PROVO, Utah – Veronica Jones-Perry recorded 27 kills as 13th-seeded BYU women's volleyball advanced past No. 24 ranked Oregon in three sets (25-20, 25-21, 25-19) during the second round of the NCAA tournament Saturday night at the Smith Fieldhouse.

With the win, the Cougars advance to their sixth-straight NCAA regional semifinals appearance.

"I'm so proud of the way our team played tonight," BYU head coach Heather Olmstead said. "They never wavered from what they wanted and stayed focused the entire match. Dave (Hyte) and Jonny (Neeley) put them in great spots and the team executed what we worked on. Roni (Jones-Perry) was unbelievable on the front and back row. Mary had some fantastic digs that kept the rallies alive and Lyndie set a great match. We're excited we get to practice on Monday and want to keep getting better."

Jones-Perry finished with a .535 hitting clip. McKenna Miller added 11 kills for the Cougars, and Mary Lake had 20 digs in the win.

BYU (30-2) hit at a .327 clip on the night, compared to .265 clip for the Ducks (18-12).

In the first set, BYU went down 2-0 before reeling off four of the next five points, thanks to three Jones-Perry kills. Oregon battled back to lead 7-6 before a Duck error. Another error and kills by Miller and Kennedy Redding put the Cougars up 10-7. A few points later, Jones-Perry's kill gave BYU a 13-9 advantage. A long serve from Oregon made it 15-11 for the Cougars at the media timeout.

BYU scored consecutive points to lead 17-11 and force another timeout. An ace by Jones-Perry gave the Cougars their biggest lead of the set at 20-13. The Ducks then scored three points in a row to cut their deficit to two. After a BYU point, Oregon scored two more to trail just 21-18. The teams traded blows and the Cougars called their second timeout up 23-20. Miller and Jones-Perry finally notched back-to-back kills for a 25-20 BYU win in the first set.

The second set went back and forth early on, and the two teams played to a 9-9 tie. The Ducks scored three in a row to lead 12-9 and force a Cougar timeout. BYU trailed 15-11 before four Oregon errors and a Jones-Perry kill gave the Cougars five-straight points and a 16-15 lead.

Another Duck error made it 20-17 for BYU. Consecutive kills by Danelle Stetler and Jones-Perry gave the Cougars their biggest lead of the set at 22-18. Jones-Perry recorded another kill to make it set point at 24-20. After an Oregon point, Jones-Perry again spiked the ball to give BYU the set, 25-21.

Jones-Perry had a couple of early kills in the third set as the Cougars got out to a 6-3 lead. The Ducks scored three straight to tie the set at 7-7 before a block by Stetler and Redding put BYU on top once again. The Cougars led 15-11 after a Miller kill and two Oregon errors in a row. After a couple more Duck points, Miller made it 16-13 with a kill and Lyndie Haddock extended the lead to four with an ace.

BYU led 19-14 after an Oregon error. The Ducks put another point on the board, but Stetler responded with a kill to make it 20-15 for the Cougars. Oregon scored three straight to cut BYU's lead to 20-18. Stetler and Jones-Perry notched consecutive kills to force a Duck timeout with the Cougars up 22-18. A kill by Jones-Perry and a rally with multiple digs and another Jones-Perry kill put BYU up 24-18. One more Oregon point was followed by Jones-Perry's match-clinching kill, as the Cougars took the third set, 25-19.

In the third round of the NCAA tournament, BYU will travel to the University of Kentucky to take on the fourth-seeded Wildcats.

PROVO, Utah – No. 13 seed BYU women’s volleyball will participate in the 2017 NCAA Tournament, hosting American Friday night at the Smith Fieldhouse in the first round.

“We're excited to be hosting the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament,” BYU head coach Heather Olmstead said. “We look forward to opening up the tournament against a very good American team as well as hosting Kennesaw State and Oregon.”

The Cougars (28-2, 17-1 West Coast Conference) will play against American in the first round and the winner of that match will compete against the winner of the match between Kennesaw State and Oregon, also to be played at the Smith Fieldhouse.

BYU and American will play Friday, Dec. 1, at 7 p.m. MST with Kennesaw State and Oregon facing off right before at 4 p.m. MST on Elaine Michaelis Court. The winners of each match will play Saturday, Dec. 2, at 7 p.m. MST in the second round.

BYU, American, Kennesaw State and Oregon are part of the Kentucky Region. Saturday’s winner will advance to the regional semifinals on Dec. 8 - to be played at the site of the highest remaining seed in the quadrant.

The Cougars are seeded No. 13 for the third-straight season. BYU has advanced to the regional semifinals in five-straight seasons, including advancing to the national championship match in 2014.

First and second round opponents

American

• American finished the regular season with a 26-7 overall record and a 15-1 first-place finish in the Patriot League.
• The Eagles are currently riding an 18-match win streak.
• American has won three NCAA tournament matches in the last four seasons, including advancing to the regional semifinals in 2013.
• The Eagles are led by 4.77 kills per set from Aleksandra Kazala, 8.87 assists per set by Kennedy Etheridge, 4.36 digs per set from Kristen Largay and 1.21 blocks per set from Cheyenne Orsi.
• The Cougars hold a perfect 3-0 record all-time against American, having last won in four sets in 2008.

Kennesaw State

• Kennesaw State is 21-4, 13-1 ASUN this season and have won 12-straight matches, including its first-ever ASUN Tournament.
• This will be the Owls’ first NCAA tournament appearance.
• Kennesaw State is led by 3.32 kills per set from Anaiah Boyer, 10.51 assists per set by Kristi Piedimonte, 4.37 digs per set from Katarina Morton and 1.17 blocks per set from Liesl Engelbrecht.
• BYU has never before competed against the Owls.

Oregon

• Oregon is 17-11, 10-10 Pac-12, good for eighth place in league play.
• The Ducks fell in the second round of the NCAA tournament a season ago.
• BYU is 9-2 all-time against Oregon.
• The Ducks and Cougars last played in the 2012 NCAA Tournament, with Oregon taking a four-set decision in the regional semifinals. The Ducks went on to play that season in the national championship match.
• Oregon is led by 2.98 kills per set from Taylor Agost, 6.25 assists per set from Maggie Scott, 3.17 digs per set by Alex Hojnar and 1.10 blocks per set from Sumeet Gill.

Previous opponents

The WCC earned just two spots in the tournament for the second-consecutive season. Although tying for the league championship, San Diego received the auto-bid to the tournament this season through tiebreakers.

Five of BYU’s opponents this season made it into the NCAA tournament. Besides the Toreros, Missouri, Hawai’i, Utah and Baylor all earned spots in the tournament. BYU is 4-2 this year against teams participating in this year’s tournament.

Additional Info

Tickets

All-session general admission tickets are now on sale beginning at $11. Single session tickets are available for purchase starting Dec. 1 for $7 each in general admission. Chair and courtside seats are also available for purchase. Visit the BYU Ticket website for ticket purchases.

Television

All matches featuring BYU will be televised nationally live on BYUtv. The BYU matches, including BYU vs. American, will also be streamed live on BYUtv.org and ESPN3.

All non-BYU matches will be streamed live on TheW.tv and ESPN3.