Pin hitters help No. 9 BYU past Portland 3-0

PORTLAND, Ore. – The pin-hitting duo of Veronica Jones-Perry and McKenna Miller helped No. 9 BYU women’s volleyball past Portland 3-0 (25-13, 25-20, 25-20) Saturday afternoon at the Chiles Center.

"When all of your hitters hit for a high clip, it's exciting to see," BYU head coach Heather Olmstead said. "Lyndie (Haddock) and Alohi (Robins-Hardy) did a great job of getting the right hitters the ball and then everyone took smart swings. Defensively, our block was technically sound versus some really good hitters."

Jones-Perry led the Cougars with 14 kills, eight digs and two aces. Miller contributed 13 kills while hitting at a .417 clip. Kennedy Redding had five blocks in the defensive effort, and Lyndie Haddock collected 22 assists in the win.

Two kills from Jones-Perry helped BYU (25-2, 14-1 West Coast Conference) take a 3-1 lead early in the first set against Portland (14-13, 5-10 WCC). Back-to-back Miller kills sparked a 4-0 run as the Cougars took a 9-3 advantage, forcing a timeout from the Pilots. From there, BYU scored five of the next six points to take a double-digit advantage, 14-4. Two more kills from Jones-Perry increased the lead to 13, 21-8, before a Haddock kill gave the Cougars the set 25-13.

Consecutive blocks from Cosy Burnett and Haddock pushed BYU to a 4-1 edge to begin the second set. Portland countered with a 10-1 run, though, to take an 11-5 advantage. A kill and ace from Miller, however, helped tie the set at 13-all. A Jones-Perry solo block followed by a kill increased the advantage to four at 19-15. Two Miller kills eventually sealed the set for the Cougars 25-20.  

A Burnett kill gave BYU a 7-4 advantage in the third set. The Pilots later rallied with a 4-0 run to to go ahead 10-9. The set was tied at 17 apiece before a 7-1 Cougar rally, capped off by a Redding and Haddock block, gave BYU match point at 24-18. A Miller kill then ended the set and match 25-20.

The Cougars next return home to the Smith Fieldhouse for their final three regular-season matches, first against San Francisco Thursday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m. MST. The match will be televised live on BYUtv. Links to a video stream and live stats can be found on the BYU women’s volleyball schedule page.