Provo, Utah--Led by four hitters in double-figures, the No. 16 BYU women’s volleyball team beat San Francisco in four sets (25-18, 25-14, 20-25, 25-21) on Elaine Michaelis Court Saturday night to remain undefeated at home.
“I thought that we attacked well out of system because we weren’t passing that well,” head coach Shawn Olmstead said. “When we don’t have a good pass it makes it tougher on the setter, which makes it even tougher on the hitter, so we took good swings at crucial times. That’s a positive and we hope to move forward with that.”
BYU improves to 18-1 and 6-1 in conference play, while San Francisco falls to 12-8 and 3-4 in the WCC.
Nicole Warner and Alexa Gray led the team in kills with 12, while Jennifer Hamson and Kimberly Dahl each contributed 10. Hamson also had 12 digs to earn her fourth double-double of the season. Tia Withers finished the game with 17 digs to set a season record and tie her career record. Kathryn LeCheminant led the team with eight total blocks for a season high, seven of which were block assists. Heather Hannemann also had 40 assists in the game for her sixth double-double of the season.
In set one, BYU took the early 6-2 lead, but San Francisco pushed back with a 4-0 run to tie the game at six. BYU fought back with a run of its own and converted on two team blocks and a kill by Nicole Warner to gain back the lead. BYU and San Francisco traded points until a 4-0 run by the Cougars brought the score to 15-9 and forced a Don time out. BYU maintained its lead coming out of the time out to take the 25-18 victory.
Tied at 3-3 in the second set, BYU went on an 8-2 run to gain a comfortable lead. The Cougars built on some San Francisco errors and team blocks and kills throughout the rest of the set to earn the 25-14 win.
San Francisco fought to avoid the sweep in the third set and came out energized to grab the early lead. With an 11-8 score in favor of the Dons, BYU was forced to call its first time out of the night. After the time out, BYU fought back to tie the score at 14-14, but San Francisco quickly answered with a 4-0 run and pushed to earn the 25-20 victory. Prior to this loss, BYU had not lost a single set at home this season. It was also the Cougars' first loss in the third set this year.
Down 3-1 in the fourth set, the Cougars pulled together a 6-0 run and stayed aggressive both offensively and defensively to shut down the Dons. BYU pushed its lead to 19-12 before forcing San Francisco to call a time out. The Dons fought back within two points of BYU at 22-20, but the Cougars pushed to hold the game and the home victory at 25-21.
BYU will play next at home on Thursday at 7 p.m. MDT against Saint Mary’s, who handed BYU its first and only loss of the season Sept. 29.