Jones-Perry helps No. 9 BYU past Santa Clara in WCC opener

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Junior outside hitter Veronica Jones-Perry helped No. 9 BYU women’s volleyball to a three-set win (25-22, 25-17, 25-14) over Santa Clara Thursday night to open West Coast Conference play.

"I loved the focus our team came out with right from the beginning of the match," BYU head coach Heather Olmstead said. "We served tough and made it hard for Santa Clara to get in system. Roni and Cosy (Burnett) both took some great swings. I'm proud of the way the team played."

Jones-Perry led the Cougars with 19 kills, including 10 in the first set, to go with four service aces. Lyndie Haddock set the team with 27 assists while Mary Lake collected 10 digs. Cosy Burnett had four blocks and Sydnie Martindale contributed a career-high tying nine digs in the win.

Jones-Perry gave BYU (12-1) its first three points of the first set on kills, helping propel her team to a 6-2 lead against Santa Clara (7-6). A McKenna Miller kill extended the advantage to five at 12-7 and a Haddock dump kill made it 17-10, forcing a Bronco timeout. The Cougars led by as many as eight at 19-11 before a 9-2 Santa Clara run brought it back within a point, trailing 21-20. BYU maintained the lead, eventually winning the set 25-22 on a Haddock solo block.    

The Broncos took a 4-2 lead in the second set after a service ace. The Cougars countered by scoring the next six-straight points to go up 8-4. Three-consecutive aces from Jones-Perry made it 13-5, but Santa Clara went on a 3-0 rally to get back within five, down 15-10. A Burnett kill made it 22-15 and she followed that with a service ace to give BYU the set 25-17.

Three kills from Jones-Perry helped the Cougars to a 5-0 advantage to start the third set. A pair of Bronco errors extended the lead to seven at 12-5, and another Santa Clara error put BYU up by double digits at 18-8. The Broncos went on a 4-1 run late, but the Cougars closed out the set 25-14 on a Santa Clara service error.

BYU stays on the road next, traveling to play San Francisco Saturday, Sept. 23, at noon PDT. The match will be streamed live on TheW.tv. Links to the video feed and live stats can be found on the BYU women’s volleyball schedule page.