No. 18 BYU to finish Bay Area road trip at Santa Clara

PROVO, Utah — On a three-game win streak, No. 18 BYU women’s volleyball heads to Santa Clara to face the Broncos on Saturday afternoon.

The Cougars dropped the first set at San Francisco on Thursday night before winning the next three behind 20 kills from outside hitter Erin Livingston, 12 by middle blocker Heather Gneiting and a career-high 10 from freshman middle blocker Kate Prior. 

Fellow middle blocker Whitney Llarenas and outside hitter Elyse Stowell added six kills each as well. Setter Abby Taylor finished with a double-double of 42 assists and 13 digs.

No. 18 BYU @ Santa Clara

• Saturday, Nov. 5 (1 p.m. PDT)
• Leavey Event Center (Santa Clara, CA)
• WCC Network
• Live Stats
• Tickets

Going 5-3 on the road this season, BYU head coach Heather Olmstead is 79-14 (.849) away from Provo all-time, with a 121-10 (.924) record in West Coast Conference (WCC) play. 

Olmstead’s teams have a 14-1 record against Santa Clara, including 5-1 at Leavey Event Center. The Cougars have won the last 14 matchups, including the last four via 3-0 sweeps. Outside of a four-set loss at Santa Clara in 2015, BYU has dropped just three sets to the Broncos.

Hitting .300 on the season, the Cougars remained at fourth nationally in team hitting percentage. They also rank No. 31 in assists per set, at 12.81, and No. 34 in kills per set, at 13.8. BYU's hitting percentage and kills per set average continue to sit atop the WCC.

Llarenas' .415 season clip ranks 11th nationally and leads the conference. Gneiting has a team-high 93 total blocks this season. Averaging 1.24 blocks per set, the middle blocker ranks No. 51 in the nation in the statistical category.

Livingston’s 4.19 kills per set average has her at No. 26 in the country, while her 4.69 points per set rank 32nd nationwide. Both marks remain at second in the conference. The outside hitter’s 314 kills on the year ranks third in the WCC.

Santa Clara (8-17, 4-9 WCC)

• The Broncos are on a five-match losing streak, most recently being swept by San Diego
• Since BYU and Santa Clara last met, the Broncos have picked up wins over Portland and Gonzaga
• Julia Sangiacomo leads the team with 368 kills, while Nive Tuileta has dished out 821 assists
• Kat Georgiaidis paces the Broncos with 368 digs. Lia Okammor and Sangiacomo have sent back 68 and 54 total blocks, respectively. 
• Tuileta (26), Sangiacomo (23) and Georgiaidis (20) lead Santa Clara in service aces
• Head coach Erin Lindsey is in her fourth year with the Broncos, posting a 46-57 record since 2019
• BYU leads the all-time series with Santa Clara, 19-4. The Cougars are 6-4 against the Broncos at Leavey Event Center.

Following the matinee matchup with Santa Clara, BYU will return to Provo to host Pacific and Saint Mary’s next week. Both matches will be televised on BYUtv and streamed on the BYUtv app.