No. 14 BYU closes in on WCC title following sweep of Santa Clara

PROVO, Utah — No. 14 BYU women's volleyball swept Santa Clara (25-18, 25-20, 25-11) at the Smith Fieldhouse on Tuesday afternoon, moving within one win of clinching the 2020-21 West Coast Conference title outright.

“I thought today was one of the best serving games we've had with six aces and only three errors,” said BYU head coach Heather Olmstead. “I thought we put pressure on Santa Clara and did not let up. That allowed us to get in good spots blocking. I thought we held their outsides to decent clips, and they're good outside hitters. I thought we also had one of our better passing matches, so I'm proud of the girls for stepping up and passing well.”

The Cougars currently sit atop the WCC standings with a 14-1 conference record (.933 win pct.) and can win the league championship outright with a win over the Broncos in the backhalf of the two-match series tomorrow.

Freshman outside hitter Erin Livingston led the team with 10 kills on a .250 clip, also adding two blocks and a pair of digs to her stat line. Senior outside hitter Taylen Ballard-Nixon finished with eight kills on a .467 clip and sophomore opposite Kate Grimmer also added eight kills, finishing with a .500 hitting percentage.

Sophomore setter Whitney Bower tallied 25 assists and eight digs while freshman libero Madi Allen finished with 10 digs and six assists.

BYU (15-1, 14-1 WCC) hit .346, marking the 11th time this season the team has hit above .300, while holding Santa Clara (5-10, 5-10 WCC) to a .132 hitting percentage. 

Final Box Score

SET ONE
The Cougars opened up an early 7-3 lead, capitalizing on five attack errors by the Broncos. Santa Clara rallied to tie it up at 12-all before consecutive Livingston kills gave BYU a four-point lead, 21-17. Livingston added two more kills as the Cougars ended the first game on a 6-1 run to win the set 25-18.

SET TWO
BYU trailed 3-1 before tying it up a 4-apiece. An Allen ace highlighted a 5-0 run that included kills by Ballard-Nixon, Grimmer, and freshman middle blocker Leilani Dodson that put the Cougars in front 10-5. After the Broncos again rallied to tie the match at 12, Dodson contributed to two blocks to break the tie and make the score 15-12 in BYU's favor. Dodson dropped an ace and Livingston connected on a pair of kills to maintain the three-point edge, 19-16. Dodson and Bower blocked a Santa Clara attack before a tip by Dodson ended the set, 25-20. 

SET THREE
Kills by Ballard-Nixon and Livingston sandwiched a Bower ace helped the Cougars jump out to a 5-0 lead. BYU remained in control of the set as four kills by Grimmer extended the lead to double figures, 15-5. The Cougars stretched that lead to 15 points as a block by senior middle blocker Kennedy Eschenberg and Livingston made the score 22-7. BYU's lead proved insurmountable as the Cougars secured the set, 25-11, and the sweep.

BYU will look to claim its sixth WCC title in seven years when it plays Santa Clara again Wednesday, March 31 at 1 p.m. MDT in the Smith Fieldhouse. The match will be broadcast on byutv.org and the BYUtv App.