PROVO, Utah – Amy Boswell’s blistering .882 hitting percentage led No. 9 BYU women’s volleyball to a 3-0 sweep (25-15, 25-16, 25-11) over CSUN at the Smith Fieldhouse Friday night.
“I'm really pleased with how we came out and responded with energy and competitiveness," BYU head coach Heather Olmstead said. "I'm really happy with how the girls came out ready to fight."
After their first loss of the season last night, the Cougars improve to 10-1 on the season. They held the Matadors (3-7) to a -.051 hitting percentage in the sweep, which was the eighth sweep of the season for BYU. Under Olmstead, the Cougars are now 5-0 after a loss.
Boswell was 15 for 17 (.882) on the night, which made for the highest hitting percentage in BYU rally-scoring era history. She overtook Nicole Warner’s previous top percentage of .857 back in 2012. In addition to her game-high 15 kills, Boswell also tallied four blocks and two aces.
Lyndie Haddock led all players in assists with 25 while also notching six digs. McKenna Miller contributed nine kills, four blocks and three digs. Whitney Young Howard had a match-high six blocks to go with four kills in the win.
The Matadors got off to a strong start, opening up the first set on a 3-0 run against the Cougars. A kill down the line from Veronica Jones-Perry got BYU on the board, 3-1. After trading points, the Cougars went up 12-6, after eight unanswered points with Boswell at the service line. CSUN responded with a 4-0 run, but Miller’s kill stopped the momentum to put BYU up 15-11. The Cougars took the first set 25-15, earning five of their last six points from the Matadors’ hitting errors.
Boswell got things rolling for BYU in the second set, scoring three of the first four points off of kills to go up 4-2. Four-straight blocks from the Cougars pushed the lead to 11-6 over the Matadors. The two teams traded points back and forth until Haddock caught the defense off guard with a dump kill to go up 15-10. Three-consecutive errors from CSUN and an ace from Makenna Santiago extended the BYU lead to 19-12, forcing a timeout from the Matadors. Miller capped off the set for the Cougars with a kill to win 25-16 and take the 2-0 overall advantage.
In the third set, Boswell dominated offensively. She had a hand in six of BYU’s first eight points, four kills, one block and one assist, putting the Cougars up 8-5. After a long rally, Howard pounded down a kill to push BYU’s lead to 13-7. Behind kills from Jones-Perry and Boswell and an ace from Hannah Robison, the Cougars went on a 9-1 run to make it 22-10. Miller’s kill completed the sweep of CSUN, taking the third set 25-11.
BYU will face UNLV at 5 p.m. MDT at the Smith Fieldhouse on Saturday to complete nonconference play. The game will be broadcast live on TheW.tv. Links for the live stream and stats can be found on the BYU women’s volleyball schedule page. Additionally, at 10 a.m. MDT, CSUN and UNLV will compete against each other at the Smith Fieldhouse for a neutral-site match.