Set 1
The Cougars scored the first three points of the match off kills by Kate Prior and Mortensen, and a service ace by Uluave, but the Bisons answered with three kills of their own. Lipscomb tallied three more kills and a service ace to put them up 9-6, leading to BYU’s first timeout of the night. After three-straight points by the Bisons, the Cougars also scored three-straight with two kills from Little, forcing the Bisons to take a timeout ahead 12-10.
After a kill from Lipscomb and a BYU attack error, the Cougars took another timeout with the Bisons leading 17-13. BYU scored another three points following the timeout, with kills from Strong and Mortensen and an ace by Hannah Billeter.
Lipscomb reached 20 points first off an attack error from Little, but BYU caught up after a Lipscomb service error and an ace from Little, forcing another timeout for the Bisons up 23-22. The Cougars fought off two set points with a Bisons service error and a block from Prior and Strong, ultimately winning the set 26-24 on a kill from Mortensen.
Mortensen and Strong combined for seven of BYU’s 12 kills of the set. The team hit at a percentage of .350.
Set 2
BYU scored the first two points of the set off of a Lipscomb attack error and a block from Mortensen and Brielle Kemavor. The teams traded points and reached 10-10 after two-straight kills from the Bisons. After two Lipscomb service aces, Bobik stopped the Bisons’ run, recording her first career kill. Lipscomb came back with two more kills to give them a narrow 15-14 lead, aiding the media timeout.
The Bisons’ streak continued after the timeout with two service aces and five kills to put them up 21-16. The Cougars responded with a kill from Little and a Lipscomb error, and the Bisons took their first timeout of the set at 21-18. Lipscomb scored one more kill, and BYU took a timeout of their own. The Cougars came out of the timeout with another kill from Bobik, but the Bisons took set two with three-straight points.
Lipscomb recorded 14 kills in the set to the Cougars’ 11. The Bisons also tallied six service aces.
Set 3
BYU quickly bounced back from their second-set loss, scoring five of the first seven points on kills from Bobik, Little and Strong. Little and Strong also recorded a block to put the Cougars up 6-2, causing the Bisons to take their first timeout of the set. BYU scored another six points off five kills and a block, but Lipscomb came back with four-straight points and forced the Cougars to take a timeout up 12-10.
Following the timeout, BYU maintained its lead at 18-13 by kills from Strong, Little and Kemavor, leading to another Lipscomb timeout. The teams traded points and the Cougars took another timeout up 23-19 after a kill and a service ace from the Bisons. BYU won the set 25-19 with two-straight kills from Strong.
The Cougars tallied 14 kills on a .385 clip holding the Bisons to 10 kills and a .100 hitting percentage.
Set 4
BYU gained an early lead and maintained it with kills from Mortensen, Strong and Little to put the Cougars up 8-5. Following two-straight points from BYU and a 11-6 Cougars lead, Lipscomb took their first timeout of the set. BYU scored another three points off two Lipscomb errors and a service ace from Little. The Bisons took another timeout with the Cougars up 14-9.
Lipscomb came back with two-straight points off a kill and an ace, forcing BYU to take their first timeout of the set up 16-12. Following their timeout, the Cougars went on a six-point run with kills from Strong, Mortensen and Little to put them up 22-14. BYU took the fourth set and the match 25-17 with a Lipscomb service error.
The Cougars recorded another 13 kills in the set and hit .435, their highest percentage of the four sets while holding the Bisons to eight kills and a hitting percentage of .037.
Up Next
BYU will return to the Smith Fieldhouse on Saturday, Sept. 7 to play No. 19 Georgia Tech in its second matchup of the BYU Nike Invitational. The game will be streamed at 7 p.m. MDT on ESPN+.
