PROVO, Utah – Head coach Shawn Olmstead and the women’s volleyball team extended their perfect record to 8-0 on the season after defeating Bowling Green in three sets, 25-22, 25-14, 25-18.
Bowling Green falls to 2-5 on the season.
“Overall, I thought we blocked and served really well,” Olmstead said. “Naturally, blocking is a product of the serve and it showed. However, Bowling Green out-dug us. We didn’t defend like we were hoping to, so we definitely have things we can work on in tonight’s match against Portland State.”
Heather Hannemann led the Cougars' offense with 27 assists, two kills and two digs. Jennifer Hamson and Alexa Gray had nine and seven kills, respectively.
Nicole Warner finished the match with nine blocks and three kills. Ciara Parker led the Cougar’s defense with 10 digs.
Paige Penrod led the Falcons with 11 kills and 13 digs.
The Cougars jumped out early to a 4-0 lead with strong defensive plays but allowed the Falcons to bounce back within one (4-3). Jessica Jardine and Hamson took control of the Cougar offense with three kills apiece putting BYU up 19-12. Bowling Green was plagued early on due to errors from the service line and from the attack. Toward the end of the first half Bowling Green’s Danielle Tonyan contributed three kills and three blocks bringing the Falcons back within two (23-21). Despite the Falcon’s comeback, the Cougars closed out the first set with two more kills from Hamson.
In the second set the Cougars struggled early on due to several errors and a strong Bowling Green offense, putting the Falcons up 8-6. However, with kills from Gray, Jardine and Hamson and blocks from Warner, the Cougars took back the lead 15-11. Parker and Tia Withers helped the Cougars to increase the lead 21-13 with several digs each. BYU went on to win the second set 25-14 with 12 kills on 20 attempts.
Similar to the first set, the Cougars took an early 6-0 lead with several kills from Jardine and Hamson and multiple errors from the Falcons. The Falcons' first point of the set came from an overpass kill by Lindsey Butterfield. The Cougars extended the lead 15-4 after a series of blocks and service aces.
During the final points of the set, Bowling Green tried to make another comeback with two service aces and several Cougar errors. BYU closed out the final set on a net violation from Bowling Green.
The Cougars are back in action tonight at 7 p.m. MDT against Portland State in the final match of the BYU Nike Invitational.
Bowling Green vs. BYU Box Score
Portland State vs. Utah
Action began Saturday morning at the BYU Nike Invitational with Portland State beating Utah 3-1 (23-25, 25-19, 25-17, 31-29) on Elaine Michaelis Court.
The Vikings (4-5) dropped the first set, but managed to win the next three to claim victory over the Utes (6-4). Portland State’s Megan Ellis led with 17 kills while Leigh-Ann Haataja and Jaklyn Wheeler had 15 and 14, respectively, for the Vikings.
PSU opened the first set on a 5-0 run, but an early timeout helped Utah regain enough composure to eventually tie the set at 13. After taking its first lead at 19-18, Utah answered every attempt the Vikings made and closed the set with a 25-23 victory.
The second set began in similar fashion, with Utah ceding the first six points to PSU. This time, however, the Vikings kept control, extending their lead to as many as 10 points. Erin Redd’s service ace pulled the the Utes within five at 24-19, but PSU managed to finish the set on the next rally to tie the match at one set apiece.
Utah kept pace with PSU to start the third set, but the Vikings used a 7-0 run to take a 13-6 lead. An attack error by PSU’s Leigh-Ann Haataja allowed the Utes to close the gap to 15-13, but the Vikings again finished strong to win 25-17 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
In the final set, PSU used a 10-2 run to earn a 21-13 advantage over Utah. The Utes kept fighting, however, and tied the set at 24 with a 10-1 run. The teams exchanged points until the Vikings finally closed out the set 31-29, earning the 3-1 victory over the Utes.