No. 8 Cougars fall to No. 18 Toreros in four

PROVO, Utah — No. 8 BYU women's volleyball fell to No. 18 San Diego 3-1 (25-21, 23-25, 25-22, 25-16) Friday night at the Smith Fieldhouse despite 15 kills from senior Cosy Burnett.

"San Diego played a great match," BYU head coach Heather Olmstead said. "I thought we were trying to do the right things on our side, but our execution just wasn't there. I loved the swings that Cosy and Kennedy (Redding) took. We have to find the positives from this match and keep getting better."

Veronica Jones-Perry finished the match with 14 kills, while McKenna Miller recorded 13. Lyndie Haddock tallied 12 digs and 44 assists while Mary Lake had 11 digs.

After BYU (21-2, 10-1 West Coast Conference) tied the match at 1-1 in the first set, San Diego (17-4, 10-1 WCC) scored four-straight points to take the early 5-1 lead. The Cougars called timeout to stop the Torero offensive run, and rallied back to take their first lead of the game, 9-8. 

The teams traded points through the middle of the set with San Diego taking the 14-12 lead. Burnett then recorded two consecutive kills to tie the game at 14-all. 

BYU took the late 21-20 lead, and after a Torero timeout, San Diego pulled ahead 22-21, forcing the Cougars to take a timeout of their own. The Toreros finished on a 5-0 run to win the set 25-21.

After back-and-forth kills, San Diego pulled ahead 12-10 in the second set on a kill by Lauren Fuller. Backed by a Torero service error and BYU kills by Haddock and Burnett, the Cougars retook the 13-12 advantage.

San Diego retook the lead 18-17, but a Jones-Perry kill tied the set at 18-all. Haddock and Burnett blocked three-consecutive attempted kills to claim the late 22-20 lead and force a Torero timeout. Despite a 3-0 rally by San Diego, BYU claimed the 25-23 victory to tie the match at 1-1.

The Toreros took an early 7-2 lead in the third set, forcing a BYU timeout. San Diego then extended its lead to eight points 14-6 on a kill. The Cougars clawed back, closing the gap to four, 15-11, after Torero attack and service errors. A powerful Jones-Perry then kill cut the lead to three, 15-12. San Diego pulled ahead to claim the seven-point advantage, 20-13, on a kill by Kristen Gengenbacher.

BYU closed the gap to three points late in the set, 21-18, on a kill by Miller, but after a Cougar rally, San Diego won the set 25-22.

Two Cougar attack errors gave the Toreros an early 5-2 lead in the fourth set. A kill by Burnett and and an error by San Diego brought BYU back within one, 8-7. The Toreros then pulled ahead 15-12 before a media timeout. San Diego finished the Cougars off 25-16 on a kill to take the match in four sets.

BYU women’s volleyball will continue its 2017 campaign on Thursday, Nov. 2, at home against Pacific. The match will be televised live on BYUtv.