Young blocks her way into record books as BYU tops USF in four

PROVO, Utah – Sophomore Whitney Young tied BYU's single-match block record and pushed No. 10 BYU past San Francisco in four sets (25-15, 25-18, 23-25, 25-11) Thursday night at the Smith Fieldhouse.

“We played a great match,” BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said. “Our numbers showed that offensively and defensively. I’m pleased and thought we did well against a great opponent.”

With the win, BYU (13-2, 4-0 West Coast Conference) maintained its undefeated all-time record against San Francisco (9-6, 2-1 WCC), who fell to 0-9 against the Cougars.

Young's 17 block assists and total blocks matched Nicole Warner's single-match records set in 2012. BYU totaled 24.0 blocks, tied for fourth-most in a match during the rally-scoring era for the Cougars.

In addition to her 17 blocks, Young finished the match with eight kills while hitting a .889 clip. Jennifer Hamson tallied 18 kills and a career-high 11 blocks. Alexa Gray added 16 kills and a season-high five blocks. The Cougars hit at a .455 clip, BYU’s third-highest team hitting percentage in a single match in the rally scoring era. Ciara Parker finished the match with a team-high 15 digs and Camry Godfrey Willardson ended with a match-high 41 assists while tying her career-high five blocks. 

BYU pulled out the victory in the fourth set, winning by a margin of 25-11. Young’s seven blocks in the set helped the Cougars secure the win. Tambre Nobles posted seven kills in the fourth set, as Hamson added four of her own.

Eight-straight points in the middle of the first set propelled BYU to a 25-15 win. During the 8-0 run, Gray notched six kills for the Cougars. A crucial part of the run came when Parker dove toward the left boundary to dig a San Fransisco spike, and Hamson set up the kill for Gray to give the Cougars a 12-9 lead. Willardson added 11 assists and four digs in the first set, as BYU took a 1-0 lead.

The score stayed close to start the second set, as Amy Boswell recorded a kill to put the Cougars up 16-13. After the Dons scored the next point, Boswell scored on two more kills to increase BYU's lead to 18-14. The Cougars cruised from there, using two late blocks from Young to hold off the Dons, 25-18.

After falling to a 16-10 deficit in the third set, BYU rallied back to bring the game within one point at 24-23. The Dons held off the Cougars, though, winning 25-23 and forcing the fourth set. The result of the set snapped BYU's streak of seven straight sweeps.

BYU next hosts Santa Clara Saturday at 8 p.m. MDT. Fans who arrive in a shirt and tie will get into the game for $2. The match will be televised on BYUtv. Links to live stats and a video feed can be found on the BYU women's volleyball schedule page.