No. 5 BYU notches 3-1 win over LMU in regular season home finale

PROVO, Utah — No. 5 BYU women’s volleyball played its final regular season home match of the season on Saturday and celebrated a hard-fought 3-1 win over Loyola Marymount (25-20, 24-26, 25-21, 25-22).

The loss put LMU on a five-match losing streak. Meanwhile, BYU is on an 18-match winning streak and now holds an overall record of 25-1. The Cougars remain undefeated in the West Coast Conference, 15-0.

To kick off the match, fans honored BYU’s six seniors: outside hitter Taylen Ballard-Nixon, opposite hitter Kenzie Koerber, setter Tayler Hifo, middle blocker Whitney Llarenas, middle blocker Kennedy Eschenberg and libero Gretchen Reinert. 

A highlight included Eschenberg notching her 556th career block. This puts her at No. 4 in program history for all-time blocks. Additionally, she boasts No. 1 in history for all-time solo blocks, tallying 54.

"It was really good to play LMU," Eschenberg said. "They’re a really good team. That’s what we needed, a tight, competitive match. I think it’s really good for us to have that and come out with a win. It gives us confidence."

Overall, LMU racked up 54 kills and a .259 hitting percentage. While BYU had one less kill, 53, its clip proved to be more effective, hitting .385. Junior setter Whitney Bower contributed to the team’s solid hitting percentage with her 40 assists.

At the top of the leaderboard offensively, LMU’s Megan Rice put down 20 kills. Among the Cougars, Koerber and sophomore outside hitter Erin Livingston led with 12 kills each. Eschenberg tallied eight kills and the team’s highest clip, a .636.

Defensively, BYU dominated with 11 points from blocks, compared to LMU’s seven. Koerber led the night with six blocks, followed by junior middle blocker Heather Gneiting with five.

SET ONE
LMU earned the first point of the match after a BYU block error. The Lions kept BYU on its toes, forcing the Cougars to play catch-up in the beginning of the set. A kill from Koerber started the Cougars on a 5-0 scoring run that gave BYU their first substantial lead of the match at 16-12.

The Lions battled back with a 2-0 run, but a kill and ace by Koerber stopped their momentum. BYU allowed LMU’s Megan Rice to hit her third kill of the set, but Koerber, Gneiting and Eschenberg followed with kills of their own, putting the Cougars ahead 22-17.

Koerber and Gneiting tacked on final kills, giving BYU a .609 clip for the set. This dominated LMU’s .231 clip and secured the set win at 25-20. 

SET TWO
The Cougars started the set with a 2-0 lead, thanks to kills by Eschenberg and Ballard-Nixon. However, the Lions tied up the match at 6-6 after putting down four kills. With a service ace, LMU took its first lead of the set.

At 17-17, Eschenberg notched her 556th career block. This puts her at No. 4 in program history for most career blocks. 

The Lions widened the gap at 22-20, laying down two kills. Gneiting hit a timely kill to tie the set for the 12th time at 22-22. The opponents tied again at 23-23 and 24-24. 

An LMU kill followed by a BYU attack error gave the Lions the set-win at 26-24. This ended BYU’s streak of 17 sweeps and 22 straight set wins.

SET THREE
BYU earned the first point of the set from a block by Gneiting and Bower. LMU was quick to push back, matching each of BYU’s points. An LMU service error started a brief scoring run for the Cougars, with kills from Eschenberg and Livingston bringing the score to 6-4.

LMU managed a 3-0 run, but Livingston shut it down with a kill at 14-11, starting BYU on its own 3-0 run. After Rice hit her 14th kill, Livingston and Eschenberg fought back with kills of their own. Ballard-Nixon tacked on a solo block to complete another 3-0 BYU run. 

Three more kills by LMU closed the gap to just three points at 24-21. Gneiting tallied her seventh kill to give BYU the set-win at 25-21.

SET FOUR
A service error by LMU gave BYU the first point of the final set. The teams traded kills and errors until 8-8. In this tally, Livingston, Koerber, Ballard-Nixon and Gneiting all contributed kills.

An ace by Gneiting put the score at 11-11. Bower won a joust at the net to bring the score to 12-12. A kill by Koerber put BYU just ahead at 15-14. Then, a kill by Eschenberg started the Cougars on a 4-0 run until 19-16. BYU maintained this slight lead until two kills by LMU’s Rice tied the game at 22-22. Crucial final kills by Eschenberg and Livingston clinched the match at 25-22.

Up next, BYU hits the road to face Pacific in the Alex G. Spanos Center in Stockton, California. The match will take place on Thursday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. PST. The Cougars then have two final WCC road matches before the start of the NCAA Tournament.