Mortensen, Little Chambers fuel No. 18 Cougars' sweep of No. 19 Jayhawks

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Elli Mortensen and Claire Little Chambers combined for 25 kills as No. 18 BYU women’s volleyball swept No. 19 Kansas (27-25, 25-18, 25-21) at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena on Friday night.

BOX SCORE

The Cougars (11-1, 3-0 Big 12) hit .303 on the night to the Jayhawks’ .149 clip, also out-blocking KU, 11 to seven. Despite being out-aced (6-1) and facing four set points in the first, BYU rallied to take control of the match and never looked back.

Mortensen led the way for the second night in a row, recording 14 kills on a .333 hitting percentage. Little Chambers added 11 of her own, hitting .364. Kate Prior (eight kills) and Brooke Hardy (six kills) contributed to the Cougars' 43 total kills as well.

Lulu Po’uha finished with a match-high 14 digs and was an assist shy of her first career double-double with a career-high nine assists. Hardy posted a match-high six blocks while Mortensen and Kelli Jo Burgess both sent back five, a career high for Mortensen.

Set 1
BYU forced an early Kansas timeout after taking a 4-1 lead behind three blocks involving Burgess. Two kills apiece from Hardy and Chambers then gave the Cougars a 10-5 advantage.

Kansas answered with an eight-point run, including three aces, that spanned a BYU timeout and the technical timeout, putting the Jayhawks ahead 16-13. A Mortensen kill ended the streak, but three more Kansas points forced BYU’s second timeout with the Cougars trailing 19-14.

Kills by Prior, Burgess, Little Chambers and Mortensen kept BYU within striking distance. The Cougars fought off four set points while closing the frame on a 7-1 run, spanning a Kansas timeout, to take the set 27-25.

Set 2
In similar fashion to the opening set, BYU benefited from six Kansas errors to start the second, forcing a Jayhawk timeout with the Cougars in front, 10-5. The Cougars answered a 3-0 Kansas run with a 5-0 span of their own, taking a 15-8 advantage into the technical timeout.

Trading points out of the break, a line shot by Little Chambers brought up Kansas’ second timeout with BYU leading 18-13. Two kills apiece from Mortensen and Little Chambers, along with two more Jayhawk errors down the stretch, put the Cougars in a commanding 2-0 position with a 25-18 win.

BYU used runs of three, four and five consecutive points to pull away after an early 2-2 tie, holding Kansas to a -.054 hitting percentage in the set.

Set 3
Tied at two once more, the Cougars broke away with an 8-2 span, including a 4-0 run fueled by three Mortensen kills and two from Burgess, to force a KU timeout at 10-4. Another Mortensen point off the block and a Hardy-Mortensen double block quickly forced the Jayhawks’ second timeout, with BYU leading 12-5.

A dump kill by Kaylie Kofe gave the Cougars a 15-7 lead at the technical timeout. Kills by Little Chambers and Prior put BYU ahead 22-16 before a 4-0 Kansas run cut the advantage to two. Both pins scored again before Little Chambers closed things out with the Cougars’ first ace of the match, 25-21.

Up Next
BYU will visit Houston on Thursday, Oct. 8 next week, with the battle of the Cougars beginning at 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN+.