The BYU women’s volleyball team remains undefeated in the West Coast Conference after beating Pacific again, this time in California in a four-set match (25-20, 25-22, 22-25, 25-23).
Senior Kathryn LeCheminant led BYU to this victory with 11 kills on 27 attempts, eight total blocks and only one hitting error. Junior Tambre Haddock led the team on defense with 23 digs and also matched LeCheminant with 11 kills. Alexa Gray was consistent on the outside with 14 kills and three blocks.
“We expected a battle from Pacific, and we got just that,” head coach Shawn Olmstead said. “They played a lot better to end the second set, and that continued into sets three and four. We stayed composed and on task to the end.”
In the first set, Gray led BYU (17-3, 10-0 WCC) on a 6-1 run against Pacific (11-10, 4-6) following a pair of kills and continued to push ahead 8-4. The Cougars had a solid six point lead at 12-6 until the Tigers fought back allowing BYU only a three-point edge at 15-12. BYU stole the momentum and gained a six point advantage at 19-13 and freshman Whitney Young finished the set with a middle kill 25-20.
The Cougs started the second set off with another lead 7-2. With strong blocks from LeCheminant and Haddock, BYU was able to secure the lead at 11-4. The Tigers unexpectedly met the Cougars from behind at 19-18 after taking advantage of some BYU errors. BYU however pushed to finish the second set strong 25-22.
Pacific entered the third set with a fight forcing Olmstead to call a timeout when BYU fell behind 10-6. The Tigers held the set momentum and gained a six point lead at 14-8. BYU tried to stay in the game and fought back to a close 18-16 game but couldn’t gain an edge losing the third set 25-22.
Ready to finish the match, BYU took the court in the fourth set scoring a quick four points, three coming from Robison. The teams traded points and neither team took a strong lead until Pacific pulled ahead 13-11. This fired up the Cougars to go on a 4-0 run and take a 17-15 advantage. The Tigers fought back to tie the set 22-22 but BYU ran with the momentum taking the set and match 25-23.
BYU continues conference play in California playing Saint Mary’s on Oct. 26 at 2:30 p.m. PDT.
