Haddock leads No. 10 BYU over No. 21 Ohio State

PROVO, Utah — Lyndie Haddock, named most valuable player of the BYU Nike Invitational, led No. 10 BYU women's volleyball to a win over No. 21 Ohio State in four sets (19-25, 25-17, 25-18, 25-17) Saturday night at the Smith Fieldhouse.

"I thought we were really poised after the first set," head coach Heather Olmstead said. "Everybody did their job. I thought we played scrappy defense and Lyndie did her job setting up the offense perfectly."

After dropping the first set, the Cougars (3-0) won the next three to give them the victory over the Buckeyes (2-1). Haddock recorded 46 assists, eight digs and three kills in the win. Junior Veronica Jones-Perry tied her career-high 20 kills and sophomore Mary Lake had a season-high 24 digs in the match.

The first set was evenly matched in the beginning as both teams took turns adding points to the scoreboard. After being tied at 13, the Buckeyes took control and extended their lead by as many as five points at 20-15. Two kills by McKenna Miller cut Ohio State’s lead to 22-19, but the Buckeyes went on to take set one, winning 25-19.

An impressive dig by Lake kept the Cougars in play in the second set, as they took an early 5-3 lead. Lake’s serving ace and a kill by Jones-Perry put BYU ahead 7-3. A kill by Haddock extended the Cougars’ lead to 11-5. Ohio State was able to cut the deficit down to four points on multiple occasions, but BYU stayed in control, earning a 25-17 win.  

In the third set, the Cougars quickly put themselves on top with a 5-1 lead. The Buckeyes answered back with a 7-3 run, tying the game at eight apiece. Jones-Perry’s 11th kill of the game put BYU ahead 19-17. A couple of good plays by Cosy Burnett helped the Cougars extend their lead, and then an ace by Jones-Perry ended the set at 25-18, giving BYU the 2-1 set advantage.

BYU had another quick start in the fourth set, leading the Buckeyes 8-3 after a Burnett kill. A team effort helped extend the lead to 14-7 for the Cougars. A pair of kills by Jones-Perry put BYU ahead by a dominant nine points. BYU took an impressive 21-10 lead after another kill by Jones-Perry. Ohio State went on a four-point run before giving the Cougars the 25-17 win after a service error.

All-Tournament Team:
BYU: Lyndie Haddock (MVP)
BYU: Veronica Jones-Perry
BYU: McKenna Miller
OSU: Hannah Gruensfelder
OSU: Lauren Witte
UTRGV: Ragni Steen Knudsen
SLU: Lauren Leverenz

The Cougars travel to Boise State next week to play in the Boise State Classic. BYU will first play the Broncos on Thursday, August 31, at 7:30 p.m. MDT. Links to live stats and the video stream can be found on the BYU women’s volleyball schedule page.

UTRGV vs. Saint Louis

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley earned its first win of the year defeating Saint Louis (25-21, 28-26, 20-25, 25-16) in four sets Saturday morning at the Smith Fieldhouse.

In the first set, UTRGV came back from a 10-3 deficit going on a 8-1 run to even it up, and later, beat Saint Louis. The Billikens fought hard in the second set as both teams traded points throughout the game, but the Vaqueros took the set in extra points, 28-26. Saint Louis bounced back, led by Lauren Leverenz with six kills, to take the third set. UTRGV won the fourth and final set convincingly to win its first match of the BYU Nike Invitational.

Nenye Okoro led Saint Louis with 20 kills and Ragni Knudsen delivered 15 for UTRGV. The Vaqueros ended the match with a notable 20.0 team blocks. Camilla Rivas finished with 13 digs for the Billikens.