SAN DIEGO, Calif. — A rough match against No. 18 San Diego led to a loss for the BYU women’s volleyball team, who fell 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-22) to the Toreros Saturday afternoon.
“We were outplayed,” BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said. “They were a much better team than us today. They showed us our weaknesses and what we have to get better at.”
For the first time this season, no Cougar reached double figures in kills or digs. Middle blocker Nicole Warner led BYU (13-4, 2-1) in kills with eight and in blocks with four. Defensive specialist Tia Withers led in digs with six and setter Heather Hannemann had 20 assists.
Amber Tatsch of USD (16-1, 2-1) led the match with 15 kills on .346 hitting and Kandiss Anderson had a match-high 16 digs.
An early 4-2 lead wasn’t enough to keep the Cougars going through the first set. USD tied the set 5-5 and advanced on a 6-1 run. The Toreros continued to widen the scoring gap. Attempts from Jennifer Hamson and Christie Carpenter only momentarily stalled USD’s 25-16 win.
The Toreros launched the second set with a five-point run for a 9-3 lead, broken by a Hamson kill. The Cougars tried to halt USD progression, but with three Torero points for every BYU point, the Cougars once again fell 25-16.
BYU charged back from a 4-1 deficit to tie set three 6-6. The Cougars proceeded to take the lead 8-6, their first lead since the first set, with the help of sophomores outside hitter Jessica Jardine and middle blocker Kathryn LeCheminant. USD tied the set again 9-9 and retook the lead. From there, BYU let USD run away again for a 14-11 lead. Back-to-back points put BYU in line to tie 16-16 and Kim Boswell’s service ace gave BYU another lead 17-16. The Toreros jumped ahead for the last time on a kill from Sandra Lozic. USD took the match on another Lozic kill at 25-22.
The Cougars return to their home court Thursday for a Homecoming Week appearance against Santa Clara at 7 p.m. Following the Santa Clara match, the Cougars head back to California to play No. 19 Pepperdine on Oct. 8.