The No. 21 women’s volleyball team swept San Francisco on the road in a three-set match (25-20, 25-19, 25-8) on Nov. 7 to remain atop the WCC.
“I’m happy for the girls and team,” said head coach Shawn Olmstead. “They played a great match. Give credit to each of the girls. We played strong in every facet.”
Senior middle blocker Kathryn LeCheminant led the team with 10 kills on 21 attempts and only two errors. Junior Tambre Haddock and sophomore Alexa Gray added 12 kills and 10 kills respectively. Sophomore libero Ciara Parker led the team defensively with 17 digs. Most impressive was freshman Whitney Young with nine kills out of the middle on 11 attempts.
BYU (20-4, 13-1 WCC) started set one off strong with a Haddock kill and gained a quick five-point lead at 12-7. This pressure forced San Francisco (11-12, 7-6 WCC) into a timeout, and the Dons came within three points of the Cougars at 16-13. BYU managed to maintain its lead and finished the first set 25-20.
The Cougars began the second set in a similar manner with a 7-4 advantage. Later in the set BYU went on a run with an eight-point lead on the Dons at 17-9. San Francisco matched the Cougars with a 6-0 run of its own. Gray killed three straight in a row, giving BYU the second set 25-19.
In the third set, Young attacked aggressively and gave BYU two kills to contribute to its 6-1 lead. The Cougars proved unstoppable with a 10-point lead on San Francisco at 13-3. The Dons couldn’t respond to the constant threat and fell to BYU at match point 25-8.
BYU remains in California for one more conference game on Nov. 9 at 1 p.m. PST against Santa Clara.
