SAN FRANCISCO – No. 15 BYU women’s volleyball defeated San Francisco in straight sets (25-23, 25-20, 25-21) at the War Memorial Gym in San Francisco on Friday afternoon.
Sophomore setter Whitney Bower recorded her second consecutive double-double with 37 assists and 10 digs while helping the Cougars hit .364 on the day. Senior outside hitter Taylen Ballard-Nixon connected on 11 kills and sophomore opposite Kate Grimmer totaled 10 kills on a .500 clip.
Senior middle blocker Kennedy Eschenberg led the team in blocks for the fifth match in a row with six. Freshman libero Madi Allen and sophomore libero Grace Wee both ended the match with 10 digs apiece. Allen also led the team from the service line with three aces.
BYU (9-1, 8-1 WCC) outblocked San Francisco (5-6, 5-6 WCC) 9-1 while holding the Dons to a .235 hitting percentage.
SET ONE
Eschenberg connected on three early kills to put the Cougars up 10-4 to start the first game. The Dons answered with their own 10-4 run to even the score at 14. The two teams battled back and forth, resulting in a 23-23 tie. A kill by Ballard-Nixon broke the deadlock and an ace by Tayler Hifo gave BYU the 25-23 win.
SET TWO
San Francisco opened the second set with a 7-5 lead. Three kills by Grimmer broke an 11-11 tie and helped the Cougars claim an 18-15 advantage. BYU increased its lead to 23-18 with kills by freshman outside hitter Erin Livingston and Grimmer. Ballard-Nixon connected on a kill to end the set, 25-20. The Cougars finished with a .519 hitting percentage in the second game while holding the Dons to .188.
SET THREE
Three aces by Allen helped BYU jump out to a 10-3 lead in the third game. The Cougars continued to have success from the service line as Hifo dropped her second ace of the afternoon to make the score 14-7. Following several San Francisco errors, freshman middle blocker Leilani Dodson recorded three kills late in the set to clinch the sweep, 25-21.
BYU and San Francisco will play the second match of the season series Saturday, March 6 at 1 p.m. PST. The match will be broadcast on the WCC Network.