The No. 8 BYU women’s volleyball team beat No. 17 San Diego 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-20, 25-18) on the road this weekend to remain undefeated in West Coast Conference action.
The Toreros have always been tough competitors and the Cougars were prepared.
BYU coach Heather Olmstead said she was proud of how focused the team was going into the match.
“Dave (Hyte) and Jonny (Neeley) did a great job of preparing the team, and the girls went out and executed. I could talk about every single player and specifically what they did well, but the best way to describe it is a team win,” Olmstead said. “Our blocking was dialed in and we played scrappy defense behind the block. Offensively, we had one of our best matches, and I’m proud of the smart swings everyone took.”
McKenna Miller led the Cougars with 14 kills while Veronica Jones-Perry, Cosy Burnett and Taylen Ballard added 13, 11 and nine kills, respectively.
Jones-Perry was named WCC Player of the Week on Monday, after collecting 23 kills and nine digs against Pepperdine and 13 kills, seven digs and four blocks against San Diego.
Lyndie Haddock set the team with 42 assists against San Diego while Mary Lake collected 15 digs to lead the team. Kennedy Redding had seven blocks and Tristyn Moser had a career-high 11 digs.
BYU (15-1, 4-0 WCC) out-blocked San Diego (10-4, 3-1 WCC) 12-4 in the match.
With the win, the Cougars remain tied at the top of the conference standings with Gonzaga.
San Diego used a 4-1 run to gain a 6-4 advantage in the first set against BYU. The Cougars countered with a 5-1 run, which included three-straight Torero attack errors, to go up 9-7. The set remained close throughout before Miller had a pair of kills to clinch the set, 25-23.
BYU took a 3-0 lead early in the second set after a block and kill from Redding. The Toreros scored the next five points to take a 5-3 advantage, but a Moser ace capped off a 4-1 Cougar run to put her team back up 7-6.
A Haddock kill put BYU ahead by three at 12-9, but a 5-1 San Diego run put San Diego up 14-13.
The Toreros inched ahead at 19-17, but back-to-back Redding blocks tied the set at 21 apiece. San Diego scored the next two points, however, eventually winning the second set 25-23 on a kill.
The Cougars went on to win the next two sets 25-20 and 25-18, winning the match and improving their record to 15-1 on the season.
BYU will travel to Saint Mary’s on Thursday, Oct. 5, for an 8 p.m. MDT start, then finish its current road trip at Pacific on Saturday, Oct. 7, at 1 p.m. MDT.
