PROVO, Utah – No. 9 BYU women's volleyball handed UNLV its first loss of the season in a three-set (25-19, 25-17, 25-21) win Saturday night at the Smith Fieldhouse to conclude nonconference play.

"I thought our girls were great tonight," BYU head coach Heather Olmstead said. "They had great focus and energy. They knew the game plan, they knew what we wanted to do and they attacked it. I thought tonight was great and all three nights were good for us heading into West Coast Conference play next week."

McKenna Miller led the Cougars in kills with 12 and had two blocks. Amy Boswell and Veronica Jones-Perry followed close behind with 10 kills each and Boswell added two blocks as well. Mary Lake finished the night with a team-high 17 digs as Hannah Robison added eight digs.

"We held them offensively to some low numbers," Olmstead said. "I thought our block had good touches and we were scrappy on defense. We wanted to match their scrappiness and we did a good job of that." 

Three kills from Jones-Perry helped the Cougars (11-1) pull ahead of the Rebels (11-1) early in the first set, 6-4. BYU increased its lead to 11-8 after several UNLV errors and a Whitney Young Howard kill. The Rebels rallied back, going on a 3-0 run to tie the score at 11-11. BYU broke the tie with kills from Lacy Haddock, Boswell and Jones-Perry to put it ahead 14-13. A few Cougar service errors brought the Rebels back into the game, but the Cougars held the close lead at 16-15. BYU began a run of 5-2 that ended in an UNLV timeout as the Cougars were up 20-16. Kills from Haddock, Howard and Jones-Perry set the Cougars up for match point as a Boswell kill ended the set 25-19.

The Cougars took a 3-1 edge early in the second set after a Jones-Perry kill and stayed ahead 8-5 after back-to-back kills. With a 7-4 run, the Rebels rallied back to tie the Cougars at 12-all before BYU took six of the next eight points, which gave it an 18-14 advantage. Two errors and a Miller kill brought the Cougars’ lead up to 21-14. BYU cruised from there, taking four of the next seven points, including a set-winning kill from Emily Lewis, to claim the set 25-17.

Errors from UNLV helped BYU take a 5-2 advantage to start the third set. The Rebels took the next five of seven points to tie the Cougars at 7-7. A pair of kills from Boswell and Miller helped BYU jump ahead again 13-9 in its 6-2 run against UNLV. The two sides then went back and forth as a pair of Jones-Perry kills helped the Cougars maintain an 18-13 advantage. Despite UNLV pulling within two points, BYU would clinch the match after a block from Haddock and Howard, 25-21.

Following the conclusion of the match, Amy Boswell was named the UVU/BYU Invitational Most Valuable Player and added to the all-tournament team along with Whitney Young Howard and McKenna Miller.

The Cougars will remain home at the Smith Fieldhouse as they face off against Santa Clara next Thursday, September 22, at 7 p.m. MDT. Links to live stats and video feed can be found on the BYU women’s volleyball schedule page. 

PROVO, Utah – No. 9 BYU women’s volleyball returns home to the Smith Fieldhouse this week for matches against rival Utah, CSUN and UNLV.

Last Time Out

The Cougars (9-0) won the Idaho State Invitational over the weekend, picking up sweeps against Boise State, Missouri and Idaho State. Amy Boswell was named the tournament MVP, while Veronica Jones-Perry and McKenna Miller were also added to the all-tournament team.

Utah

• BYU plays against Utah (7-2) Thursday, Sept. 15, at 7 p.m. MDT.
• The Cougars lead the overall series history 69-29 and have won the past five-consecutive meetings.
• The Utes won the North Marriott Harbour Challenge over the weekend, picking up wins against Texas State, CSU Bakersfield and Portland.
• Utah finished just 10-21, 4-16 (10th) Pac-12 in 2015.

CSUN

• BYU will next face off against CSUN (3-6) Friday, Sept. 16, beginning at 7 p.m. MDT.
• The Cougars hold a perfect 9-0 record all-time against the Matadors, picking up a four-set win in the last meeting in 2011.
• CSUN has lost its last four matches, including against Eastern Washington, Wyoming and Samford last weekend.
• The Matadors finished with an 8-20, 7-9 (6th) Big West record in 2015.

UNLV

• BYU will conclude the week by playing UNLV (9-0) Saturday, Sept. 17, at 5 p.m. MDT.
• The Cougars lead the overall series 27-6 against the former Mountain West Conference foe and picked up a five-set win in the last meeting in 2010.
• The Rebels won the Texas A&M-CC Tournament over the weekend, winning against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and twice against UT Arlington to remain perfect on the year.
• UNLV is off to its best start in school history and is receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches' Poll.
• The Rebels finished 16-14, 9-9 (t-5th) MWC in 2015.

Additional Match Info

Thursday’s match against Utah will be a royal match. Fans are encouraged to wear royal blue to the match. Friday’s match against CSUN is team night – full teams plus coaches will be admitted for $20. Additionally, there will be $1 drinks and popcorn. Saturday’s UNLV match is the alumni match. Former players are encouraged to RSVP with assistant coach Jonny Neeley at jonny_neeley@byu.edu.

Thursday and Friday’s matches will be broadcast live on BYUtv and simulcast on BYU Radio. Saturday’s match will be streamed live on TheW.tv. Links to live stats and video/audio feeds can be found on the BYU women’s volleyball schedule page.