BYU Women’s Volleyball Advances To Round Of Eight With 3-1 Win Over Florida
Dec 7, 2018, 7:39 PM | Updated: Dec 8, 2018, 9:35 am
BYU's Roni Jones-Perry (12) hits the ball during the NCAA volleyball regional semifinal against Florida at the Smith Fieldhouse in Provo on Friday, Dec. 7, 2018. (Qiling Wang, Deseret News)
(Qiling Wang, Deseret News)
PROVO, Utah – After a slow start, BYU won three straight sets to advance to the round of eight for the 11th time in school history.
Roni Jones-Perry led the Cougars with seven kills and two blocks, Madelyn Robinson added six kills and one block, while Lacy Haddock chipped in five kills and three blocks.
Haddock was one of three BYU players to have three blocks, joining Kennedy Eschenberg and Heather Gneiting.
BYU is headed to the Regional Finals for the first time since 2014!!👏🎉🔊 pic.twitter.com/psbOJapfvX
— NCAA Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) December 8, 2018
Florida Takes First Set
BYU trailed 5-0 in the first set before they scored their first point of the game. The Cougars climbed back to trail by just one point 9-8 when Smith Fieldhouse erupted.
The momentum shifted to both sides with Florida responded with a 5-0 run and BYU answered with a 4-0 run before the Gators pulled away with a 24-20 lead.
Florida with set point, allowed BYU to score three straight before winning the set 25-23.
Roni Jones-Perry and Madelyn Robinson had four kills each in the first set to lead BYU. Paige Hammons collected four kills, while Holly Carlton added three kills for the Gators.
The Cougars lost just their 11th set of the season.
SET ONE: BYU 21 | FLORIDA 25#BYUWVB #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/U9gihz7bVv
— BYU Women’s Volleyball (@BYUwvolleyball) December 8, 2018
BYU Dominates Second Set
The Cougars settled in during the second set as they jumped out to a 12-7 lead. BYU kept the momentum on their side as they went on a 5-3 run to lead 17-10 as Smith Fieldhouse came back to life with Florida calling another timeout.
BYU went on to outscore Florida 7-3 to win the second set in dominating fashion 25-13.
Jones-Perry added three kills to her seven in the second set and Robinson added three as well to go into the third set with six kills.
Let ’em know it’s our house! 😤
BYU WINS SET TWO 25-13!#BYUWVB #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/J2ieDsR3a9
— BYU Women’s Volleyball (@BYUwvolleyball) December 8, 2018
Cougars Snatches Third Set
They found a rhythm that carried into the third set as they had another strong start, leading Florida 12-7. Florida responded with a 3-0 run to pull within two points, forcing BYU to call a timeout.
After BYU went on a 3-0 run of their own, the Gators responded with two straight points with the Cougars leading 15-12.
BYU wrapped up the third set by adding 10 points and allowing Florida to score just five to pick up a 25-17 set win and a 2-1 lead in the series.
Lacy Haddock chipped in five kills with Kennedy Eschenberg and Heather Gneiting adding four kills each.
SET THREE IS OURS! 25-17!!
BYU 2 | FLORIDA 1#BYUWVB #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/opiXDFYZJR
— BYU Women’s Volleyball (@BYUwvolleyball) December 8, 2018
BYU Advances With Win In Fourth Set
Florida held a 2-1 lead that didn’t last long as BYU rattled off a 10-5 run to lead 11-7, forcing the Gators to call a timeout.
BYU held on to win the fourth set by outscoring Florida 14-12 to advance to the round of eight for the 11th time in school history. The Cougars won in front of the third largest crowd in BYU Women’s Volleyball history with 5,104 fans.
BYU ADVANCES TO THE ELITE 8!!
SEE YOU TOMORROW COUGAR FANS!#BYUWVB #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/xovAn9O2WM
— BYU Women’s Volleyball (@BYUwvolleyball) December 8, 2018
Up Next
BYU will face No. 5 Texas on Saturday at 6 p.m. The game will be played at Smith Fieldhouse in Provo and will be broadcast on ESPNU.
“I love the opportunity to play a great team and we will be ready for them,” said head coach Heather Olmstead about playing Texas on Saturday.
The Texas Longhorns advanced to their 13th consecutive Elite Eight appearance in the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament after beating Michigan 3-1 in the Sweet Sixteen.
Texas started the match on fire taking a 10-0 lead in the first set before cruising to a 25-10 lead. In the second set, the Longhorns and Wolverines matched each other point-for-point leading to a 27-27 tie. Michigan went up 28-27 on an attack error by Texas and closed out the second set with a service ace from Jenna Lerg to win 29-27.
In set four, Michigan took a 16-13 lead, but Texas closed out on a 12-3 run including runs of 5-0 and 4-0 to take set four and the match.
