MALIBU, Calif.—A late rally wasn’t enough to boost the BYU women’s volleyball team ahead of No. 20 Pepperdine, who ended the match with a 3-1 (25-16, 25-17, 22-25, 27-25) victory against the Cougars Saturday.

A rough crowd greeted the Cougars (14-5, 3-2) in their quest to overthrow undefeated West Coast Conference leader Pepperdine (11-5, 5-0) on the Waves’ home court.

“It was a tough loss for sure,” BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said. “I felt we battled our hearts out. We had chances to take the match to five sets, which is hard to swallow. You have to be able to manufacture point a point in those circumstances. They were just a little better than us today. We fought hard and now we just have to learn from this match.”

Christie Carpenter led BYU with 14 kills on .297 hitting. She also had 15 digs, tying her career high, for her second double-double of the season. Jennifer Hamson helped out on offense with 12 kills. Libero Kendalyn Hartsock had 21 digs and Nicole Warner recorded six blocks.

The Waves took an early 3-0 lead in the first set before a Hamson kill put BYU on the board. Back-to-back blocks by Warner tied the set 3-3. The score tied two more times before Pepperdine broke away for a three-point lead. A 4-0 run increased that lead to 17-10 before Kathryn LeCheminant and Hamson broke the streak with a block. Carpenter led a Cougar attack to cut the lead to 21-16, but Stevi Robinson’s two aces ended the first set 25-16 for the Waves.

Despite BYU taking the first two points of the set, a 5-0 run put the Waves ahead. The Cougars snuck back in to tie the set 6-6 and back-to-back kills by Vaughn stole the lead for BYU. Carpenter increased that lead to 10-8 on a kill. Pepperdine’s Victoria Adelhelm tied up the score 11-11 and Katie Messing advanced the Waves to a 12-11 lead on a kill. The 6-0 streak ended in a 15-11 lead for Pepperdine. BYU couldn’t get back in control in spite of a great comeback effort from Carpenter and Hamson. The Waves took the set 25-17.

Pepperdine took the early lead in the third, but BYU scrambled back for a 5-5 tie. Jessica Jardine and Hamson advanced the Cougars to a 9-6 lead. The Waves rallied in an attempt to cut down BYU’s lead, but the Cougars answered with a Carpenter kill to retain the 11-9 lead. The Waves ran back for a 14-14 tie and a kill took the lead back for Pepperdine.

BYU prevented a late run by the Waves to bring the set to 22-21 for Pepperdine and a Kim Hill attack error tied the set. A crucial block by Jardine and Warner put the Cougars ahead as the set wound down. Now at 23-22, Hamson threw down a kill followed by an ace from Carpenter to take the set 25-22 and avert a Pepperdine sweep.

Down 4-2 to start the fourth set, Carpenter led BYU back for a 7-7 tie before taking the lead on back-to-back kills. A 5-1 run fueled by three kills from LeCheminant put BYU ahead 16-12. The Cougars kept up the momentum, maintaining the lead until Samantha Cash’s block tied the set 24-24. Robinson’s service ace set up match point and the Waves took the set and the match on a block by Adelhelm, Kellie Woolever and Lilla Frederick.

The Cougars have a week to regroup before taking on Portland on the road Oct. 15 at 1 p.m. PDT.

BYU vs. Pepperdine Box

PROVO, Utah—After a 1-1 California road trip, the BYU women’s volleyball team returns to the Smith Fieldhouse to take on Santa Clara Thursday at 7 p.m. before heading back to California to take on No. 20 Pepperdine Saturday at 1 p.m.

“We look forward to hosting Santa Clara on Thursday and hitting the road to play Pepperdine Saturday,” BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead. “They’re both quality teams at the top of the West Coast Conference. We’re excited for the great opportunity to play Santa Clara at home after playing on the road last week. Immediately after that match, we’ll start preparing for Pepperdine.”

BYU (13-4, 2-1) had a record-setting 3-2 match against Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles, with six players setting 11 individual records. The team also set a season record with 21 blocks.

Following the victory, the Cougars suffered a 3-0 setback against No. 17 San Diego, but are looking to get back on their feet to be ready for Santa Clara and Pepperdine.

Off to its best start since 2006, one more victory would tie the total number of BYU wins from last season. Last week’s competition marked the halfway point for the season.

At the helm of Cougar offense, sophomore opposite hitter Jennifer Hamson contributes 4.17 kills per set to lead the conference. She is aided by middle blocker Nicole Warner with 2.05 kills per set and setter Heather Hannemann, who has 598 assists on the season at 10.31 per set.

Three Cougars place in the WCC top 10 for blocks, Warner coming in at No. 1 with 1.67 per set, Hamson at No. 2 with 1.14 per set and Kathryn LeCheminant at No. 4 with 1.12 per set. Libero Kendalyn Hartsock is second in conference for digs with 4.45 per set.

Still boasting the second-best overall record in the conference, the Cougars are tied with Santa Clara (7-7, 2-1) in conference standings while Pepperdine leads the pack with a perfect 3-0 West Coast Conference record. The Waves are 9-5 overall.

The Broncos defeated Portland and Gonzaga on the road last week, going 3-1 against both opponents.  Thursday’s match marks Santa Clara’s third-straight road match in a series of four road matches. Santa Clara leads the conference in kills per set with 14.25 and place second in assists with 13.41.

Pepperdine faced Saint Mary’s last Thursday, where the Gaels pushed the match to five sets before the 3-2 Wave victory. Pepperdine has had five five-set matches this season, two against WCC opponents.

With 3.73 kills per set, Kim Hill leads the Waves’ offense and places second behind Hamson for kills in the league. Kelli Woolever is second in the WCC in assists with 632 at 10.71 per set. Lilla Frederick and Samantha Cash lead the defense with 3.29 digs per set and 1.08 blocks per set, respectively.

Admission to the Santa Clara match for children age 12 and under is free.

For links to live stats and free video streaming, click HERE.

BYU vs. Santa Clara Notes

BYU vs. Pepperdine Notes