PROVO, Utah – No. 9 BYU women’s volleyball pushed its winning streak to 10, sweeping Santa Clara (25-16, 25-12, 25-10) on Saturday at the Smith Fieldhouse.

"We came out today with great energy and served really tough," BYU head coach Heather Olmstead said. "I liked our blocking and see us making improvements."

Senior McKenna Miller led the Cougars with an impressive .700 hitting percentage, collecting seven kills and notching three aces. Junior Kennedy Eschenberg recorded a team-high five blocks, while freshman Kate Grimmer added three aces as well.

Box Score

BYU had nine aces and 10.5 blocks on the day, holding the Broncos to a -.074 hitting percentage.

Set 1

The two teams stayed within two points of each other until BYU went on a 7-0 run behind the serve of Grimmer to take a decisive 23-14 lead. A final kill by Heather Gneiting put the match away, 25-16.

Set 2

The second set was a different story as freshman Whitney Bower and Miller added early aces to the board to help the Cougars jump out to a 9-1 lead. Up 19-11, BYU scored six of the last seven points of the set, including two blocks anchored by Eschenberg, winning the set 25-12.

Set 3

BYU again got off to a quick start, taking an 8-0 lead behind Bower's serve. Kills by junior Taylen Ballard-Nixon and Gneiting put BYU ahead 13-2. Miller had three late kills as the Cougars coasted the rest of the set, 25-10.

The Cougars will continue at home next week in a big match against San Diego (14-4, 7-0) on Friday, Oct. 18, at 7 p.m. MDT. The match will be televised on BYUtv.

PROVO, Utah – No. 9 BYU women's volleyball plays host to San Francisco and Santa Clara this week. The Cougars and Dons will face off on Thursday, Oct. 10, at 7 p.m. MT before the Broncos come play in Provo on Saturday, Oct. 12, at 1 p.m. MT.

Thursday's match will air on the BYUtv app and online while Saturday's match will be shown on the WCC Network.

Game Notes

The Cougars are 18-0 all-time against the Dons, including 9-0 in Provo and 8-0 under Heather Olmstead. Against the Broncos, BYU is 13-4 all-time, 9-0 at home and 7-1 under Olmstead, including a current seven-match win streak.

BYU improved to 5-0 in WCC play with three wins last week. The Cougars have swept four of their five conference opponents so far this season on their way to being tied with San Diego atop the WCC standings.

BYU is ranked 25th in the nation in hitting percentage, now at .264 on the season. Junior Kennedy Eschenberg leads the Cougars with a .336 average (115/32/247) while senior McKenna Miller leads the team with 213 kills and 3.80 kills per set, hitting .267 overall.

The Cougars’ 1.67 aces per set is 32nd in the country as five players have 10 or more apiece. Freshman setter Whitney Bower leads the way with 31, good for 18th nationally, while Miller is next at 19, already just two away from her career season best of 21 set last year.

BYU has won its last 15 home conference matches, having not lost since October 27, 2017, and has won 63 of 64 conference home matches dating back to November 2011. 

The San Francisco match will also feature a birthday celebration for Cosmo while fans at the Santa Clara match can enjoy one dollar Cougar Tails and postgame autographs with the team.