The Cougars celebrate after scoring a point against San Diego. The Cougars defeated the Toreros on Friday night. (BYU Photo)
No. 16 BYU women's volleyball defeated No. 5 San Diego in three competitive sets (25-16, 25-22, 27-25) Friday night, handing the Toreros their first loss in conference play.
The Smith Fieldhouse was full of energy as fans dressed up in Halloween costumes to cheer on the Cougars in their win over the Toreros. In the their last match up USD beat BYU in three sets and the Cougars fought to make sure didn't happen again on their home court.
'I think we played really well,' BYU head coach Heather Olmstead said. 'I think it was one of our better performances this year. San Diego is a really good team. I think we can play better, but I'm really happy with tonight.'
The Cougars defeated the Toreros in the first set which originally started very close. There were seven ties and four lead changes but BYU began to creep ahead and won the set 25-14.
The Toreros came out strong in the second set and attempted to pull a few points ahead but the Cougars kept the score close. With the help of several big blocks and swings from the front row, the Cougars took the lead at 15-13. BYU quickly increased their lead to 22-16 forcing San Diego to take a timeout. After the timeout the Torres went on a 5-0 run to come back within one at 22-21 but the Cougars won the set 25-22 on a ball hit out of bounds by USD.
The third and final set was the closest yet with a whopping 21 lead changes. The teams battled back and forth and the Cougars fought off two set points. Senior Amy Boswell tied the set with a kill at 24-24 and again at 25-25. BYU went on to win the set and the match 27-25 on a ball hit out of bounds by USD.
Boswell led the Cougars with a match high 14 kills on a .500 clip in the offensive effort and put up four blocks. Mckenna Miller added 13 kills while Lacy Haddock had five kills. Whitney Young Howard contributed seven kills and four blocks. Mary Lake picked up a match high 16 digs in the defensive effort and Lyndie Haddock added 40 assists and nine digs to assist the Cougars in their win.
BYU will hit the road next week to play Pacific Thursday, Nov 3 at 7 p.m. and will then face Saint Mary's Saturday, Nov 5 at 1 p.m.