PROVO, Utah — Cosy Burnett’s career-high 10 blocks helped fuel No. 10 BYU women's volleyball to a sweep of The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (25-17, 25-17, 25-16) Friday night at the BYU Nike Invitational in the Smith Fieldhouse.
“I thought we played great defense,” BYU head coach Heather Olmstead said. “Our block got good touches and was in good places. It was nice to see some things come together offensively for us.”
Kennedy Redding led the Cougars (2-0) with 11 kills on a .550 clip against the Vaqueros (0-2). McKenna Miller and Danelle Stetler followed right behind in kills, adding nine and seven apiece, respectively. Sophomore libero Mary Lake led the team in digs with 14, and junior setter Lyndie Haddock had a team-high 30 assists.
The Cougars started with a small lead opening the first set due to several Vaqueros’ errors. As the two teams battled back and forth, a Miller kill allowed BYU to begin inching ahead 9-7. Kills by Redding and Jones-Perry forced UTRGV to call two timeouts. With a Burnett kill, the Cougars collected set point at 24-17, and Jones-Perry closed out the set with a service ace to make it 25-17.
A slide kill and solo block from Redding pushed BYU ahead 9-6 to start the second set. The Vaqueros rallied back to even the score at 11 apiece following a kill. A kill from Stetler gave the Cougars momentum for a three-point rally ending at 15-12. After a couple of UTGRV errors, BYU was up 23-17 and closed the set with back-to-back blocks by Burnett to bring the final set score to 25-17.
Burnett and Redding’s back-to-back kills opened the third set, resulting in a 6-0 lead. The Cougars remained ahead with a four-point rally, capped off by a Stetler kill, bringing the score to 12-4. Burnett and Haddock’s consecutive blocks allowed BYU to keep its lead at 19-11. Kills by Miller and Redding brought the Cougars to match point at 24-15, where Stetler finished off the set with a kill, making it 25-16.
BYU returns for its final game in the BYU Nike Invitational Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. MDT against Ohio State at the Smith Fieldhouse. The game will be televised on BYUtv and simulcast on BYU Radio - Sirius XM 143.
Ohio State vs. Saint Louis
No. 21 Ohio State earned its second victory of the BYU Nike Invitational on Friday evening beating Saint Louis (25-16, 23-25, 25-17, 25-13) in four sets.
Ohio State hit at a .304 clip in the first set, led by Ashley Wenz, who contributed five kills. The Billikens kept it close at the beginning of set with a score of 8-8, but a service ace delivered by Luisa Schirmer sparked the Buckeyes to hold a steady lead the rest of the set. Saint Louis bounced back in the second set in a back and forth battle to secure their first set victory of the invitational 25-23. The Buckeyes however, dominated in the third and fourth sets to win the match while hitting at a .600 clip in the final set.
Ashley Wenz led Ohio State with 12 kills and Nenye Okoro delivered 14 kills for Saint Louis. The Buckeyes finished with an impressive 18.0 team blocks. Mackenzie Long dished out 16 digs for the Billikens and Luisa Schirmer led the Buckeyes with 13 digs.