MORAGA, Calif. – No. 15 BYU women’s volleyball improved to 13-1 in West Coast Conference play following its sweep of Saint Mary’s (25-19, 25-23, 25-21) at the University Credit Union Pavilion on Saturday, claiming the top spot in the league standings with a .929 WCC win percentage.
The win gave the Cougars control of the conference title race after Pepperdine dropped its second match of league play to San Diego earlier on Saturday. The Waves’ WCC win percentage dropped from .933 to .875 with the loss, putting them in second place in the standings. Both teams play Santa Clara twice next week in the final week of the regular season. The Cougars can clinch the WCC title by winning both of their matches against the Broncos.
Senior outside hitter Taylen Ballard-Nixon led the team with 15 kills on a .333 clip while adding seven digs and two blocks to her stat line. Freshman outside hitter Erin Livingston totaled 11 kills and had three blocks in the match. Sophomore setter Whitney Bower recorded her second consecutive double-double, and her sixth in seven matches, with 38 assists and 14 digs.
Middle blocker Kennedy Eschenberg reached double-digit kills with 10 while hitting .526 on the day. The senior also led the team with eight blocks for the third match in a row. Freshman libero Madi Allen recorded a match-high 16 digs while defensive specialist Grace Wee ended the match with 13 digs.
BYU (14-1, 13-1 WCC) finished with an exceptional .376 hitting percentage while outblocking Saint Mary’s (7-10, 7-10 WCC) 10-4.
SET ONE
Eschenberg and sophomore opposite Kate Grimmer blocked two Gael attack attempts to help the Cougars to a 7-2 advantage in the first game. Saint Mary’s used an 8-3 run to knot the score up at 10-all. Livingston then tallied three consecutive kills to make the score 16-11. After falling behind one point, BYU ended the set on an 8-1 run to take the first game, 25-19. Eschenberg and Grimmer both had four blocks apiece in the set to help hold the Gaels to a .023 hitting percentage.
SET TWO
Livingston opened the second set with two kills followed by two consecutive aces by freshman middle blocker Leilani Dodson to make the score 4-0. While the Cougars would maintain the lead throughout the entire set, the Gaels came within one point late in the game, 17-16. Serving specialist Tayler Hifo dropped two straight aces and Ballard Nixon connected on two kills to respond with a 4-0 run to put BYU up 21-16. Bower, Dodson and Eschenberg each recorded a kill to hold off Saint Mary’s and secure the set, 25-23.
SET THREE
After falling behind 5-2 in the third game, Ballard-Nixon totaled four kills to help the Cougars claim an 8-6 edge. The Gaels responded with a 7-2 run to reclaim the lead, 13-10. Two kills by Grimmer and a Bower ace fueled five consecutive points for BYU to make the score 15-13 in the Cougars’ favor. The two teams exchanged control two more times before BYU took command for the final time, 17-16. Both Eschenberg and Livingston added two more kills to their tally to clinch the set, 25-21, and the sweep.
BYU women’s volleyball will return home to the Smith Fieldhouse for its final series of the regular season against Santa Clara March 30-31. Both matches are scheduled to start at 1 p.m. MDT and will be broadcast on BYUtv.org and the BYUtv App.