Taking care of business

MORGANTOWN, W.V. -- Jennifer Hamson led the No. 9 BYU women’s volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-18) sweep against Indiana University-Purdue Indianapolis (IUPUI) Saturday in its second match of the Gold & Blue Player’s Challenge.

Hamson led the Cougars with 15 kills and seven digs while hitting at a .400 clip. Camry Godfrey Willardson added 43 assists while Ciara Parker contributed a team-high 16 digs. Amy Boswell took control of the block, collecting six to lead the team.

“I thought offensively we had a nice match,” BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said. “Hannah [Robison] did a great job off the bench. We have a quick turnaround now to prepare against Toledo.”

Whitney Young got things started for BYU (2-0) in the first set with a kill. IUPUI (1-1) kept the score within a point until a kill from Boswell put the Cougars ahead, 7-5. The Jaguars then took their first lead at 13-12 from a block. BYU followed with a 7-1 rally to retake the lead with a 19-13 advantage. A trio of points from IUPUI got the Jaguars back in the set, cutting the deficit to 20-17. The late run proved to be too short as Hannah Robison and Boswell ended the set, 25-19, for BYU with a block.   

The two teams traded points to begin the second set until a pair of Hamson aces brought the Cougars ahead, 6-3. Consecutive kills from Young extended BYU’s lead to four at 11-7. It was all Cougars from that point as a 7-0 run brought BYU’s advantage to double-digits at 21-11. The Cougars easily took the second set, 25-17.

Two Robison kills helped bring BYU out to an early 6-3 lead in the third set. A block from the Jaguars followed to tie things up at 7 apiece after a 4-1 run. The score remained close until the Cougars went on a 4-0 run of their own to go back up 17-12. Alexa Gray contributed a trio of kills to help bring BYU ahead, 22-16. Hamson ended the set and match with a kill, 25-18.

The Cougars conclude their invite in the Gold & Blue Player’s Challenge later Saturday when they take on Toledo.