Cougars Continue Winning Streak

PROVO, Utah – In a four-set match, the BYU women's volleyball team was able to pull away from the San Francisco Dons (25-23, 25-14, 25-19, 25-22) Saturday night in the Smith Fieldhouse to continue a four-match winning streak.

“We’re happy about the win, but especially the way we played in the first two sets,” BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said. “We did a lot of good things, but we let it slip in the third and there are definitely a few things we saw that need improvement. I think our defense was good tonight, but we gave away a little more than we should have and we’re lucky that we were able to take the fourth set.”

Heather Hannemann, Christie Carpenter and Jennifer Hamson achieved double-doubles with Hannemann obtaining a career-high 55 assists and 12 digs. Carpenter added 14 kills and 12 digs. Hamson tallied the match-high 20 kills for the night and contributed 10 digs. Kathryn LeCheminant tied her career high of 10 kills for the second time this week. Kendalyn Hartsock totaled 20 digs on the night, helped out by Tia Withers with 15.

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After lagging a little in the first set, the Cougars (20-7, 9-4) pulled off a 9-1 run to put them ahead at 11-6. Building off its lead, BYU was able to obtain another five-point run for a 19-12 lead before finishing the set at a close 25-23.

The second set started a little quicker for the Cougars as they reached a lead at 11-5 early on in the set. Aiding to offensive play, Nicole Warner put down 5 kills with the help of Hannemann and allowed the Cougars to work up to an 18-8 lead. Unable to fill the deficit, the Dons (13-12, 5-7) came up short once again at 25-14.

Hannemann not only supplied 14 assists to the set, but six digs as well. Other contributers include Hamson, Carpenter and LeCheminant adding three kills apiece.

The third set proved a little more challenging for the Cougars as they played back and forth with Dons for the lead. A 5-0 run put San Francisco ahead at 17-14. The Cougars were unable to make up the difference and the Dons took the set victory at 25-19.

In similar fashion to the third set, the Cougars battled during the fourth for the lead over the Dons. With both teams making a number of errors, the set saw 11 tied scores. After a three-point run from San Francisco to tie the score at 22-22, the Cougars earned a 3-point run of their own before a kill from Hamson ended the set to give the Cougars the win over the Dons.

Next up, the Cougars will travel to California Nov. 10, to face off with the Gaels of Saint Mary’s at 7 p.m. PST in their last road trip of the season.

BYU vs. USF Box Score