Mortensen, Little pace No. 19 BYU to sweep at Weber State

OGDEN, Utah — Elli Mortensen and Claire Little combined for 25 kills as No. 19 BYU women’s volleyball swept Weber State (25-20, 25-20, 25-18) at Swenson Gymnasium on Friday night.

BOX SCORE

The Cougars (6-3, 0-0 Big 12) hit .343 for the match while holding the Wildcats to an .082 clip in their first sweep since opening night. BYU also out-blocked Weber State, nine to four.

Mortensen tallied 15 kills on a .333 clip, while Little had 10, hitting .250. Kjersti Strong added nine kills (.533 hitting percentage) and a game-high eight blocks, and Blaykli Bobik contributed eight kills of her own.

Alex Bower dished out 39 assists and also had seven digs. Lulu Uluave finished with a team-high 12 digs, and Mortensen recorded the team’s two aces.

Set One
BYU opened up an early 4-1 lead before Weber State tied things up and both teams went back-and-forth through 9-9. A 4-0 Wildcat run that spanned a Cougar timeout made it 13-9 before a Bobik solo stuff stopped the run.

A 5-0 BYU run, spanning WSU’s first timeout, then gave the Cougars a 14-13 lead. Two Mortensen kills, a Little-Strong double block and a Mortensen ace put BYU up 19-17, forcing Weber State’s second timeout.

Bower and Strong combined for a double block out of the timeout before Strong scored on a slide. Kills by Brielle Kemavor and Bobik closed things out as BYU finished the set on a 10-4 run to win it 25-20.

Set Two
A trio of Little kills and two kills by Strong paced the Cougars to an 8-5 advantage. The Wildcats got within one, at 10-9, but a Kemavor quick hitter kept BYU in front.

Mortensen went crosscourt before dropping in an ace, and a Little-Strong double block had the Cougars leading 15-12 at the media timeout. Two more Little kills then made it 18-14, BYU.

After a Cougar timeout at 19-17, Mortensen tooled the block and then scored through it, forcing a Weber State timeout with a 21-18 advantage. Bobik and Strong sent one back, fueling a 6-2 finish as BYU took set two, 25-20.

Set Three
Two-straight Mortensen kills and a Strong quick hitter gave the Cougars a 4-2 lead. A Little kill off the block and a Strong slide kill sandwiched a Wildcat timeout as BYU went in front, 9-4.

Bower scored on a dump kill, Bobik went off the block and Mortensen added two more kills, forcing Weber State's second timeout with BYU ahead 14-10. A 3-0 WSU run had the Cougars call their first timeout in front by just two, at 15-13.

A trio of Mortensen kills was followed up by two Bower-Strong double blocks, a Little-Strong double block and a Strong slide kill. Another Bower dump and cross-court Little slam sealed the match for BYU, 25-18.

Up Next
The Cougars will conclude non-conference play against Utah Valley on Saturday, Sept. 21 at 6 p.m. MDT. The match will be streamed on ESPN+.