PROVO, Utah - Back at the Smith Fieldhouse after two road games in California, the No. 9 BYU women's volleyball swept San Francisco in their first match of the week 3-0 (25-11, 25-14, 25-23) on Thursday.

"I thought we showed a lot of fight in that third set," BYU head coach Heather Olmstead said. "McKenna (Miller) came in and served tough and really sparked us. Overall, I'm happy with the way we played."

Box Score

The win extends the Cougars' record against the Dons to 19-0 all-time. BYU now moves to 15-2 on the year and 6-0 in conference play.

Sophomore outside hitter Madelyn Robinson led all players with 11 kills to go with five digs. Senior libero Mary Lake tied her career high with three aces while adding 10 digs and three assists while junior middle blocker Kennedy Eschenberg had seven kills, hitting .500, with a team-high five blocks.

Set 1

Four Cougars had kills during an initial 6-1 run for BYU. The Cougars continued to dominate, achieving the biggest gap of 16 points at 22-6. Robinson had four kills on four swings to eventually give BYU the 25-11 win. The Dons hit -.087 in the frame compared to BYU’s .482. 

Set 2

USF held its first lead of the night at 8-5 in set two. After tying up the set three times, BYU finally got ahead at 11-10. The Cougars then raced ahead, snagging another win at 25-14 with the help of two aces by Mary Lake. 

Set 3

In the final set of the night, San Francisco led until BYU managed to take the lead at 12-11. However, the Cougars’ allowed the Dons to catch up at 18-18. This was one of 14 tied scores throughout the set. USF then took their biggest lead, 23-19. After a BYU timeout, senior McKenna Miller entered the set for the first time, serving four-straight points - including two two aces - to give BYU the 25-23 win. 

The Cougars will next face Santa Clara in the Smith Fieldhouse on Saturday, Oct. 12, at 1 p.m. MDT.

PROVO, Utah – No. 9 BYU women's volleyball plays host to San Francisco and Santa Clara this week. The Cougars and Dons will face off on Thursday, Oct. 10, at 7 p.m. MT before the Broncos come play in Provo on Saturday, Oct. 12, at 1 p.m. MT.

Thursday's match will air on the BYUtv app and online while Saturday's match will be shown on the WCC Network.

Game Notes

The Cougars are 18-0 all-time against the Dons, including 9-0 in Provo and 8-0 under Heather Olmstead. Against the Broncos, BYU is 13-4 all-time, 9-0 at home and 7-1 under Olmstead, including a current seven-match win streak.

BYU improved to 5-0 in WCC play with three wins last week. The Cougars have swept four of their five conference opponents so far this season on their way to being tied with San Diego atop the WCC standings.

BYU is ranked 25th in the nation in hitting percentage, now at .264 on the season. Junior Kennedy Eschenberg leads the Cougars with a .336 average (115/32/247) while senior McKenna Miller leads the team with 213 kills and 3.80 kills per set, hitting .267 overall.

The Cougars’ 1.67 aces per set is 32nd in the country as five players have 10 or more apiece. Freshman setter Whitney Bower leads the way with 31, good for 18th nationally, while Miller is next at 19, already just two away from her career season best of 21 set last year.

BYU has won its last 15 home conference matches, having not lost since October 27, 2017, and has won 63 of 64 conference home matches dating back to November 2011. 

The San Francisco match will also feature a birthday celebration for Cosmo while fans at the Santa Clara match can enjoy one dollar Cougar Tails and postgame autographs with the team.