PROVO, Utah — Cosy Burnett’s career-high 10 blocks helped fuel No. 10 BYU women's volleyball to a sweep of The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (25-17, 25-17, 25-16) Friday night at the BYU Nike Invitational in the Smith Fieldhouse.

“I thought we played great defense,” BYU head coach Heather Olmstead said. “Our block got good touches and was in good places. It was nice to see some things come together offensively for us.”

Kennedy Redding led the Cougars (2-0) with 11 kills on a .550 clip against the Vaqueros (0-2). McKenna Miller and Danelle Stetler followed right behind in kills, adding nine and seven apiece, respectively. Sophomore libero Mary Lake led the team in digs with 14, and junior setter Lyndie Haddock had a team-high 30 assists.

The Cougars started with a small lead opening the first set due to several Vaqueros’ errors. As the two teams battled back and forth, a Miller kill allowed BYU to begin inching ahead 9-7. Kills by Redding and Jones-Perry forced UTRGV to call two timeouts. With a Burnett kill, the Cougars collected set point at 24-17, and Jones-Perry closed out the set with a service ace to make it 25-17.

A slide kill and solo block from Redding pushed BYU ahead 9-6 to start the second set. The Vaqueros rallied back to even the score at 11 apiece following a kill. A kill from Stetler gave the Cougars momentum for a three-point rally ending at 15-12. After a couple of UTGRV errors, BYU was up 23-17 and closed the set with back-to-back blocks by Burnett to bring the final set score to 25-17.

Burnett and Redding’s back-to-back kills opened the third set, resulting in a 6-0 lead. The Cougars remained ahead with a four-point rally, capped off by a Stetler kill, bringing the score to 12-4. Burnett and Haddock’s consecutive blocks allowed BYU to keep its lead at 19-11. Kills by Miller and Redding brought the Cougars to match point at 24-15, where Stetler finished off the set with a kill, making it 25-16.

BYU returns for its final game in the BYU Nike Invitational Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. MDT against Ohio State at the Smith Fieldhouse. The game will be televised on BYUtv and simulcast on BYU Radio - Sirius XM 143. 

Ohio State vs. Saint Louis

No. 21 Ohio State earned its second victory of the BYU Nike Invitational on Friday evening beating Saint Louis (25-16, 23-25, 25-17, 25-13) in four sets.

Ohio State hit at a .304 clip in the first set, led by Ashley Wenz, who contributed five kills. The Billikens kept it close at the beginning of set with a score of 8-8, but a service ace delivered by Luisa Schirmer sparked the Buckeyes to hold a steady lead the rest of the set. Saint Louis bounced back in the second set in a back and forth battle to secure their first set victory of the invitational 25-23. The Buckeyes however, dominated in the third and fourth sets to win the match while hitting at a .600 clip in the final set. 

Ashley Wenz led Ohio State with 12 kills and Nenye Okoro delivered 14 kills for Saint Louis. The Buckeyes finished with an impressive 18.0 team blocks. Mackenzie Long dished out 16 digs for the Billikens and Luisa Schirmer led the Buckeyes with 13 digs.

PROVO, Utah – No. 10 BYU women’s volleyball officially begins the season this week hosting the 2017 BYU Nike Invitational Friday and Saturday.

The Cougars will compete against Saint Louis University Friday at noon MDT in the home opener. BYU will then face off against The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Friday night at 7:30 p.m. before concluding the invitational Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against No. 21 The Ohio State University.

Saint Louis

• The Cougars lead the overall series with the Billikens 2-0, winning in three sets in the most recent meeting in 2015.
• Saint Louis competes in the Atlantic 10 Conference and finished third in the league standings last year, just behind Dayton and Rhode Island.
• The Billikens finished 18-14, 11-3 last season – ending the season with a five-set loss to Dayton in the A-10 championship match.

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

• This will be the first meeting all-time between the Cougars and the Vaqueros.
• UTRGV plays in the Western Athletic Conference and finished in fifth place in the regular-season standings a year ago.
• The Vaqueros made WAC history last year becoming the first No. 5 seed to win the conference tournament championship.
• UTRGV finished the 2016 campaign with a 21-14, 7-7 record, falling to Texas in the first round of the NCAA tournament to end its season.

No. 21 The Ohio State

• BYU holds a perfect 8-0 record all-time against The Ohio State.
• The Cougars won the last meeting a year ago at The Ohio State, coming back to win the match in five sets after losing the first two.
• The Buckeyes finished the 2016 season tied for seventh place in the deep B1G league with a 22-13, 10-10 record.
• The Ohio State advanced to the regional semifinals of the NCAA tournament, falling to Wisconsin in five sets in its final match.

Admission is free for the home opener against Saint Louis. For the match against The Ohio State, there will be $1 hot dogs for sale. Additionally, when you present your Portland State football ticket at the Smith Fieldhouse ticket office, you can buy one volleyball ticket and get one for free for the match against the Buckeyes.

The three visiting teams will also compete against each other. On Friday, The Ohio State and UTRGV will square off at 10 a.m. MDT. Saint Louis and The Ohio State will play Friday at 5:30 and Saint Louis and UTRGV will compete Saturday at 11 a.m. Admission is free for those matches.

The BYU match against The Ohio State will be televised nationally on BYUtv and simulcast on BYU Radio – Sirius XM 143. All five other matches will be streamed live on TheW.tv. Live stats for each match will be available on the BYU women’s volleyball schedule page.