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The BYU women's volleyball team celebrates a point during a Big 12 match against Baylor at the Smith Fieldhouse on Saturday, September 23, 2023.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Whitney Bower sets the ball during a Big 12 women's volleyball match against Baylor on Saturday, September 23, 2023.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Erin Livingston takes a swing during a Big 12 women's college volleyball match against Baylor on Saturday, September 23, 2023.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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No. 10 BYU women’s volleyball swept No. 18 Baylor (25-17, 25-17, 25-15) as senior setter Whitney Bower reached the 4,000-career assist milestone at the Smith Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon.

The Cougars improved to 13-1 overall and 2-0 in the Big 12 as they out-hit the Bears .387 to .121 in the match. BYU had seven service aces and 10 total blocks to Baylor’s four aces and four blocks.

Bower tallied 31 assists as she moved to 4,011 assists for her career. Outside hitter Erin Livingston led the Cougars with 13 kills, hitting .348. Middle blocker Whitney McEwan-Llarenas registered eight blocks to lead BYU, also adding seven kills on a .538 clip. Livingston and libero Hannah Billeter each had two service aces.

BYU scored the first two points of the match on an Aria McComber ace and Livingston kill as the Cougars held the lead for the remainder of the set. Three Baylor errors forced the Bears to take a timeout with BYU up 11-5.

Three Baylor kills in a row caused BYU to take a timeout of their own at 13-9, before the Cougars then took control, building an eight-point lead en route to a 25-17 opening set win. Livingston led BYU with six kills and Bower had 10 assists in the set.

The Cougars and Bears traded points for much of the first half of the second set as both teams were hitting above .300. BYU opened up a four point lead at 16-12 on a Kate Prior kill and three Cougar blocks in a row.

Bower registered her 4,000th-career assist on a Mia Lee kill to move the score to 21-17. BYU then scored the next four points of the set with two kills and two Baylor errors, taking the second, 25-17.

BYU got down early as the Bears led 3-0 on a block and two service aces in Set 3. McEwan-Llarenas and Lee put the Cougars on the scoreboard as they both registered a kill. Two Baylor kills and a BYU error had the Cougars take a timeout, down 7-4. Making a run of its own with kills from Kate Prior, Llarenas and Bower, BYU forced the Bears to take a timeout, trailing 10-9. Out of the timeout, the Cougars scored 10 out of the next 12 points to lead 20-11, with a kill and two service aces by Livingston securing the victory for BYU, 25-15.

The Cougars will travel to Austin, Texas next week for their first Big 12 matches on the road as they face the No. 9 Longhorns in a pair of matches on Thursday and Friday, Sept. 28-29.

Men’s cross country earns second place at Virginia Invitational

EARYLSVILLE, Va. — No. 3 BYU men’s cross country placed second at the Virginia Invitational Saturday morning with five runners finishing the 8k race in the top-30.

“It was a really good day,” said BYU head cross country coach Ed Eyestone. “I could not be more pleased, really. We felt confident about our top three finishers [Joey Nokes, Aidan Troutner, Creed Thompson], so really the big search today was for our fourth and fifth men. Suddenly after today, we have five really good guys all together and that’s amazing for the rest of the season.”

The Cougars ended the morning with a combined 101 points, finishing just behind defending national champion and top-ranked Northern Arizona. Despite the absence of All-Americans Casey Clinger and Davin Thompson, BYU had five runners in the top-30 and two in the top-20. The Cougars competed against 12 teams featured in the USTFCCCA Coaches Preseason National Poll, besting fellow Big 12 counterpart Iowa State who placed 13th overall.

Nokes crossed the finish line first for the Cougars with a time of 23:30.05. This marks back-to-back races for Nokes placing first for BYU. Troutner came rushing in just moments later placing 14th with a time of 23:40.3.

Pushing to the finish together, Thompson and Jacob Stanford crossed in 23:45.3. Thompson leaned in for 26th with Stanford finishing in 27th. Garrett Stanford rounded out the Cougars top-five scoring runners finishing with a time of 23:46.2 placing 30th.

“We ran well together as a team and moved up throughout the race,” said Troutner post race. “It’s been a great start to the season and was a great learning experience for us today to help us be prepared for nationals.”

The men aim to see the Panorama Farms course again, with the 2023 NCAA Championships being hosted in Earlysville on Nov. 18.

The Cougars next travel to Madison, Wisconsin for the Nuttycombe Invitational on Oct. 13 at the storied Thomas Zimmerman Championship Course.

Women’s soccer plays second straight Big 12 match on the road

No. 6 BYU (8-1-1, 1-0-1 Big 12) women’s soccer heads to Austin to face No. 14 Texas on Monday at 6 p.m. MDT. The game will be streamed on the Longhorn Network.

After its first loss of the season against Utah State last weekend, the Cougars dropped six spots in the United Soccer Coaches Poll, coming in at No. 6.

BYU sophomore forwards Erin Bailey and Allie Fryer lead the Cougars in goals with six apiece while senior midfielder Olivia Wade-Katoa leads the Cougars in shots with 30. Senior defender Kendell Petersen leads BYU in assists with seven

BYU rebounded from the loss to Utah State with a 4-0 victory against Baylor last Wednesday. It was the Cougars’ second shutout of the season and first official Big 12 victory. Senior midfielder Brecken Mozingo scored a brace courtesy of a successful penalty kick in the first half and a second-half rocket from outside the 18-yard box. In her first start of the season, senior Rachel McCarthy tallied another goal for the Cougars, while Fryer rounded out the scoring for BYU. BYU tallied its season-high shots with 29, also adding nine corner kicks to the stat sheet. Freshman transfer goalkeeper Lynette Hernaez recorded her first career start and shutout for the Cougars.

No. 14 Texas (7-2-1) hosted No. 25 Texas Tech last Thursday,  suffering  heartbreaking loss as the Red Raiders tallied a header goal off a free kick as the clock hit zero for a 2-1 decision. Despite the loss, the Longhorn offense has proven to be one of the most efficient scoring powerhouses in the country, with forward Lexi Missimo leading the conference with 12 goals, 15 assists and 71 shots.

The Cougars and Longhorns have met five times previously, with Texas leading the series 3-2. The last time the teams faced off was in 2012 when the Cougars defeated the Longhorns 5-0 on South Field. Former Coug Michele Murphy led the team in that game with two goals, an assist and three shots.