SAN DIEGO – Senior outside hitter Roni Jones-Perry helped No. 1 BYU women’s volleyball to a four-set win (25-21, 24-26, 25-16, 25-10) over conference rival San Diego Friday night at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
"We competed really well tonight," BYU head coach Heather Olmstead said. "The team worked well to problem solve the entire match. We did a great job scoring at the pins."
Jones-Perry led the Cougars with 23 kills on a .465 clip to go with six digs. Lyndie Haddock-Eppich led the team in assists with 46 while adding 10 digs. Mary Lake collected 11 digs and Kennedy Eschenberg had nine kills and seven blocks. Heather Gneiting put up six blocks while McKenna Miller contributed 15 kills in the win.
San Diego (7-9, 4-2 WCC) took a 5-3 lead to start the first set after consecutive BYU (16-0, 6-0 WCC) errors. Jones-Perry picked up three-consecutive kills to help push the Cougars in front 11-9. BYU benefited from an overturned call to help advance the Cougars to an 18-15 lead, forcing a timeout from the Toreros. San Diego came back within two, trailing 22-20 after a kill, but BYU stayed in front to win the set 25-21 on a kill from Eschenberg.
The Toreros got off to a 4-1 lead to begin the second set after four-straight kills. San Diego stayed ahead at 10-7 following a kill, and a block extended its lead at 15-9. The Toreros continued to maintain control of the set, leading 20-12 following a Cougar timeout. San Diego had set point at 24-17, but BYU went on a 7-0 run, capitalizing on several Torero errors, to even the score at 24-all. San Diego then scored the next two points, winning the close set 26-24 on a block.
A Miller kill gave the Cougars a 7-3 advantage to start the third set. Kills by Jones-Perry kept BYU in front at 12-8, but the Toreros got within a pair at 14-12 after a kill. The Cougars then went on a 4-0 spurt, capped off by back-to-back Gneiting blocks, to extend the lead back to six, 18-12. BYU ended the set on a 6-1 run to take the set 25-16.
Following a block and kill from Jones-Perry, the Cougars went up 6-2 at the beginning of the fourth set. A Lake ace pushed BYU in front by eight, 13-5, and another Jones-Perry kill made it 20-8. The Cougars cruised from there, taking the set and match 25-10 on a block.
BYU stays on the road next, traveling to San Francisco Thursday, Oct. 11, at 7 p.m. PDT. The match will be streamed live on TheW.tv and live stats can be found on the BYU women’s volleyball schedule page.