SAN DIEGO, Calif. — A rough match against No. 18 San Diego led to a loss for the BYU women’s volleyball team, who fell 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-22) to the Toreros Saturday afternoon.

“We were outplayed,” BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said. “They were a much better team than us today. They showed us our weaknesses and what we have to get better at.”

For the first time this season, no Cougar reached double figures in kills or digs. Middle blocker Nicole Warner led BYU (13-4, 2-1) in kills with eight and in blocks with four. Defensive specialist Tia Withers led in digs with six and setter Heather Hannemann had 20 assists.

Amber Tatsch of USD (16-1, 2-1) led the match with 15 kills on .346 hitting and Kandiss Anderson had a match-high 16 digs.

An early 4-2 lead wasn’t enough to keep the Cougars going through the first set. USD tied the set 5-5 and advanced on a 6-1 run. The Toreros continued to widen the scoring gap. Attempts from Jennifer Hamson and Christie Carpenter only momentarily stalled USD’s 25-16 win.

The Toreros launched the second set with a five-point run for a 9-3 lead, broken by a Hamson kill. The Cougars tried to halt USD progression, but with three Torero points for every BYU point, the Cougars once again fell 25-16.

BYU charged back from a 4-1 deficit to tie set three 6-6. The Cougars proceeded to take the lead 8-6, their first lead since the first set, with the help of sophomores outside hitter Jessica Jardine and middle blocker Kathryn LeCheminant. USD tied the set again 9-9 and retook the lead. From there, BYU let USD run away again for a 14-11 lead. Back-to-back points put BYU in line to tie 16-16 and Kim Boswell’s service ace gave BYU another lead 17-16. The Toreros jumped ahead for the last time on a kill from Sandra Lozic. USD took the match on another Lozic kill at 25-22.

The Cougars return to their home court Thursday for a Homecoming Week appearance against Santa Clara at 7 p.m. Following the Santa Clara match, the Cougars head back to California to play No. 19 Pepperdine on Oct. 8.

BYU vs. USD Box Score

PROVO, Utah—Securing its first win in league play, the BYU women’s volleyball team continues its march through the West Coast Conference with matchups at Loyola Marymount Thursday and No. 18 San Diego Saturday.

Thursday’s match begins at 7 p.m. PDT in Los Angeles, while the Saturday match begins at 1 p.m. PDT in San Diego.

“We’re excited for our first road trip in the West Coast Conference,” BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said. “We believe both LMU and USD are great opponents and they have our full attention as we travel to California.”

The Cougars (12-3) took down Saint Mary’s 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-13) in their first appearance in WCC competition. Opposite hitter Jennifer Hamson once again recorded a double-figure evening, her 13^th of the season, with 12 kills on .550 hitting, also contributing six blocks and four service aces. Middle blocker Nicole Warner threw down 10 total blocks, nine assisted and one solo, to set a new season high. Senior outside hitter Casey Thurston set a season high of eight kills off the bench and had five blocks.

Hamson leads BYU with 214 kills, averaging 4.28 per set on .328 hitting. She also contributes 1.16 blocks per set and has 21 service aces on the season. Junior libero Kendalyn Hartsock has 230 total digs at 4.60 per set and Warner has 88 blocks. Setter Heather Hannemann reached 526 assists in the last match.

LMU, currently undefeated in conference play with a 2-0 record, is 8-6 on the season. The Cougars look to continue their undefeated all-time record (2-0) against LMU.

At the helm of the Lions’ offense is Jasmine Rankins, who puts up 3.42 kills per set. Litara Keil has recorded 42 blocks this season, .89 per set, to lead the Lions and Betsi Metter has 224 digs at 4.67 per set.

Reigning WCC champion USD fell 3-0 to San Francisco last week, putting the Toreros in fifth place in the conference standings going into the second week of WCC play. USD still holds the best season record in the league at 14-1 on the season.

Leading the Toreros, Amber Tatsch has 167 kills. Chloe Ferrari is close behind with 155 kills. Katie Hoekman and Kandiss Anderson head the defense with 53 blocks and 189 digs, respectively.

BYU hasn’t faced USD since 1996, when BYU took home the victory. The series is tied 1-1.

For links to live stats, click HERE.

BYU vs. LMU Notes

BYU vs. San Diego Notes