Mary Lake celebrates after a Cougar point. BYU is now 19-3 on the season. (BYU Photo)
BYU women's volleyball returned home to play Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount this week. The Cougars defeated Pepperdine in three quick sets (25-14, 25-12, 25-10) Thursday night and then fought Saturday afternoon to beat LMU in five sets (25-23, 23-25, 21-25, 25-22, 15-12).
“I really liked how focused we were from the beginning,” BYU head coach Heather Olmstead said. “Lyndie (Haddock) set a great game and distributed the offense well and got a lot of hitters involved. I thought offensively and defensively we were disciplined, so it was a great match.”
Pepperdine took the first three points to start the game but the Cougars quickly caught up and never looked back defeating the Waves in three sets.
Lyndie Haddock tallied her third consecutive double-double picking up 11 digs and 34 assists to the Cougars in the win. Senior Amy Boswell tied a season high seven blocks and McKenna Miller had nine kills. Veronica Jones-Perry had eight kills after sitting out the past several games due to an injury.
The game against Loyola Marymount proved to be more of a challenge. After winning the first set 25-23 the Cougars lost the second set by two points. BYU started the third set slowly but fought to tie the game at 20-20. However, LMU pulled ahead to win the set 25-21.
The Cougars found themselves down in the beginning of the fourth set but tied the game 7-7. The teams traded points from there and tied again at 19-19. BYU pushed ahead to win the fourth set 25-22 to send the game to a decisive fifth set.
BYU started the fifth set down but tied the game at 6-6. The set remained close with several more ties until the Cougars ultimately won the set 15-12 on a ball hit out of bounds by LMU.
Miller led the Cougars with 20 kills while Whitney Young Howard contributed 12 kills and five blocks. Jones-Perry tallied 10 kills and six blocks and Mary Lake picked up 18 digs.
The Cougars will stay at home and play San Diego Friday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. at the Smith Field House.