Photo credit: Pacific Athletics

STOCKTON, Calif.  — No. 12 BYU women’s volleyball suffered its first loss in conference play, dropping a five-setter to Pacific (21-25, 25-17, 22-25, 25-10, 10-15) at the Alex G. Spanos Center on Saturday afternoon.

BOX SCORE

The Cougars hit .288 to the Tigers’ .205, but recorded 51 kills to Pacific’s 57. As a team, BYU tallied eight total blocks and eight service aces. Outside hitter Erin Livingston registered 18 kills on a .486 clip, with fellow outside hitter Elyse Stowell adding 11 kills of her own.

Setter Whitney Bower tallied 39 assists and notched 11 digs. Libero Aria McComber led the team with 12 digs, and middle blocker Heather Gneiting finished with a team-high five total blocks. 

Set 1
The two teams traded points to begin the match, with two ties in the early going. A handful of BYU errors had the Cougars trailing 11-4 before a quick kill by Heather Gneiting ended a 5-0 Pacific run.

Kills from Stowell, Livingston and Gneiting drew BYU closer but two-straight kills from the Tigers’ Biama Kabengele made it 17-10, Pacific, forcing BYU’s second timeout.

The Cougars drew within three twice down the stretch, forcing Tiger timeouts both times, but Pacific pulled away to take the first set, 25-21. 

Set 2
Wasting no time in the second set, BYU pulled out to a 5-1 lead early, paced by a Bower kill and ace. Two Kelsey Knudsen aces then gave the Cougars a 12-7 advantage. 

Beginning to pull away, Gneiting and Livingston both put down kills before a Tiger error made it 15-8, bringing up a Pacific timeout. A Livingston ace then put BYU ahead 20-12. 

The Tigers were able to hang around, but a Whitney Llarenas slide kill put them away, finishing off the set, 25-17, and tying the match at 1-1. 

Set 3
Tied 4-4, Pacific went on a 7-0 run to take an 11-4 lead. Kills by Llarenas and Stowell helped the Cougars stay in it, but the Tigers remained on the attack, holding a 19-11 lead. 

Aided by three Pacific errors, BYU went on a 4-0 run, drawing with five at 21-16. Stowell landed a kill off the block to punctuate a 3-0 Cougar run that made it 22-19, Pacific, forcing a Tiger timeout.

BYU rallied to make it 24-22 but a cross-court kill by the Tigers finished off the set, 25-22.

Set 4
Livingston began the fourth with three-straight kills. Llarenas, Stowell and Kate Prior put down kills of their own, putting the Cougars ahead 8-3 and forcing a Pacific timeout. 

Two separate 3-0 BYU runs made it 19-7, BYU. Closing the set on a 5-1 run, three Tiger errors, a Stowell kill and Knudsen ace helped the Cougars force a fifth and final set, 25-10. 

Set 5
BYU got down 6-3 in the final frame and called a timeout. After Llarenas landed a kill and Pacific sent an attack long, the Cougars had made it 6-5, Tigers. Consecutive points by Pacific gave the Tigers an 8-5 lead as the two teams swapped sides.

Back-to-back Pacific points, stretching the run to four-straight, had BYU down 10-6, bringing up a timeout. The Cougars rallied, making it 13-10, but the Tigers scored the next two points to win the set and the match, 15-10.

The Cougars have a long week prior to their lone game next week at San Diego on Friday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. PDT. The match will be streamed on the WCC Network. 

PROVO, Utah — Coming off its third-straight sweep, No. 12 BYU women’s volleyball heads to Stockton to play Pacific on Saturday afternoon. 

The Cougars improved to 7-3 in West Coast Conference (WCC) play with a sweep of Saint Mary’s on Thursday night. Outside hitter Erin Livingston recorded a team-high 11 kills, her 16th match with double-digit kills this season.

Tying a season-high with eight aces, four different BYU players recorded two each from behind the service line: setter Whitney Bower, outside hitter Alyssa Montoya and liberos Aria McComber and Kelsey Knudsen. 

Knudsen, who spent the first four years of her collegiate career with the Gaels, added two assists and four digs to go along with the pair of aces in her return to Moraga. 

BYU has won 34 WCC matches in a row, the third-longest streak in NCAA DI women's volleyball. The Cougars are also riding an 18-game road win streak in conference play. 

No. 12 BYU @ Pacific

• Saturday, Oct. 15 (12 p.m. PDT)
• Alex G. Spanos Center (Stockton, CA)
• WCC Network
• Live Stats
• Tickets

Sweeping both matchups with Pacific last season, the Cougars have swept nine of the last 12 games since BYU head coach Heather Olmstead took over in 2015, with six wins in both Provo and Stockton. The Cougars have dropped just four sets to the Tigers during that span. 

Olmstead is 12-0 against Pacific during her time at BYU, with six wins a piece in Provo and Stockton. She has a 76-12 (.864) record on the road during her tenure, and a 117-9 (.929) record in WCC play. 

Hitting .378 as a team against Saint Mary’s on Thursday, the Cougars upped their season hitting percentage to. 305, which is the sixth-best clip in the nation. BYU also ranks No. 7 in kills per set, with 14.21, and No. 11 in assists per set, with 13.12. All three statistical marks continue to be WCC-leaders.

Middle blocker Whitney Llarenas recorded 10 kills on a .562 clip against the Gaels, bringing her season hitting percentage to .409, a mark that stands at 16th in the country and first in conference. Bower (10.46 assists per set) and Livingston (4.02 kills per set) both rank second in the WCC. Nationally, those marks are good for No. 36 and No. 40, respectively. 

Pacific (10-9, 2-5 WCC)

• Opening WCC play with a win against Gonzaga, the Tigers have dropped four of their last five in conference, picking up a win against Saint Mary’s
• Pacific played two non-conference tournaments in Illinois, and another pair in California, most notably earning wins over UC San Diego and Fresno State
• Alexa Edwards leads the Tigers with 277 kills. Three other Pacific hitters have 100+ kills on the season: Biamba Kabengele (166), Darina Kumanova (132) and Ramonni Cook (113).
• Jenna Heller has a team-high 611 assists, also recording 180 digs. Kumanova is right behind with 171 digs, and leads the team in aces, with 32. Edwards has 30 aces of her own.
• At the net, Emily Van Groningen (33 blocks), Sedona Sherman (29 blocks) and Kabengele (23 blocks) pace the Tigers in total blocks.
• 12 seasons in as head coach of the Tigers, Greg Gibbons has an overall record of 196-164
• BYU leads the all-time series with Pacific, 20-7. The Cougars swept both matchups last season. The two teams did not face each other during the spring 2020-21 season. 

Following the game at Pacific, the Cougars have a long week to prepare for their top-15 matchup at No. 4 San Diego on Friday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. PDT. The game will be streamed on the WCC Network.