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PROVO, Utah -- The BYU women’s volleyball team kept up its momentum with a 3-0 sweep against Weber State (25-14, 25-21, 28-26) Tuesday night at the Smith Fieldhouse.
The Cougars (2-2), who hit .230 for the match, and the Wildcats (0-4) battled it out in the second and third sets, with the score tied 10 times in each.
“For a team like us, and at this time of season, that’s okay for us to go through,” first-season head coach Shawn Olmstead said. “We stayed composed and came back up and that shows a lot of maturity and composure under pressure.”
The victory came against former BYU men's volleyball coach Tom Peterson, now coaching Weber State.
“I look up to Tom [Peterson], I respect him,” Olmstead said. “He taught me a lot as a player so it’s an honor to go and compete and put our teams on the floor.”
Sophomore opposite hitter Jennifer Hamson led BYU with 11 kills, seven of which came in the third set. Junior middle blocker Nicole Warner had eight kills for the Cougars and a .429 hitting percentage. Senior setter Heather Hannemann recorded 33 assists while junior libero Kendalyn Hartsock tallied 10 digs.
BYU took control of the first set early and never looked back. After a 3-3 tie, BYU led the entire way before taking the set 25-14.
BYU recorded a .226 hitting percentage in the first set, compared to the Wildcats’ .083 clip. Freshman outside hitter Katie Vaughn led the Cougars with a .500 hitting percentage in the first game. Vaughn, along with sophomore outside hitter Jessica Jardine and Hamson, totaled a set-high three kills.
The second set proved to be a closer battle, as both teams fought back and forth. Breaking away from a tie score of 18-18, the Cougars took a 24-21 lead before senior outside hitter Christie Carpenter closed out the set with a kill.
In a third-set thriller, the Cougars took off on a 6-0 run to bring the score to 17-11. Not to be outdone, the Wildcats answered with their own 5-0 run before Hamson scored on a kill. Each team failed to convert on a set point but a tip and kill by Carpenter put the Cougars up 27-26. BYU took the set and match after a hitting error by Weber State.
The Cougars kick off the Kansas State Invitational against Idaho Friday at 10 a.m. CT. BYU also faces Georgia Southern on Friday at 5 p.m. before closing out the tournament with a match against Kansas State Saturday at 1 p.m.