PROVO — The No. 13 BYU women’s volleyball team swept LIU (25-14, 25-17, 25-10) Thursday night in its first match of the BYU Doterra Classic.
Senior McKenna Miller and sophomore Madelyn Robinson each had a game-high 10 kills for the Cougars, hitting at .409 and .400, respectively. Sophomore Heather Gneiting added seven with four blocks while junior Taylen Ballard-Nixon and junior Kennedy Eschenberg each had six kills for BYU.
"I liked our focus tonight," BYU head coach Heather Olmstead said. "We came in with a plan and we stuck with it. We served tough and we took smart swings."
BYU totaled 11 aces from a combined six players, including Gneiting and Whitney Bower with three apiece. The Cougars out-hit the Sharks .371 to .030 on the night.
Set 1
BYU jumped out to an early 8-2 lead following a Mary Lake ace and Ballard-Nixon kill, forcing LIU to call timeout. The Cougars maintained a convincing lead throughout the set, never letting their lead get below six. Five different players each recorded an ace for BYU on their way to a 25-14 win.
Set 2
The Cougars once again came out strong, causing the Sharks to call another early timeout after a 5-2 BYU lead. LIU hung around, however, and forced a BYU timeout after cutting the Cougars’ lead to 17-15. BYU proceeded to score six unanswered points behind Gneiting's serve to go up 23-17 before winning the set by a score of 25-17.
Set 3
BYU built a 10-5 lead after a kill by Miller and an ace by Gneiting, her third of the match. The Cougars continued their momentum, recording a hitting percentage of .484 on the set and finishing off the match with back-to-back aces by Robinson to seal a 25-10 win.
The Cougars will face Sam Houston State on Friday, Sept. 6, at 7 p.m. MT for its second match of the BYU Doterra Classic.
Weber State 3, Sam Houston State 0
In the first match of the day, Weber State downed Sam Houston State (25-21, 25-19, 25-18) behind nine kills from four different players and 13 team blocks led by 10 from Hannah Hill.