The No. 9 BYU women’s volleyball team swept Santa Clara (25-22, 25-17, 25-14) in the team’s West Coast Conference opener on the road on Thursday, Sept. 22.
The Cougars record improved to 11-1 with the win, getting their conference season off to a great start.
“I loved the focus our team came out with right from the beginning of the match,” said BYU coach Heather Olmstead. “We served tough and made it hard for Santa Clara to get in system.”
Veronica Jones-Perry lead the team with 19 kills and four service aces. Also notable were Lyndie Haddock who had 27 assists, Mary Lake with 10 digs and Cosy Burnett with four blocks.
“Roni (Jones-Perry) and Cosy (Burnett) both took some great swings,” Olmstead said. “I’m proud of the way the team played.”
Jones-Perry gave BYU its first three points of the first set with a trio of kills.
Mckenna Miller extended the advantage to five at 12-7 and a Lyndie Haddock dump kill made it 17-10.
The Cougars led by as many as eight at 19-11 before a 9-2 Santa Clara run brought the Broncos back within a point, trailing 21-20.
However, BYU held on and finished the set on a Haddock solo block.
The Broncos took a 4-2 lead to open the second set and the Cougars countered by scoring the next six points to go up to 8-4.
Jones-Perry then served three-consecutive aces to give the Cougars a 13-5 lead. Santa Clara responded with a 3-0 rally to get back within five, down 15-10.
Santa Clara responded with a 3-0 rally to get back within five, down 15-10. Burnett then responded with a kill to make it 22-15 and followed with an ace to give BYU the set, 25-17.
Burnett then responded with a kill to make it 22-15 and followed with an ace to give BYU the set, 25-17.
Starting the third set strong, Jones-Perry led the Cougars with three kills giving them a 5-0 lead. A pair of Bronco errors extended the lead to seven at 12-5 and additional Bronco errors put BYU up by double digits at 18-8.
A Santa Clara service error on match point ended the match.
BYU travels to play San Fransisco on Saturday, Sept. 23, at 1 p.m. MDT. The Cougars are 14-0 against the Dons.
The matinee match will be streamed at TheW.tv.
