No. 9 BYU sweeps Santa Clara with all-around team effort

PROVO, Utah—An all-around team effort helped No. 9 BYU women’s volleyball sweep Santa Clara (25-16, 25-22, 25-19) Saturday afternoon at the Smith Fieldhouse.

"Our serving and passing game was great today," BYU head coach Heather Olmstead said. "Overall, I think we took good swings and managed the game well."

Veronica Jones-Perry led the Cougars with 14 kills and five digs, while McKenna Miller contributed 11 kills. Lyndie Haddock set the team with 34 assists and Mary Lake added 11 digs. Kennedy Redding contributed on defense with a team-high five blocks.

BYU (27-2, 16-1 West Coast Conference) hit at a .233 clip while holding Santa Clara (15-14, 8-9 WCC) to a .124 hitting percentage.

Consecutive kills from Cosy Burnett and a service ace by Lacy Haddock helped put the Cougars ahead of the Broncos 8-1 early in the first set. BYU went on a 4-0 run with the help of a service ace from Lyndie Haddock to continue its lead, 14-6. A block by Redding and Lacy Haddock ended the set ended 25-16.

A Jones-Perry kill and Lake service ace allowed BYU to take an early 5-2 lead in the second set before Santa Clara came back to even the score at 8-8. The Broncos then went on a 5-0 run, taking the lead 13-11. The Cougars pulled ahead 21-18 after a kill by Burnett and a service ace from Jones-Perry. BYU closed the set 25-22 with another Jones-Perry kill.

Back-to-back kills by Miller and Jones-Perry kept the Cougars ahead 7-4 early in the third set. BYU maintained its lead throughout the set, and a kill by Burnett, block by Miller and Redding and kill from Miller brought the score to 20-13. Consecutive Jones-Perry kills then gave BYU the set and match 25-19.

The Cougars return to the Smith Fieldhouse Tuesday, Nov. 21, at 7 p.m. MST against Loyal Marymount for the final regular-season home game, where the seniors will be honored. The match will be streamed live on TheW.tv. Links to the video stream and live stats can be found on the BYU women’s volleyball schedule page.