PROVO, Utah– Lyndie Haddock helped lead No. 13 BYU women’s volleyball past San Francisco in three sets (25-15, 25-16, 25-10) Saturday afternoon at the Smith Fieldhouse.
“I thought we played a really clean match,” BYU head coach Heather Olmstead said. “I liked our energy and I thought we limited our errors. We had a good game plan and I am happy with how the team played.”
Haddock ended the match with a career-high seven kills in the game, in addition to a match-high 25 assists and five blocks. Amy Boswell made major contributions on the defensive end as she had match-high six kills during the game. McKenna Miller was also on a roll, collecting a match-high nine kills in the win.
As a team, BYU (13-1, 2-0 West Coast Conference) hit at a .440 hitting percentage while limiting San Francisco (4-11, 0-2 WCC) to a .037 clip.
San Francisco started the game on fire, scoring the first three points of the game. The Cougars caught their drift and went on a 7-1 run, creating some distance between the two teams. The Dons remained in the set as the two teams rallied back and forth with BYU ahead 16-12. The Cougars then went on an 8-1 run to take a 24-14 lead. Haddock had the last kill of the set, ending in a 25-15 win for BYU.
The Dons and Cougars both struggled for the lead early in the second set, exchanging points back and forth as San Francisco took a 3-2 lead. BYU then went on a 4-1 run, including a momentum boosting kill by Whitney Young Howard, to give the Cougars a 6-4 edge. The two teams rallied to a 7-all tie before BYU went on an 8-1 run to take a 16-9 advantage. Picking up momentum from a kill by Emily Reed, the Dons went on a 3-1 run to bring them within four, down 16-12. BYU remained ahead at least by five points as it stayed ahead 20-15. A kill by Miller in the next play then helped the Cougars on a 5-1 run that ended the set in a 25-16 win.
The third set started with both teams battling for points. The score was kept within two points until a kill by Boswell helped to propel the Cougars forward in an 8-1 run to take a 12-4 lead. This energy was interrupted by a kill from the Dons, only to be returned with another 9-1 BYU run, summing up a score of 21-6. The ball went back and forth as San Francisco attempted to slow down the speed of the Cougars, but a Miller kill then brought up set point. BYU claimed the final point with an ace from Madeline Graham to give the Cougars a 25-10 set three win.
BYU plays on the road Tuesday, Sept. 27, at 7 p.m. PDT at Pepperdine in the Firestone Fieldhouse. Links to live stats and video feed can be found on the BYU women’s volleyball schedule page.