No. 10 BYU swept by No. 8 Buckeyes, suffer third-straight loss

ATLANTA — No. 10 BYU women’s volleyball dropped its third straight match of the season to No. 8 Ohio State (19-25, 16-25, 25-27) at O’Keefe Gymnasium as its Georgia Tech Classic competition concluded on Friday.

BOX SCORE

The Cougars (5-3, 0-0 WCC) notched 35 kills on a .216 clip but had five service errors and surrendered eight service aces. Erin Livingston led BYU with 12 kills with Heather Gneiting and Whitney Llarenas chipping in seven kills apiece. Whitney Bower posted a double-double with 25 assists and 11 digs. The senior setter was also named to the all-tournament team.

Facing three Top 10 opponents in a one-week span, the Cougars have dropped three-straight for the first time since the 2010 season when BYU lost eight-consecutive matches. 

Set 1
Ohio State (2-3, 0-0 Big Ten) opened the match on a 6-1 run, forcing an early BYU timeout. A Buckeye ace and block coming out of the timeout stretched the lead to 8-1 before an Erin Livingston kill ended the OSU run. 

A double block by Heather Gneiting and freshman Kate Prior, who made her first-career start, and another Livingston kill made it 9-5, Ohio State, but the Buckeyes went on a 4-0 run to take an eight-point lead and cause the Cougars to call their second timeout of the set. 

Two Gneiting kills in between an OSU kill were followed up by service errors from both teams, and it was 15-8, Buckeyes. Kills by Whitney Llarenas and Livingston had the Ohio State lead at 17-10, but another 3-0 OSU run stretched the lead to 10.

The two teams traded kills before a 4-0 BYU run, highlighted by a solo Llarenas block, made it 23-16. Kills by Llarenas and Stowell and a double block by Whitney Bower and Llarenas staved off the Buckeyes’ set point three times before an OSU block finished off the set, 25-19. 

Set 2
The Buckeyes started the second set in similar fashion, opening up a 3-1 lead. BYU won a challenge, making it 3-2, and then the teams traded points with the Cougars drawing within one, at 8-7, on two Livingston kills.

A 3-0 OSU run had the Buckeyes ahead 12-8, and BYU took a timeout. Two Ohio State kills and a Cougar error had the Buckeyes up 15-9 before an Elyse Stowell kill ended the 6-0 run. Llarenas landed a kill and two OSU errors then made it 17-12. 

It was 19-12 after two-straight Ohio State kills, leading to BYU’s second timeout of the set. The Buckeyes scored three-straight out of the timeout before two Livingston kills ended the 5-0 run at 22-14, but OSU took three of the next five points to take a 2-0 match lead, winning the set 25-16. 

Set 3
Down 4-0 early, the Cougars made it 4-3 on kills by Livingston, Whitney Bower and a Llarenas ace. It was 9-6 after an Ohio State service error, but two Buckeye points made it 11-6 and led to a BYU timeout.

Kills by Gneiting and Stowell, and a Gneiting ace had the Cougars within two, at 11-9. Kills by Livingston and Lllarenas made it a one-point game twice, at 12-11 and 13-12, but a 3-0 run had OSU up 16-12, forcing a second BYU timeout.

A successful challenge and kills by Livingston, Gneiting and Stowell aided a 4-0 Cougar run that tied things up at 17-all. The two teams traded points three times before BYU tied the set at 21. 

Llarenas and Prior each recorded kills to match Ohio State points, and it was 23-23. The Cougars fought off match point twice, once on a Buckeye error and again on a Gneiting and Prior block, but an OSU kill and solo block closed it out, 27-25. 

The Cougars will return to the state of Utah next week to play in-state rival Utah at the Huntsman Center on Thursday, Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. MDT. The game will be streamed on the Pac-12 Network and live stats will also be available.