PROVO, Utah – Alexa Gray led No. 12 BYU women’s volleyball in a come-from-behind five-set (21-25, 17-25, 25-18, 25-21, 15-10) win Saturday afternoon at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

“First off, hats off to Gonzaga,” BYU women’s volleyball head coach Shawn Olmstead said. “They gave us all we could handle. Second, I can't say enough about the BYU fans that showed up. Thank you Cougar Nation. Our girls dug deep for that one and hopefully came out with a resolve to continue improving and competing.”

Gray led the Cougars with 16 kills while adding four digs and four blocks. Ciara Parker contributed a team-high 15 digs while Camry Godfrey Willardson added 39 assists. Whitney Young led the team in blocks with 10 and Amy Boswell tied a career-high in kills with 11. Additionally, Tambre Nobles added a season-high 14 kills to go with six digs.  

BYU (24-4, 15-2 West Coast Conference) got the first point of the fifth and final set against Gonzaga (16-12, 7-10 WCC) from a Boswell kill. The score was tied at every point from 1-10 until a Young kill gave the Cougars a 12-10 advantage, forcing the Bulldogs to take a timeout. Consecutive kills from Nobles brought the set to match point and an attack error gave BYU the five-set victory.

The Cougars got things started off against the Bulldogs in the first set with a kill from Jennifer Hamson. The two teams traded points from there until a trio of straight points gave the Cougars a 9-6 edge. The Bulldogs stayed in the match, however, tying the score at 13 apiece following a kill from Gonzaga’s Savannah Blinn. With BYU ahead 17-15, the Bulldogs used a 6-1 run to take a 21-18 lead, forcing Olmstead to take a timeout. The Cougars couldn’t find a rhythm at the end of the set as Gonzaga took set one 25-21.

The Bulldogs started the second set on a 6-2 run after multiple kills. BYU took its first timeout of the set after a kill and block put Gonzaga back up by four at 9-5. That was followed with another 6-2 Bulldog rally that brought to score to 15-7, Zags. Despite a 5-2 Cougar run, it was all Gonzaga from there as the Bulldogs easily took the second set 25-17.  

The third set started neck-to-neck until a Boswell and Willardson block put the Cougars up 7-5. A 7-2 rally from Gonzaga then put the Bulldogs on top 12-9. A Gonzaga attack error brought BYU back in the game, tying the score at 13-13. A Boswell kill then capped off a 6-1 run to give the Cougars an 18-14 edge. After trading points, a down-the-line kill from Gray kept BYU ahead by four at 21-17 and forced Gonzaga to take a timeout. The Cougars cruised from there, taking the set 25-18 from a Boswell service ace.

Multiple kills gave the Bulldogs a 6-2 advantage to begin the fourth set. A Gray kill quickly capped off a 6-1 BYU run that put BYU back in the lead, 11-10. Three kills and a block from Gray then helped to extend the Cougars’ lead to three at 15-12. BYU had at least a three-point lead until a trio of Gonzaga points brought them within two at 19-17. After a timeout the two sides traded points until the Cougars took the set 25-21 from another Young and Willardson block, forcing the decisive fifth set.   

The Cougars stay on the road next Tuesday when they face off in the regular-season finale against Loyola Marymount at 7 p.m. PST. Links to live stats and a video feed can be found on the BYU women’s volleyball schedule page.

PROVO, Utah – No. 12 BYU women’s volleyball hits the road again this week to take on Portland and Gonzaga.

The Cougars (23-4, 13-2 West Coast Conference) beat rival San Diego last week in four sets to take at least a share of the WCC title. With a win this week, BYU will become the lone 2014 league champs.

Portland

• The Cougars first play Portland (6-20, 1-14 WCC) at their place Thursday at 7 p.m. PST.
• BYU swept the Pilots earlier this season at home.
• The Cougars lead the overall series with a perfect 7-0 record.
• Portland is led by Emily Liger’s 3.66 kills per set average, 6.18 assists per set from Djurdjina Milovic, Katie Mardesich’s 4.47 dig average and 0.95 blocks per set from Katie Sullivan.

Gonzaga

• BYU will finish off the week with an away match at Gonzaga (16-10, 7-8 WCC) Saturday at 12 p.m. PST.
• The Cougars came away with a three-set victory against the Bulldogs at home earlier this season.
• BYU holds a 10-1 lead in the overall series, having won each of the last five matches.
• Gonzaga is led by 4.71 kills per set from Savannah Blinn, 9.99 assists from Lauren Joseph, Morgan Douglass’ 3.40 dig average and Paige Folger’s 1.00 blocks per set.

VIDEO/STATS

Saturday’s match against Gonzaga will be streamed live on TheW.tv. Links to live stats for both matches can be found on the BYU women’s volleyball schedule page.