Cougars sweep visiting Tigers of Pacific

PROVO, Utah – Alexa Gray and Tambre Haddock led the BYU women’s volleyball team to a sweep of Pacific (25-20, 25-9, 25-22) on Saturday night at the Smith Fieldhouse.

 “I’m happy with the win,” BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said. “Pacific is a good program and any win in conference is really important for what we are trying to build.”

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With the win the Cougars improved to 10-3 overall and remained the only undefeated team in West Coast Conference play at 3-0. The Tigers fell to 9-6 and 2-2 in conference.  

BYU was led by Haddock’s ninth double-double of the season with 11 kills and 12 digs. Gray added 12 kills on a .423 hitting percentage and Kathryn LeCheminant tied her career high with 10 blocks.

“Kat did a really good job on defense,” Olmstead said. “She had a crucial one there at the end where I thought they were going to kill the ball, but her hands were in the right place.”

In the first set, the teams traded points with runs keeping things close. With Pacific leading 9-8, the Cougars went on a 4-0 run to build the breathing room they needed. The teams continued to trade points, but the Cougars closed strong with a 3-0 run to take the set 25-20. Jessica Jardine led the way in the first with four kills and an .800 hitting percentage.

The Cougars used their momentum from the first set and never trailed in the second set winning 25-9. BYU used a 15-5 run to open things up before cruising to take the set.  The Cougars hit .344 while their defense held Pacific to a -.071 hitting percentage while collecting five blocks.

Pacific rebounded in the third and the two teams had a back and forth battle for most of the set. There were 12 ties and five lead changes in the set. Whitney Young subbed in at the end of the match to spark a 5-2 BYU run with two kills to win the set 25-22.

The Cougars hit the road next week to face Pepperdine on Oct. 3 at 8 p.m. PDT and Loyola Marymount on Oct. 5 at 12 p.m. PDT. The Pepperdine match will be broadcast live on ESPNU.