No. 17 Cougars shut out Mountaineers for third straight sweep

PROVO, Utah — No. 17 BYU women’s volleyball beat West Virginia (25-14, 25-19, 25-12) in straight sets at the Smith Fieldhouse on Saturday night.

BOX SCORE

The sweep was the Cougars' (13-1, 5-0 Big 12) ninth match hitting .300 or better this season, matches in which the BYU is now 9-0 in on the year.

The victory was an all around team effort with Kelli Jo Burgess recording seven blocks, Alex Bower tallying 20 assists and Elli Mortensen finishing with a team-high 11 kills on the night.

Coming off a match where it held Houston to .094 hitting percentage, BYU was once again stout defensively and held the Mountaineers to just a .033 hitting percentage.

Set 1
The game opened a tight contest between the Cougars and Mountaineers as both teams rallied back and forth, standing at 5-5 through the first ten points. 

The Cougars finally cushioned their lead via a Claire Little Chambers kill and two hitting errors from West Virginia. Freshman middle blocker Brooke Hardy delivered a stifling block that put the Cougars up by four halfway through set one. 

Back-to-back double blocks from Kate Prior and Burgess gave the Cougars a comfortable 19-12 lead, forcing a timeout from the West Virginia bench. Out of the timeout BYU kept the pressure on the Mountaineers with a service ace from Bower, putting the Cougars up 23-12. 

It was a kill from junior outside hitter Mortensen that finished off the first set for the Cougars, establishing the 1-0 set lead. 

Set 2
BYU picked up where it had left off in the first set, jumping out to a 5-1 lead courtesy of a block from Hardy and service ace from Kaylie Kofe. Matching Kofe from the service line, Bower hit her second ace of the night to increase BYU lead, 9-5.

A clinical quick set from Bower set up Burgess perfectly, crushing another kill on the night and making West Virginia use its first timeout of the set. Following suit, Kofe set up a gorgeous back line kill from Mortensen, growing the lead to 19-12.  

The Mountaineers strung together a 4-0 run, putting themselves back in the set 22-17 and forcing a timeout from BYU, its first of the game. Undeterred however, Prior shut the door on a potential comeback with her fourth kill of the evening to give the Cougars a two-set lead. 

Set 3
Seeking the swift sweep, BYU grabbed its first lead of the set, 5-4, following a strong block by Little Chambers. The Cougars padded their lead with a 4-0 run highlighted by kills from Mortensen and Prior.

BYU kept their high tempo play, digging a tough ball off the tape and finishing it off with a kill from Hardy. Aces from Mortensen on the ensuing two serves primed the Cougars with a 19-10 lead.

Facing a 24-12 deficit, the Mountaineers hit a ball into the net, giving the Cougars both the third set victory and sweep on the night.

Up Next
BYU will make the quick trip up to Salt Lake to face in-state foe Utah at the Huntsman Center on Thursday, Oct. 15th, at 7 p.m. MT on ESPN+.