No. 11 Cougars bounce back in sweep of USF

SAN FRANCISCO – Senior Jennifer Hamson led No. 11 BYU women's volleyball past San Francisco in a three-set (25-20, 26-24, 25-14) victory Saturday at War Memorial Gym.

"I was very impressed by our ability to bounce back after a tough loss," BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said. "The girls played each point today. It was an outstanding team effort."

Hamson led the team with nine kills, nine blocks, three digs and a service ace. Alexa Gray was the only Cougar to collect double-digit kills with 10. Camry Godfrey Willardson contributed nine digs while adding 32 assists. Ciara Parker also added a team-high nine digs while Whitney Young had double-digit blocks with 10.

BYU (19-4, 10-2 West Coast Conference) and San Francisco (12-12, 5-7 WCC) got off to an even start in the first set, tied at five apiece after a Gray kill. The two teams continued to trade points until the Cougars went on a 5-0 run to take a 13-10 advantage and force a timeout from the Dons. BYU continued to maintain its lead from there until San Francisco scored three unanswered points to bring it within one at 17-16. With the score tied at 20-20, the Cougars ended on another 5-0 run to take set one 25-20 from a Parker service ace.

BYU picked things up in the second set where they left off at the end of the first, going up 5-2 early on. The Dons slowly gained momentum from there to tie things up at nine and then again at 12-all. San Francisco took its first timeout of the set after a Hamson service ace capped off a trio of straight points to put the Cougars back up 15-12. The Dons came back to tie the score at 21-21, however, after a kill from San Francisco's Jessica Gaffney. Later, a Gray kill tied the score back at 24 to force extra points and an Amy Boswell service ace finished off the set for BYU, 26-24. 

The Cougars took an 11-1 advantage to begin the third set with help from five Young blocks. The two teams exchanged points from there with BYU maintaining its 10-point lead at 16-6. With the score 20-11 in favor of the Cougars, the Dons took their first timeout of the set. BYU proved to be too much for San Francisco as it easily cruised to a 25-14 set three win.

The Cougars return home next Thursday to face off against Saint Mary's at 7 p.m. MST. The game will be broadcast nationally live on BYUtv. Links to live stats and a video feed can be found on the BYU women's volleyball schedule page.