No. 11 BYU Sweeps Past the Dons

SAN FRANCISCO – No. 11 BYU women’s volleyball swept San Francisco 3-0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-23) on Saturday.

Sophomore Madelyn Robinson had 13 kills and eight digs for the Cougars (22-3, 13-1) while sophomore Heather Gneiting added seven kills and six blocks.

Freshman Whitney Bower registered her seventh double-double of the year with 28 assists, 10 digs, five kills and two blocks. Junior Taylen Ballard-Nixon contributed four kills, four digs, five blocks and an ace.

"Madi took some smart swings today," BYU head coach Heather Olmstead said. "I thought the team as a whole fought hard and I'm happy with the way we turned it on at the end of set three."

Box Score

Set 1

BYU played an errorless first set, hitting .385 overall while holding the Dons to a .143 percentage. A 4-1 run with kills by Eschenberg, Bower and Ballard-Nixon extended the Cougars’ lead to 11-6. BYU then maintained the lead through to the end, with a Gneiting kill ending the set at 25-17.

Set 2

The Cougars rolled early, going up 5-0. Miller had an ace followed by a block by Ballard-Nixon and Eschenberg. Robinson had a kill in between two additional kills from Ballard-Nixon to cap off the run. A kill by Gneiting and ace from senior Kiani Moae’i gave BYU a 23-10 lead before a kill by Bower gave BYU a 25-14 win.

Set 3

The final set was much closer with both neither team pulling ahead by more than one point for most of the set. San Francisco went on a 5-2 run late to take a 23-20 lead, but as the Cougars have done so often, they put on a late run. BYU scored the final five points of the set, including two kills by Miller, to sweep the Dons, 25-23.

BYU will next play at San Diego (20-5, 13-1) on Friday, Nov. 15, at 7 p.m. PT in a match against the two league leaders.