PROVO, Utah -- Led by Jennifer Hamson’s eight kills, No. 10 BYU women’s volleyball defeated Utah Valley University 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-16) to conclude the BYU Invitational Saturday night at the Smith Fieldhouse.

“I was pleased with the way the girls came out in a match like that the night after a tough one against Washington,” BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said. “I was really pleased with how we got a lead every set that gave us a cushion.”

Camry Godfrey Willardson recorded 28 assists, Ciara Parker contributed a team-high 15 digs and Whitney Young added double-digit blocks with 10.

BYU (5-1) jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on UVU (1-6) behind kills by Alexa Gray and Young. The teams then exchanged runs throughout the first set with the Cougars holding a comfortable lead the majority of the way thanks to solid play at the net by Hamson, Young and Gray. Young and Willardson teamed up to block a UVU kill attempt to secure the set 25-17 for BYU. Gray led the Cougars with four kills in the set.

Both teams exchanged points to begin the second set until a Hamson kill helped spark a 4-0 run to jump start BYU. With Ciara Parker serving later in the set, the Cougars went on a 5-0 run to extend its lead to 14-5. The Wolverines kept the set competitive by rallying from a 15-6 deficit to close within four at 19-15, but a Hannah Robison kill helped the Cougars regain momentum for the remainder of the set. A Young kill set by Willardson closed out the set for BYU 25-18.

With Willardson serving to begin the third set, BYU jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead. The Cougars would lead by as much as eight at 16-8, but much like the second set, the Wolverines would battle back to within four at 16-12. Kills by Amy Boswell and Hamson halted UVU’s run and kept the Wolverines from closing within six points the rest of the set. A service error by UVU ended the set with BYU winning the match 25-16.

The Cougars went 2-1 during the BYU Invitational, losing to No. 5 Washington in five sets Friday night.

Athletes named to the all tournament team included Washington’s Krista Vansant (MVP) and Lianna Sybeldon, BYU’s Jennifer Hamson and Hannah Robison, UVU’s Lauren Bakker and UMBC’s Casey Griffith.

The Cougars now begin a four-game road trip beginning with No. 13 Colorado State on Sept. 12. The next home match will be against the University of Utah on Sept. 19 at the Smith Fieldhouse.

Washington vs. UMBC

No. 5 Washington (6-0) took care of business from the start against the outmatched UMBC Retrievers (4-3), sweeping them to go a perfect 3-0 at the BYU Invitational. Krista Vansant led the way for the Huskies in the first set with eight kills on eight attacks as Washington cruised to an easy first set win 25-10. The second set was more of the same; Washington won 25-14 with Courtney Schwan leading the way for the Huskies with five kills. Krystal Mlemchukwu tallied four kills for UMBC and Hannah Schmidt added three kills for the Retrievers. UMBC hung around for a while in the third set, but the Huskies proved to be too much, eventually winning the set and match 25-18.

PROVO, Utah – After winning the Gold & Blue Player’s Challenge last weekend, No. 10 BYU women’s volleyball returns to its home court Friday and Saturday to host the BYU Invitational.

The Cougars swept host West Virginia, IUPUI and Toledo to take the title. This week BYU will face off against No. 5 Washington, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and Utah Valley.

No. 5 Washington

• BYU’s first match will be against No. 5 Washington Friday night at 7 p.m. MDT. The Cougars are 12-0 against the Huskies having last won a five-set thriller in the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2007.
• The Huskies return six starters to this year’s squad who is off to a 3-0 start on the early season.
• In 2013, Washington advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA tournament before falling to eventual champion Penn State. They finished the season with a 32-3 overall record, including going 18-2 in conference play to win the Pac-12.

UMBC

• The Cougars will next face off against UMBC on Saturday at noon. The Retrievers are currently 4-0 after taking the Hawks Holiday Hullabaloo Tournament in Maryland.
• BYU has never played against UMBC in its history.
• The Retrievers return four starters from a team that went 19-12 and 9-5 in the America East Conference a year ago.

Utah Valley

• To conclude the BYU Invitational the Cougars will go up against in-state rival Utah Valley Saturday at 7 p.m. The Wolverines are 0-4 to begin their season.
• BYU holds an undefeated 11-0 record against Utah Valley, including a 3-1 victory in Orem, Utah, last season.
• The Wolverines return four starters and its libero to this year’s team after going 18-15 (11-5 WAC) last year.

VIDEO/STATS

BYU’s matches against Washington and UMBC will be televised live on BYUtv. The Saturday nightcap match against Utah Valley will be streamed live on TheW.tv. Links to live stats for all of the tournament’s matches can be found on the BYU women’s volleyball schedule page.