No. 4 BYU defeats Stony Brook 3-0 in NCAA First Round

PROVO, Utah — Behind 17 kills from senior Roni Jones-Perry, No. 4 seed BYU swept Stony Brook (25-20, 25-13, 25-12) Friday in the Smith Fieldhouse in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

"Congratulations to Stony Brook on a great season," BYU head coach Heather Olmstead said. "I thought we played a great match tonight. We're excited to be advancing and that we get to keep playing together."

Jones-Perry added six digs, four blocks and two aces on the night as the Cougars advanced to play Utah on Saturday, Dec. 1, at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse. Freshmen Heather Gneiting and Madelyn Robinson each added six kills while junior Mary Lake had 13 digs and senior Lyndie Haddock-Eppich led with 31 assists.

The Cougars held the Seawolves to a -.034 hitting percentage, the lowest hitting clip by a BYU opponent this season. The Cougars hit .247 as a team.

Click here for a photo essay of the match and see the links below for complete stats and press conference quotes.

BYU (28-1) led Stony Brook (21-9) early in the first set 4-0 before the Seawolves caught up and took the lead, 8-7. The Cougars stayed within three of the Seawolves before taking the lead back at 20-19 off an ace by senior Danelle Stetler. An error into the net by Stony Brook ultimately gave BYU set one, 25-20. Jones-Perry contributed seven kills, hitting a .600 clip.

Taking the lead early in set two, the Cougars jumped out to a 4-0 lead. A solo block from Gneiting pushed BYU into a double-digit margin at 18-8. A kill by senior Lacy Haddock ended set two for BYU, 25-13. The Cougars raked in five blocks and three aces while holding Stony Brook to a -.250 hitting percentage for set two.

Strong kills from Gneiting, Jones-Perry and sophomore Kennedy Eschenberg gave BYU a 7-2 lead early in set three. The Cougars went on a 6-0 run from kills by Haddock-Eppich and Jones-Perry and an ace by Kiana Moea’i to bring the score to 22-10. Jones-Perry ended set three with an ace, giving BYU the set and the match at 25-12.

The BYU and Utah matchup in round two will air live on BYUtv and BYUtv.org starting at 7 p.m. MT. The winning team will advance to play in the Sweet Sixteen on Dec. 7.