The BYU women’s volleyball team – ranked No. 10 in the nation – started the Sports Imports D.C. Koehl Classic on Friday, beating both Wyoming and LIU Brooklyn. The Cougars swept both schools.
The Cougars began tournament play by beating the Wyoming Cowgirls in three sets (25-20, 25-22, 25-14).
Outside hitter Veronica Jones-Perry led the Cougars with 11 kills on a .276 clip and added four digs. Mary Lake contributed 10 digs while McKenna Miller added another 12 kills to seal the win.
“We were focused and everyone contributed in the win,” said BYU head coach Heather Olmstead. “I like how we came out ready to play today against a tough Wyoming team.”
Lyndie Haddock had 33 assists and six blocks while Whitney Young Howard added five blocks and Amy Boswell contributed six.
The Cougars and Cowgirls played a close game in the first set. Wyoming went on a 6-1 run to lead 12-7. Boswell helped to close the gap with two kills and the Cougars scored three more points to tie the game at 12. Jones-Perry brought the Cougars to set point with three straight kills. BYU won 25-20.
Haddock led the second set with a service ace to take an early lead. Jones-Perry followed that with a pair of kills and a block to give the team an 11-6 advantage. The Cougars steadily pulled ahead with two aces from Makenna Santiago and a Boswell kill. Wyoming made a 10-2 run at the close of the set to try and come back but another Jones-Perry kill ended the set 25-22.
BYU ran away with the third set forcing Wyoming to take a timeout with the Cougars up 21-12. Miller finished out the set with a kill winning 25-14.
A few hours later BYU faced LIU Brooklyn and beat them in three quick sets (25-16, 25-8, 25-13). Jones-Perry continued to lead with 14 kills and five digs. Haddock and Aloha Robins-Hardy each had a team-high of 18 assists and Lake contributed another 13 digs.
The Cougars led the first set while the Blackbirds fought to not fall behind. BYU took a timeout at 17-14 after a LIU Brooklyn 4-1 run. After the timeout the Cougars scored six straight points and went on to win the set 25-16.
Kills from multiple BYU players and an ace from Lake gave the Cougars an 8-1 lead in the second set. BYU continued to cruise and then three kills from Jones-Perry helped the Cougars to win 25-8.
In the the third set the Blackbirds took an 8-7 lead. Lake contributed back-to-back aces to put the Cougars ahead 14-10. BYU then went on a 9-0 run and won the set on a service error making the score 25-13.
The Cougars have one game left in the Sports Imports D.C. Koehl Classic and will take on tournament host No. 11 Ohio State on Saturday September 3.
