HONOLULU, Hawaii — Sophomore outside-hitter Alexa Gray led the Cougars with a career-high 27 kill. BYU defeated a tough Arizona State team in five sets (21-25, 25-22, 25-17, 24-26, 15-10) to advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament.
“I’m really excited for our kids. They showed unreal heart and fight tonight,” said BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead. “To fight from losing that fourth set show what they are made of. Our block helped turn the match, along with Ciara (Parker) digging a ton of shots. It was a true team effort tonight.”
The women's volleyball team celebrates a point against Portland. Photo by Sarah Hill
Along with Gray’s standout performance, sophomore Camry Godfrey had a match-high 61 assists, many of which came as a result of sophomore libero Ciara Parker’s career-high 34 digs against ASU. Freshman Whitney Young led the Cougars in the blocking category with eight blocks. Northern Colorado transfer Tambre Haddock contributed a double-double of 18 kills and 12 digs in the hard-fought win.
Set-by-set breakdown
Arizona State came out strong in the first set, winning 25-21. Godfrey was the standout Cougar in the set with three blocks and 11 assists while ASU’s Macey Gardner led the Sun Devils with eight kills.
In the second set, BYU tied up the game-winning 25-22 with Gray and fellow Cougar junior outside-hitter Tambre Haddock, each contributing with seven kills and one block.
BYU made a statement in the third set, winning 25-17, with five of their points coming as a result of ASU’s attack errors. Godfrey contributed an impressive 13 assists.
Set four ended in favor of the Sun Devils, with the Cougars losing 24-26. Despite attack errors plaguing the Cougars, Godfrey continued to produce with one block and 12 assists.
The fifth set was the last set of Arizona State’s season, with the Cougars winning 15-10. BYU proved too much in the end for the Sun Devils, with ten of their points coming off of kills.
Second round of the NCAA tournament
BYU will play the winner of the Idaho State and Hawaii matchup Saturday, Dec. 7, at 7 p.m. HST for a spot in the regional semifinal game held in Los Angeles. Links to live video and stats will be available on the BYU women’s volleyball home schedule page.