No. 17 BYU women’s volleyball swept Texas Tech (25-16, 25-23, 25-22) to improve to 2-0 in conference play on Saturday afternoon at the Smith Fieldhouse in Provo.

The Cougars hit (9-3, 2-0 Big 12) hit .244 on the afternoon while holding the Red Raiders to a .093 clip, led by Claire Little’s 14 kills and Kjersti Strong’s 12, tying a season high.

Setter Alex Bower and libero Hannah Billeter each recorded three service aces on the day, tying a career high for Bower and a season high for Billeter. Libero Lulu Uluave led BYU in digs with 10. Bower also recorded 34 assists and five digs.

As a team, the Cougars tallied just six aces to the Red Raider’s eight, but out-blocked Texas Tech 10 to seven, also recording four more digs, at 42-38.

Both sides traded points to open up the match, knotting the set six times before the media timeout. The Cougars pulled ahead 15-11 with kills from Kjersti Strong and Claire Little. BYU moved up two more points on Texas Tech before the Red Raiders called their first timeout of the match.

The Cougars maintained control of the scoreboard through the remainder of the set, highlighted with kills from Brielle Kemavor and Strong. BYU closed out the first set with a triple block from Blaykli Bobkik, Elyse Stowell and Strong, taking it 25-16. Texas Tech jumped to a 5-1 lead to open the second set with back-to-back service aces. BYU responded with a 8-0 run to retake the lead 9-5, highlighted with two service aces of their own from Alex Bower. The Red Raiders kept in the mix, bringing the set within three of the Cougars before the media timeout, 15-12.

Texas Tech continued pressure, tying the set 19-19. BYU pushed ahead two points with Kemavor and Bobik each securing kills. The Red Raiders matched the advance with a 3-0 run to take a 21-20 lead before a BYU timeout. The Cougars took the second set 25-23 on a 4-1 run which was capped off by a solo stuff from Strong.

BYU advanced to a 3-1 lead in Set 3, highlighted by Bower’s third service ace on the afternoon which marked both a season and career high for the freshman. Texas Tech replied with a 6-1 run to force a Cougar timeout with the Red Raiders in the lead, 7-4.

Texas Tech tacked on another six points to extend the advantage over the Cougars to 13-8 before another BYU timeout. The Cougars rallied back with kills from Little and Kemavor to bring the set within two points. A double block by Bobkik and Kemavor was followed by a kill from Stowell and forced a Texas Tech timeout with Cougars trailing 16-15.

BYU charged out of the break with three-straight service aces from Billeter to take an 18-16 lead. The Cougars closed out the match with a kill from Little, 25-22.

BYU will next head south to face Arizona at the McKale Center in Tucson on Wednesday night. The match is set for 6 p.m. MST/7 p.m. MDT with the broadcast available on ESPN+.

UVU women’s soccer rolls to big win at Tarleton

Faith Webber and Nixan Jackson each recorded braces to lead Utah Valley to a 5-2 road win over Tarleton State in the tean’s WAC opener on Saturday at the Tarleton Soccer Complex in Stephenville, Texas.

Utah Valley wins its fourth straight match to improve to 7-4-1 overall and 1-0-0 in WAC play. Tarleton State falls to 6-4-3 on the season and is now 0-1-0 in league play.

“Credit to Tarleton; they came up with a game plan to disrupt the way we play, and they were successful in that,” said Utah Valley head coach Chris Lemay. “While we’re fortunate to walk away with three points, we don’t judge ourselves solely on the scoreboard. We evaluate our performance based on whether we played to our potential, and today, we didn’t. We know we need to be better, and we’ll work to improve going into next week.”

Utah Valley got off to a fast start with Taylor Nelson delivering a pass from the right side to Manthy Brady, who then connected with Webber in the box. Webber slotted the ball into the far post with her right foot to give UVU an early 1-0 lead in the ninth minute.

Just one minute later, Ruby Hladek sent a pass from the left side to Brady on the right side of the box. Brady maneuvered around a defender and crossed it into the box where Jackson headed it home to double the lead at 2-0 in the 10th minute.

Tarleton State pulled a goal back in the 44th minute when Jaycie Bass found the back of the net, cutting Utah Valley’s lead to 2-1.

The Wolverines responded right back just before the break as Grace Lester made a run down the left wing and fired a shot from 30 yards out, placing it in the upper 90 to extend the lead to 3-1 heading into halftime.

The Texans narrowed the gap again early in the second half with Adelaide Wyrzynski scoring in the 52nd minute to make it 3-2.

Utah Valley restored their two-goal advantage in the 83rd minute when Kate Shirts sent in a corner kick that Hladek headed toward Jackson, who redirected the ball into the goal for her second of the match and a 4-2 lead.

Webber added her second goal in the final seconds of the match, firing the ball into the net after a pass from Brady, who finished the day with three assists. The goal in the 90th minute secured a 5-2 victory for the Wolverines.

Utah Valley dominated the match, outshooting Tarleton State 19-6 with a 14-2 advantage in shots on goal. CJ Graham and Leah Wolf split time in goal, with Graham playing the first half and Wolf covering the second.

With her two goals, Webber now has 10 goals this season and ties Heather Stainbrook as the all-time career goal scorer in UVU history with 40 career goals. Webber now needs just one more goal to move into the top spot on the UVU career goals list.

Utah Valley will continue WAC play on the road next week, traveling to Utah Tech on Thursday at 5 p.m. and Southern Utah on Sunday at 1 p.m. Both matches will be broadcast live on ESPN+.

BYU swimming showcases stars at Blue-and-White meet

Emma Marusakova and Max Kleinman led all women’s and men’s scorers, respectively, as BYU swim and dive previewed the coming 2024-25 season with its annual Blue and White Meet at the Richards Building Pool on Friday night.

Team White won the meet over Team Blue 678-641 after a spirited evening of competition featuring four rounds of knock-out style 50-yard events along with finals in six events and a mixed 800 free relay.

“I am incredibly proud of our athletes this week,” said BYU head swim and dive coach Tamber McAllister. “We not only enjoyed bonding and competing together throughout the entire week, but we introduced a physically demanding sprint meet to get everyone into race mode. This experience has better prepared them for next week’s season-opener.”

Marusakova led Team Blue and all scorers on the night with 65 points totaled from wins in seven races. Marusakova swept each round of the 50 back and closed the night with a win at 26.19.

Kleinman posted a Team White high 58 points with five event wins, including thee of the four rounds in the 50 back and posting 22.78 to win the final. A freshman from Gilbert, Arizona, Kleinman is recently returned from full-time missionary service for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Detroit, Michigan.

BYU men’s and women’s swim and dive opens its 2024-25 season at the Intermountain Shootout hosted by Colorado Mesa in Grand Junction, Colorado Oct. 4-5.