No. 12 Cougars to host Santa Clara and San Francisco

PROVO, Utah – No. 12 BYU women’s volleyball returns home this week to face off against second-place Santa Clara and San Francisco.

Last Time Out

The Cougars (23-3, 13-2 West Coast Conference) beat Portland in four sets and Gonzaga in a five-set come-from-behind thriller. Alexa Gray had career highs in kills (30) and digs (32) against the Pilots, helping the team to a BYU rally-scoring era record 104 digs for the match. Then, against the Bulldogs, Gray added a double-double of 29 kills and 13 digs in the win.

Santa Clara

• BYU first faces off against Santa Clara (21-6, 12-3 WCC) Thursday, Nov. 19, at 7 p.m. MST.
• The Cougars fell to the Broncos in four sets on the road earlier this year; however, each team has won on its home court in each of the past three years.
• BYU holds an edge in the overall series record at 6-4.
• Santa Clara has won eight of its last 10 matches, only falling to Loyola Marymount and Portland along the stretch.
• The Broncos are led by 4.05 kills per set from Nikki Hess, Kirsten Mead’s 11.20 assist average, Danielle Rottman’s 4.92 digs per set and 1.31 blocks per set by Lacey Maas.

San Francisco

• The Cougars next compete against San Francisco (16-12, 3-12 WCC) Saturday, Nov. 21, at 12 p.m. MST.
• BYU won a four-set matchup on the road earlier this year against the Dons.
• The Cougars are a perfect 11-0 in the overall series.
• San Francisco has struggled in conference play, going only 1-9 in its past 10 matches.
• The Dons are led by Katarina Pilepic’s 3.82 kills per set, 6.38 assists per set from Kiara McKibben, 4.00 digs per set from Kim Gutierrez and Madison Murtagh’s 1.14 blocks per set average.

Video/Stats

Thursday’s match against Santa Clara will be broadcast live on BYUtv and simulcast on BYU Radio. Live stats will be provided for both Thurday’s and Saturday’s matches. Links can be found on the BYU women’s volleyball schedule page.

Additional Info

BYU a cappella group Vocal Point is slated to perform between sets two and three on Thursday. There will be free admission to Saturday’s match against San Francisco.