The No. 14 BYU women’s volleyball team is looking forward to redemption against Santa Clara this Saturday.
The teams met last in California on Oct. 20, where the Cougars lost to the Broncos after five close sets (31-29, 20-25, 25-21, 13-24, 16-14). The Cougars had the lead near the end of the last set, but the Broncos went on a four-point run to take the match.
Freshman Alexa Gray said the Cougars are ready to take on the Broncos and defeat them this time around.
“We’re looking forward to some payback,” Gray said. “We’re working hard, and we want to just crush them here at home and defend our home court.”
The Cougars are currently undefeated at home and stand 11-2 in the West Coast Conference with an overall record of 23-2. BYU stands No. 1 in the WCC with Santa Clara following at No. 3.
BYU Head Coach Shawn Olmstead said the upcoming match is a big one. The Cougars are working hard to fix the mistakes the team made against the Broncos in California.
“When we were there, we committed to many errors on our side of the court,” Olmstead said. “So it’s important that we take care of the court. Good things will happen when you do that.”
Senior Heather Hannemann said every match for the Cougars is important, but the team has been looking forward to a rematch against the Broncos.
“It’s a big match, Santa Clara,” Hannemann said. “We lost to them away from home and that hurts, so this match we want to definitely show them what we’re really made of.”
The match Saturday will also be Senior Night for two of the Cougars. Hannemann, from Alpine, and senior middle blocker Nicole Warner, from Rigby, Idaho, will be recognized for their contributions to the team over the years.
The Cougars will take on Santa Clara at 1 p.m. Saturday in the Smith Fieldhouse. The match will be broadcast on BYUtv. Live video streaming and live stats will also be available on the Cougars website.
