No. 15 BYU trumps Princeton

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Tallying its second sweep on the weekend, Alexa Gray's kills led the unbeaten No. 15 BYU women’s volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-14, 25-11, 25-21) victory against Princeton Saturday in the Cougars' second match of the George Washington Invitational.

"I thought we played a great match this morning against Princeton," head coach Shawn Olmstead said. "Again we got a lot of good reps for different kids on our roster, which gives experience. That's always good."

The win was BYU’s eighth sweep of the season, pushing the Cougars’ undefeated record to 11-0. Princeton falls to 3-6 on the season.

Gray led the Cougars with 14 kills on .367 hitting. Ciara Parker led the back row with 21 digs and Heather Hannemann had 39 assists.

BYU took an early 5-1 lead in the first set. Jennifer Hamson and Jessica Jardine pushed that lead to eight with three kills in a row for a score of 18-10. Gray’s cross-court kill put the Cougars ahead 24-14, giving Hannemann the chance at a set-winning service ace.

Three kills from Gray opened the second set, getting the Cougars off to a 4-1 start. Another 6-0 run fueled by Princeton errors gave BYU a comfortable 10-2 lead. A 3-0 mini scoring streak wasn’t enough to get the Tigers back in the game, as BYU responded with its own three points to take a 19-9 lead.

Kathryn LeCheminant set up set point on a kill, allowing Parker to take the set on another BYU service ace for the 25-11 win.

Princeton kept the third set closer than the previous two, not letting the Cougars get more than five points ahead until a Gray kill took the set to 12-6. That was the start of a 6-0 run for BYU that once again gave the Cougars a 10-point lead. The Tigers chipped a couple of points off the lead, but Cougar hitters kept BYU rolling toward the finish line. Redshirt freshman Kimberly Dahl’s kill and service ace put the Cougars’ lead at 21-13.

Kills from Kimberli Boswell and Gray inched BYU closer to the victory, but a last-second Princeton rally delayed the end of the match. The Tigers had a 6-1 run to bring them within three points at 23-20.  A Hamson kill ended the streak and a Dahl kill finished off the match. Dahl ended the match with a career-high five kills.

The match was BYU's shortest match of the season, ending in one hour exactly.

The Cougars now prepare to take on host George Washington at 7 p.m. EDT. Live stats and video streaming links are available on the BYU women's volleyball schedule page.

Princeton vs. BYU Box Score