Amy Boswell spikes the ball last season. Boswell led the Cougars over Pepperdine. (BYU Photo)
No. 11 BYU women's volleyball lost a first close set to Pepperdine but came back and won the next three sets to overcome Pepperdine (22-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-21).
'I'm really happy with the total team effort tonight,' BYU head coach Heather Olmstead said. 'Everybody contributed and played well down the stretch for us.'
Senior Amy Boswell led the Cougars with 12 kills on .455 clip and a match high seven blocks. Mckenna Miller contributed a match high 16 kills while Alohi Robins-Hardy led the team with 23 assists and two aces. Mary Lake picked up 15 digs and Hannah Robison had 13 digs in the defensive effort and they each had two aces. The Cougars tallied a total of nine aces.
The first set began with an ace from Lake but Pepperdine quickly found their groove and took the next five points. From there the Waves led the rest of the match but the Cougars came back within two at 21-19. However, it was too little too late as Pepperdine won the set 25-22.
Pepperdine carried their momentum into the second set and started out with the lead. BYU came back and tied it at 10-10 with three kills and a block from Miller. The Cougars were able to pull ahead from there but Pepperdine hung in it and tied the set at 19-all. A Howard kill won the set for BYU at 25-23.
From there the Cougars kept the pressure on the Waves and were able to win the third set 25-18 on a Pepperdine error. The fourth set began close but the Cougars continued forward and a Miller kill sealed the deal for BYU and won the match at 25-21.
BYU will stay on the road and play No. 6 San Diego on Friday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m. PDT.