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Royce Hinton | Posted: 6 Dec 2013 | Updated: 8 Nov 2020
Royce Hinton

Cougars advance to second round of tournament in five-set thriller

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HONOLULU – Alexa Gray led BYU women’s volleyball to a thrilling five-set (21-25, 25-22, 25-17, 24-26, 15-10) victory over Arizona State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Honolulu on Friday.

“First off, congratulations to Arizona State on a great match,” BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said. “I’m really excited for our kids. They showed unreal heart and fight tonight. To fight from losing that fourth set shows what they are made of. Our block helped turn the match, along with Ciara (Parker) digging a ton of shots. It was a true team effort tonight.”

Gray led the team with a career-high 27 kills on 72 attempts to hit a .250 clip, while adding four blocks. Sophomore Camry Godfrey had a match-high 61 assists and sophomore libero Ciara Parker contributed a career-high 34 digs in the win. Freshman Whitney Young helped defensively by leading the team with eight blocks. Tambre Haddock added a double-double of 18 kills and 12 digs in the victory.

The decisive fifth set began for BYU (23-6, 15-3 West Coast Conference) with a trio of kills from Gray to keep the score close at 3-2. Young and Haddock each contributed a pair of kills to give the Cougars the 7-5 advantage and force an Arizona State (19-14, 8-12 Pac-12)  timeout. Following the break, BYU went on a 4-1 run to take an 11-6 lead after a Hannah Robison ace. The Cougars maintained their lead and finished the set and match 15-10 with a Young and Jessica Jardine block.

Gray and Kathryn LeCheminant got the first points on the board in the first set with a block. Arizona State then jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead from multiple Cougar attack errors. Olmstead was forced to call a timeout after a 4-1 run gave the Sun Devils a 13-8 advantage. BYU slowed ASU's momentum with a 6-2 run, led by a trio of Young and Godfrey blocks, to come within a point of Arizona State at 21-20. In the end, the Cougars couldn’t stop the Sun Devils’ offensive attack as Arizona State took set one 25-21.

The second set began with both sides trading points. The score remained within a point until a Whitney Follette kill gave the Sun Devils a 6-4 lead. Haddock gave BYU a service ace in the comeback effort to make things even at 9-9. The Cougars tied the second set two additional times before taking their first lead at 17-16. The score was tied again from points 17 to 21, at which point BYU went on a 4-1 rally to take the set 25-22 on a LeCheminant kill.   

A strong showing from Gray began the third set and put the Cougars ahead 6-2 before a 5-1 rally from Arizona State tied things up at 7-7. That was quickly countered by an 8-1 BYU run that extended the Cougar lead to 15-8. BYU continued to maintain at least a four-point lead through the rest of the set as it cruised to a 25-17 set-three victory completed with a block by a trio of Cougars.  

Following a dominant third-set performance, BYU opened up the fourth set 8-3. Haddock led the way as the Sun Devils had a hard time finding an answer to the Cougars, trailing 14-8. It wasn’t until a 4-1 rally that Arizona State was able to came back within two at 18-16 and then again at 22-20. After tying the set at 22 and 24, the Sun Devils took their first lead of the set a point later and then closed it out 26-24, taking the match to a fifth and final set.

The Cougars advance to the second round of the tournament, where they will face the winner of No. 11 Hawaii and Idaho State. The match will be played Saturday night at 7 p.m. HST. Links to live video and stats feeds will be available on the BYU women’s volleyball schedule page

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Royce Hinton | Posted: 1 Dec 2013 | Updated: 8 Nov 2020
Royce Hinton

Women's volleyball to participate in NCAA tournament

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PROVO, Utah – The BYU women’s volleyball team received an at-large bid to the 2013 NCAA Tournament and will travel to Hawaii to take on Arizona State in the first round on Friday.

“I’m excited for the girls,” BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said. “It’s a compliment for them for their work.”

The Cougars (22-6, 15-3 West Coast Conference) will play against Arizona State in the first round and the winner will play the winner of the match between No. 11 Hawaii and Idaho State. BYU will play at 5 p.m. HST while Hawaii and Idaho State will face off at 7:30 p.m. HST. The winners will play Saturday at 7 p.m. HST in the second round of the tournament.

BYU, Arizona State, Hawaii and Idaho State are part of the Los Angeles Region. Saturday’s winner will advance to the region semifinals on Dec. 13 in Los Angeles.

The Cougars have advanced to the NCAA tournament for the second-straight season. In 2012, BYU hosted the first and second rounds and advanced to the regional semifinals, before losing to No. 5 seed Oregon.

First and second round opponents

Arizona State is 19-13 on the season and 8-12 in the Pac-12. The Sun Devil’s finished ninth in league play.

Hawaii ended the regular season 24-4 and 13-3 in Big West play. The Rainbow Wahine finished tied for first in their league.

Idaho State is 23-11 overall and 14-6 in the Big Sky. The Bengals finished third in their conference and won the auto-bid after defeating Portland State in the Big Sky tournament.  

Previous opponents

BYU is one of two teams from the WCC to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament. San Diego received the automatic bid and the Cougars earned an at-large bid.

Five of BYU’s opponents this season made it into the NCAA tournament. Besides conference foe San Diego, Utah, Marquette, Oklahoma and Creighton earned spots in the tournament. The Cougars are 3-3 against teams that will play in the tournament this year.

TICKET INFO

Tickets will go on sale on Tuesday, Dec. 2 at 9 a.m. HST/Noon MST on Hawaii’s website, HawaiiAthletics.com.

Ticket Prices

Packages (2-day): Adults (Lower or Upper) - $30
Upper Senior Citizen - $20
Upper Student - $13

Single game prices: Adults (Lower or Upper)- $18
Upper Senior Citizen - $12
Upper Student - $8

LIVE STREAMING

All matches will be streamed live through NCAA.com.

LIVE STATS

Live stats will be available on the Hawaii volleyball schedule page.

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