PROVO, Utah -- Sophomore Whitney Young tied BYU's single-match block record and pushed No. 10 BYU past San Francisco in four sets (25-15, 25-18, 23-25, 25-11) Thursday night at the Smith Fieldhouse.
“We played a great match,” BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said. “Our numbers showed that offensively and defensively. I’m pleased and thought we did well against a great opponent.”
With the win, BYU maintained its undefeated all-time record against San Francisco, which fell to 0-9 against the Cougars.
Young's 17 block assists and total blocks matched Nicole Warner's single-match records set in 2012. BYU totaled 24.0 blocks, tied for fourth-most in a match during the rally-scoring era for the Cougars.
In addition to her 17 blocks, Young finished the match with eight kills while hitting a .889 clip. Jennifer Hamson tallied 18 kills and a career-high 11 blocks. Alexa Gray added 16 kills and a season-high five blocks. The Cougars hit at a .455 clip, BYU’s third-highest team hitting percentage in a single match in the rally scoring era. Ciara Parker finished the match with a team-high 15 digs and Camry Godfrey Willardson ended with a match-high 41 assists while tying her career-high five blocks.
No. 10 BYU defeats USF in 4 sets! Jennifer Hamson leads w/ 18 kills and a career high 17 blocks by Whitney Young! pic.twitter.com/T2Jg9NDXbK
— BYU WomensVolleyball (@BYUwvolleyball) October 3, 2014
BYU pulled out the victory in the fourth set, winning by a margin of 25-11. Young’s seven blocks in the set helped the Cougars secure the win. Tambre Nobles posted seven kills in the fourth set, as Hamson added four of her own.
Eight consecutive points in the middle of the first set propelled BYU to a 25-15 win. During the 8-0 run, Gray notched six kills for the Cougars. A crucial part of the run came when Parker dove toward the left boundary to dig a San Fransisco spike, and Hamson set up the kill for Gray to give the Cougars a 12-9 lead. Willardson added 11 assists and four digs in the first set, as BYU took a 1-0 lead.
The score stayed close to start the second set, as Amy Boswell recorded a kill to put the Cougars up 16-13. After the Dons scored the next point, Boswell scored on two more kills to increase BYU's lead to 18-14. The Cougars cruised from there, using two late blocks from Young to hold off the Dons 25-18.
After falling to a 16-10 deficit in the third set, BYU rallied back to bring the game within one point at 24-23. The Dons held off the Cougars, though, winning 25-23 and forcing the fourth set. The result of the set snapped BYU's streak of seven consecutive sweeps.
