Mortensen leads No. 23 Cougars to sweep of No. 18 Bears

PROVO, Utah — Outside hitter Elli Mortensen paced No. 23 BYU women's volleyball as it swept No. 18 Baylor, 3-0 (26-24, 25-21, 25-13) at the Smith Fieldhouse on Thursday night.

BOX SCORE

The Cougars (10-5, 3-2 Big 12) hit .404 on the night and held the Bears to a hitting percentage of .219. Mortensen and Claire Little combined for 31 of the team’s 49 kills, and Mortensen tied her career-high with 17 total kills, hitting an impressive .500.

“Everything was clicking," said Mortensen. "We were staying assertive. There was no passiveness on the court and everyone was doing their job, and we came out on top.”

Kjersti Strong recorded her 300th-career block in the contest and tallied one of BYU’s two solo blocks in the match. Hannah Billeter scored three of the Cougars’ five service aces, and Lulu Uluave tallied a game-high 16 digs.

Set 1
BYU began the set trading kills with Baylor, but the Bears gained the first three-point lead of the set off three-straight points, putting them up 10-7. The Cougars quickly came back with six kills from Brielle Kemavor, Little and Mortensen, taking the lead 15-13 and aiding the media timeout.

Following the timeout, the teams traded several more kills, and Baylor regained the lead 19-18 off two kills and a block, forcing BYU’s first timeout of the game. The Cougars came back after the timeout with two-straight points off a kill and a block, forcing Baylor’s first timeout. BYU maintained its lead at 23-20 with three-straight points despite a succesful Baylor challenge.

The Bears shortened the Cougars’ lead to one after two-straight blocks and forced a second BYU timeout. The Cougars scored another point off a kill by Little, gaining set point and leading to a second Bears timeout. After three set-point opportunities, Strong secured a set-one BYU win with her fourth kill of the set, 26-24.

Little and Mortensen tallied 11 of the Cougars’ 19 kills in the set. BYU hit at a percentage of .341.

Set 2
The Cougars began the second set trading several points with the Bears, but Billeter scored two-straight service aces to put them up 9-7. BYU maintained its lead at 14-12 with kills from Strong, Little and Kemavor. After a media timeout, the Cougars scored two more points, lengthening their lead to 17-14 and forcing Baylor’s first timeout of the set.

After the timeout, BYU maintained its lead at 20-16 with two service aces and a kill, resulting in another timeout from the Bears. The teams traded kills following Baylor’s second timeout, but BYU reached set point first off a kill by Kemavor. After a kill from Strong, the Cougars took the second set, 25-21.

Set 3
BYU gained an early 9-4 lead off kills from Little, Kemavor and Mortensen, and Baylor took its first timeout of the set. Mortensen scored another kill and Strong had a solo block, lengthening the Cougars’ lead and forcing a second timeout this set for the Bears.

Following the second timeout, BYU scored four-straight points and gained their largest lead of the game, 15-4. The Cougars reached set point first with kills from Kemavor, Little and Mortensen, and they took the match 25-13 with another kill from Mortensen.

BYU tallied another fifteen kills in the third set and recorded a match-high .520 hitting percentage in the frame while holding Baylor to a hitting percentage of .032. 

Up Next
The Cougars will return to the Smith Fieldhouse on Saturday, Oct. 12 to face No. 17 TCU before they head out on the road again. The game will be streamed at 7 p.m. MDT on ESPN+.