PROVO, Utah — The No. 13 seeded BYU women’s volleyball team swept American University (25-11, 25-17, 25-16) in the first round of the NCAA tournament Friday night at the Smith Fieldhouse.

"I'm really pleased with the way we came out ready to play," BYU head coach Heather Olmstead said. "We served tough and that really helped our defense. We were scrappy all night and Mary was great leading the back row. Lyndie did a great job distributing the ball around. Overall, it was a great team win. We are looking forward to tomorrow."

Jones-Perry led the Cougars with 13 kills, three digs and two aces. McKenna Miller tallied 11 kills, while Cosy Burnett added 10. Lyndie Haddock recorded 37 assists and 10 digs for a double-double while Mary Lake contributed 20 digs in the win.

A Jones-Perry kill gave the Cougars the first point of the match, but the Eagles answered by taking an early 6-3 lead. A kill by Miller started a 6-0 run, forcing American to take a timeout. Two-consecutive errors by the Eagles gave the Cougars an 11-6 advantage. BYU then only gave up five more points as Cosy Burnett finished off the first set, 25-11, with a kill.

The second set started with a 5-0 BYU run, including kills by three different players. Back-to-back kills by Jones-Perry extended the Cougar lead to seven at 9-2. Two kills by Burnett and one by Miller gave BYU a 24-13 advantage. With the Cougars at set point, the Eagles scored four-straight points, their largest run of the set, before an attack error closed the set 25-17.

Jones-Perry opened the third set with three-consecutive kills, helping the Cougars earn an early 6-1 lead. Two kills by Miller and an attack error by American increased BYU’s lead to 10-3. The Eagles were unable to score more than two points in a row throughout most of the set. The Cougars later went on a 5-0 run, increasing their lead to 24-11. With BYU needing one point to close out the match, American went on a 5-0 run to cut the lead back down to eight points. A kill by Miller gave the Cougars the set and match 25-16, ending the Eagles’ 18-straight win streak.

The Cougars host 24th-ranked Oregon in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday, December 2, at 7 p.m. MST. Live coverage will be available on BYUtv and ESPN3 and an audio broadcast can be heard on BYU Radio (Sirius XM 143).

Students with ROC passes will be admitted to Saturday's match for free.

Kennesaw State vs. Oregon

No. 24 Oregon defeated Kennesaw State in three sets (28-26, 25-19, 25-18) to earn a first-round victory to begin its NCAA playoff run. Taylor Agost led the Ducks with 11 kills and Sydni Shelton delivered 10 kills for the Owls. Kennesaw State’s Kristi Piedimonte had 39 assists to help her teammates and August Raskie added 21 for Oregon.

In the first set, the Owls started off hot and took an early 11-4 lead over the Ducks. However, Oregon fought its way back and took the game to extra points, coming away with a 28-26 victory. The Ducks carried the momentum gained from the first set into the second. Oregon led throughout the set and defeated Kennesaw State 25-19. In the final set, the Owls tried to extend their season to another set but were defeated 25-18. Oregon advanced to play BYU.

PROVO, Utah – No. 13 seed BYU women’s volleyball will participate in the 2017 NCAA Tournament, hosting American Friday night at the Smith Fieldhouse in the first round.

“We're excited to be hosting the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament,” BYU head coach Heather Olmstead said. “We look forward to opening up the tournament against a very good American team as well as hosting Kennesaw State and Oregon.”

The Cougars (28-2, 17-1 West Coast Conference) will play against American in the first round and the winner of that match will compete against the winner of the match between Kennesaw State and Oregon, also to be played at the Smith Fieldhouse.

BYU and American will play Friday, Dec. 1, at 7 p.m. MST with Kennesaw State and Oregon facing off right before at 4 p.m. MST on Elaine Michaelis Court. The winners of each match will play Saturday, Dec. 2, at 7 p.m. MST in the second round.

BYU, American, Kennesaw State and Oregon are part of the Kentucky Region. Saturday’s winner will advance to the regional semifinals on Dec. 8 - to be played at the site of the highest remaining seed in the quadrant.

The Cougars are seeded No. 13 for the third-straight season. BYU has advanced to the regional semifinals in five-straight seasons, including advancing to the national championship match in 2014.

First and second round opponents

American

• American finished the regular season with a 26-7 overall record and a 15-1 first-place finish in the Patriot League.
• The Eagles are currently riding an 18-match win streak.
• American has won three NCAA tournament matches in the last four seasons, including advancing to the regional semifinals in 2013.
• The Eagles are led by 4.77 kills per set from Aleksandra Kazala, 8.87 assists per set by Kennedy Etheridge, 4.36 digs per set from Kristen Largay and 1.21 blocks per set from Cheyenne Orsi.
• The Cougars hold a perfect 3-0 record all-time against American, having last won in four sets in 2008.

Kennesaw State

• Kennesaw State is 21-4, 13-1 ASUN this season and have won 12-straight matches, including its first-ever ASUN Tournament.
• This will be the Owls’ first NCAA tournament appearance.
• Kennesaw State is led by 3.32 kills per set from Anaiah Boyer, 10.51 assists per set by Kristi Piedimonte, 4.37 digs per set from Katarina Morton and 1.17 blocks per set from Liesl Engelbrecht.
• BYU has never before competed against the Owls.

Oregon

• Oregon is 17-11, 10-10 Pac-12, good for eighth place in league play.
• The Ducks fell in the second round of the NCAA tournament a season ago.
• BYU is 9-2 all-time against Oregon.
• The Ducks and Cougars last played in the 2012 NCAA Tournament, with Oregon taking a four-set decision in the regional semifinals. The Ducks went on to play that season in the national championship match.
• Oregon is led by 2.98 kills per set from Taylor Agost, 6.25 assists per set from Maggie Scott, 3.17 digs per set by Alex Hojnar and 1.10 blocks per set from Sumeet Gill.

Previous opponents

The WCC earned just two spots in the tournament for the second-consecutive season. Although tying for the league championship, San Diego received the auto-bid to the tournament this season through tiebreakers.

Five of BYU’s opponents this season made it into the NCAA tournament. Besides the Toreros, Missouri, Hawai’i, Utah and Baylor all earned spots in the tournament. BYU is 4-2 this year against teams participating in this year’s tournament.

Additional Info

Tickets

All-session general admission tickets are now on sale beginning at $11. Single session tickets are available for purchase starting Dec. 1 for $7 each in general admission. Chair and courtside seats are also available for purchase. Visit the BYU Ticket website for ticket purchases.

Television

All matches featuring BYU will be televised nationally live on BYUtv. The BYU matches, including BYU vs. American, will also be streamed live on BYUtv.org and ESPN3.

All non-BYU matches will be streamed live on TheW.tv and ESPN3.