PROVO, Utah – Three hitters in double-digit kills led BYU women’s volleyball to a sweep (25-21, 25-17, 25-15) over Saint Mary’s Thursday night at the Smith Fieldhouse.
“I'm really proud of the way the girls came out with energy and focus," BYU head coach Heather Olmstead said. "Saint Mary's fought hard and played scrappy. I'm proud of the effort and execution of our girls. We cleaned up our errors and let them make the mistakes."
BYU (20-3, 10-2 West Coast Conference) swept Saint Mary’s (6-17, 1-12 WCC) for the second time this season, improving to 9-7 against the Gaels all-time.
Alexa Gray led all hitters with 21 kills to go along with her eight digs. Amy Boswell tied her career high in kills with 13, hitting a .571 clip on the night. She also had three blocks to lead the team. Veronica Jones had 10 kills, earning double-digit kills for the fourth time this season. Camry Godfrey Willardson had a double-double in the win with 46 assists and 11 digs. Leading the team in digs was Ciara Parker with 13, while Cosy Burnett had a career high in digs with eight to go along with her five kills.
The Cougars got going early in the first set, scoring the first point on a stuff block from Boswell and Burnett. A quick 3-0 run put BYU up 5-1 after a couple of kills from Gray. After trading points, another 3-0 run for the Cougars pushed the lead to 15-11 following a well-placed tip from Gray. Jones powered two kills in a row to the deep corner to make it 18-13. Saint Mary’s came storming back with a 4-0 run and two consecutive kills to tie the game at 20-all before Gray scored all four of BYU’s final points with kills to win the first set 25-21, holding off the late rally.
Neither team was able to go on a big run in the second set, trading sideouts until the Gaels put together two points to tie it up 7-7 after a kill. A solo block from Gray extended BYU’s lead to 13-10 before Saint Mary’s came back with two more points. A quick 3-0 rally pushed the score to 19-15, capped off by a kill in the corner from Whitney Young Howard. The Cougars won the set 25-17 after a 6-0 run, with Boswell contributing four kills - including the last three in the set.
Picking up where they left off, the Cougars come out with a bang in the third set, jumping to a 4-0 lead behind two kills from Gray, an ace from Parker and a kill from Boswell. Highlighted by a kill from Jones, BYU went on a 3-0 run to push the lead to 13-6. The Gaels kept coming at the Cougars, but were unable to chip away at the lead. Pushing away from Saint Mary’s, Jones killed the ball to cap off another 4-0 rally to make it 21-12. A block from Sophie Cram won the third set 25-15, completing the sweep over the Gaels.
BYU will face Pacific for another home match on Saturday at 1 p.m. MST. The game will be broadcast live on BYUtv and on BYU Radio – Sirius XM 143. Live stats will also be available on the schedule page.