No. 9 Cougars sweep Red Raiders on Saturday night

PROVO, Utah — No. 9 BYU women's volleyball swept Texas Tech, 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-22) in its 16th victory of the 2023 season, led by Whitney McEwan-Llarenas' nine kills and three service aces.

BOX SCORE

The Cougars (16-3, 5-2 Big 12) hit .240 on the night to the Red Raiders' .160, and had eight service aces to Texas Tech's two. Both teams recorded 44 digs on the night but BYU edged the Red Raiders in blocks, nine to eight. 

Middle blocker McEwan-Llarenas hit .438 for the match to go along with a career-high three service aces. Libero Kamaile Hiapo led the team in digs with 18, and also posted three aces. Setter Whitney Bower tallied seven kills on a .778 clip, and also dished out 24 assists.  

Set 1
The first set began with both teams tied at 8-8 before a kill at the net by McEwan-Llarenas put the Cougars up one. The two sides continued to play back and forth as BYU and Texas Tech were tied again at 11 before a kill from freshman Mia Lee put the Cougars up one again. 

BYU would extend its lead to 15-12 at the media timeout. Later in the set, back-to-back kills by Livingston and Whitney Bower put the Cougars up 21-17, forcing the Red Raiders to call a timeout. 

Following the timeout, two-straight points had BYU ahead 23-17. Three-straight points by Texas Tech followed, trimming its deficit to 23-20, but the Cougars would go on to win the set, 25-21, following an emphatic kill by Lee.

Set 2
A service ace from Hiapo put BYU in front, 6-5, and the Red Raiders took a timeout down 8-5. Following the timeout, a McEwan-Llarenas kill would put BYU up 11-7. 

Texas Tech responded quickly, trimming its deficit to 12-11 and forcing the Cougars to call a timeout. A 6-0 BYU run out of the timeout would then force the Red Raiders to use their second timeout. 

Later in the set, a service ace from Livingston put the Cougars up 22-13 before a kill by Whitney Bower at the net lifted BYU to a 25-14 win in the second frame. Bower led the Cougars with four kills in the set. 

Set 3
BYU jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the third set, following a service ace McEwan-Llarenas. Later in the frame, the Cougars would lead 13-11 following another kill by Whitney Bower. BYU would go on to extend its lead to 15-12 before the media timeout. 

Following the timeout, Texas Tech tied the score at 16-16, but two straight points for the Cougars, capitalized by a service ace from Hiapo, put BYU back in front at 18-16. The Red Raiders continued to stick around, cutting their deficit to 21-20, forcing the Cougars to call a timeout. 

Three-straight points for BYU following the timeout extended the Cougars' lead to 24-20 before a Livingston kill at the net clinched the victory for BYU, 25-22. 

Up Next
The Cougars will face No. 25 Iowa State on Thursday and Friday, Oct. 19-20 in the Smith Fieldhouse next week. Both matches will begin at 7 p.m. MDT and streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.