars who trailed nearly the entire game. Several players came off the bench for the Cougars to try to rally the BYU offense, but LMU played smart volleyball and beat the Cougars 14-25.
In the fifth and final set, the Cougars put away the Lions in a 15-8 victory.
“The fifth [set] we came out with so much energy,” Warner said, “and we just knew we were going to win.”
BYU started the set with a 4-0 lead and the Cougars continued to hold onto the lead up until Warner sealed the deal with the closing kill. Leading the Cougars was sophomore opposite hitter Jennifer Hamson with 14 kills, Carpenter with 13 and LeCheminant with 10. Hannemann had 48 assists and 17 digs. The Cougars had a total of 15 team blocks.
“We have gone five with [LMU] twice,” Olmstead said. “That shows a lot about our kids and that they work hard.”
Saturday night the Cougars host the San Francisco Dons in the Smith Fieldhouse. This is the second time the Cougars and the Dons have faced each other this season. In their last meeting, BYU won the match 3-1.
