PROVO, Utah – Roni Jones-Perry and No. 9 BYU women’s volleyball swept West Virginia (25-18, 25-11, 25-14) Thursday evening in the home opener and first match of the BYU Nike Invitational.

"We had great energy tonight," BYU head coach Heather Olmstead said. "We came out focused and I really liked our serving and passing. Those two skills helped us with our blocking and attacking. Overall, it was a great match for our team."

Jones-Perry led all players with 13 kills, hitting a .417 clip. Mary Lake contributed 16 digs and Lyndie Haddock-Eppich brought 30 assists and 10 digs, giving her a double-double. Kennedy Eschenberg added four blocks and seven kills for the Cougars. As a team, BYU (3-0) hit at a .310 clip.

Eschenberg and Jones-Perry began the match with back-to-back kills to give the Cougars a 2-0 lead. West Virginia (2-2) tied it up and they battled to keep the scored even at 7-7. Heather Gneiting then went on a 3-0 serving run for BYU, giving her team a 10-7 advantage. The Cougars grabbed the lead and brought the score to 20-14 with kills from Eschenberg and McKenna Miller. Keeping the advantage, Jones-Perry ended the set with two kills to make it 25-18.

Set two started with another lead for BYU at 4-0 from kills by Jones-Perry and Madi Robinson, which forced the Mountaineers to call an early timeout. The Cougars came out of the break with back-to-back blocks from Eschenberg and Jones-Perry. West Virginia answered back with two kills to put it on the board, making the score 7-2. The Mountaineers then had a 5-1 run, getting within three, down 9-6. A block from Haddock-Eppich and Eschenberg and kills from Jones-Perry and Gneiting led BYU on a 12-3 run, making it 21-9. BYU won the second set 25-11 on a serving error by West Virginia.

The Cougars opened the third set just like set two on a 5-0 advantage after kills from Eschenberg and Robinson - once again forcing West Virginia to take another early timeout. The Mountaineers then quickly put five points on the board to make it 9-5 for the Cougars. Gneiting’s third ace of the night, and a kill by Haddock-Eppich, brought the score to 14-7. BYU went on a 6-2 run from kills by Miller in the front and Jones-Perry in the back row to make it 20-10. West Virginia attempted to close the deficit with three kills, trailing by nine at 22-13. A kill from Jones-Perry and a block from Eschenberg then brought set three to match point, 24-14. BYU took set three and the match with a kill from Jones-Perry on the outside.

The Cougars face No. 1 Stanford for their second match of the invitational on Friday, August 31, at 7 p.m. MDT. The match will be televised live on BYUtv. Live stats can be found on the BYU women’s volleyball schedule page.

PROVO, Utah – No. 9 BYU women’s volleyball is set to host the BYU Nike Invitational this week, hosting West Virginia, No. 1 Stanford and Wichita State.

Last Week

The Cougars traveled to Duke for a pair of matches. BYU swept the Blue Devils the first night and won in four the following evening to improve to 2-0 on the season.

West Virginia

• The Cougars won the only other meeting with the Mountaineers in a sweep on the road in 2014.
• West Virginia is off to a 2-1 start to the 2018 season after picking up wins against Georgia Southern and Connecticut at the WVU Invitational last week.
• The Mountaineers were picked to finish ninth in 2018 in a competitive Big 12 conference.
• West Virginia finished 21-13 (6-10, 5th) last year, advancing to the semifinals of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship.

No. 1 Stanford

• BYU trails the series history with Stanford 8-4.
• The Cougars are 3-1 when playing the Cardinal at home and won the last meeting between the two schools in Provo in four sets.
• Stanford is off to a 2-0 start to the 2018 campaign with wins over American and Howard.
• The Cardinal received all possible first-place votes to repeat as the Pac-12 champions in the league’s preseason poll.
• Stanford finished 30-4 (19-1, 1st) in 2017, advancing to the Final Four of the NCAA tournament.
• BYU is 2-11 all-time against teams ranked No. 1. Their last win against a top-ranked squad was against Stanford at home in 2000.

(RV) Wichita State

• BYU is 1-1 all-time against Wichita State.
• The Cougars lost in Provo in 2010 before defeating the Shockers in five sets in 2012.
• Wichita State is 3-0 on the year, having defeated James Madison, Howard and VCU.
• The Shockers were picked to finish first in the AAC for the second-straight season.
• Wichita State went 29-4 (20-0, 1st) last year. The squad advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Matches

BYU will face West Virginia Thursday, Aug. 30, at 7 p.m. MDT at the Smith Fieldhouse. Wichita State and West Virginia will then compete Friday, Aug. 31, at 3 p.m. MDT. BYU and Stanford will then face off later that evening at 7 p.m. On Saturday, Sept. 1, at 10 a.m. MDT, Stanford and Wichita State will square off. West Virginia and Stanford will follow at 5 p.m. and BYU vs. Wichita State will complete the tournament with a slated start time that day of 7 p.m.

Video/Stats

The BYU vs. Stanford match will be televised nationally on BYUtv. All other matches, including those not featuring BYU, will be streamed online by TheW.tv. Links to live stats for all matches can be found on the BYU women’s volleyball schedule page.