Cougars Win Seventh Straight

STOCKTON, Calif. – No. 9 BYU women’s volleyball defeated Pacific in straight sets (25-19, 25-17, 26-24) in West Coast Conference play on Thursday.

The Cougars (13-2, 4-0 WCC) have now won seven straight matches and are 6-0 on the road so far this year.

BYU at Pacific Box

Senior McKenna Miller notched 12 kills with just one error as the Cougars hit .320. BYU had just six errors on the night as a team, tied for sixth fewest in a match in rally era program history.

Sophomore Heather Gneiting had six kills on 11 swings with a team-high seven blocks. Senior Mary Lake added 13 digs while Madelyn Robinson added six kills and 10 digs.

Set 1

BYU won the first set 25-19, getting 14 points off Pacific service and attack errors. The Cougars hit .385 in the set with 10 kills and no errors. BYU went on a 4-1 run to take a 13-9 lead and went ahead by as many as five at 17-12 after a Gneiting kill. The Tigers cut the lead to two at 21-19, but BYU scored four straight behind freshman Grace Wee’s serve to end the set.

Set 2

A 9-1 run turned a tied game into a 13-5 BYU margin to essentially put the set away early. Miller had six kills in the set, including the first and the last points for BYU as the Cougars won, 25-16. BYU scored 17 of its 25 points on kills in set two.

Set 3

Pacific went ahead 9-6 and maintained the lead at 14-10. A Gneiting kill and a block by Gneiting and Taylen Ballard-Nixon brought BYU within one at 14-13, but only at 18-18 on a Miller kill did the Cougars tie the match. BYU finally took the lead at 22-21 on a Lion attack error, then battled with Pacific until the score was tied at 24. The Cougars then put the match away off a block by Gneiting and Whitney Bower and a final kill from Miller.

The Cougars will head to Moraga to face Saint Mary’s on Saturday, Oct. 5, at 1 p.m. PT.