The Cougars (9-1, 1-0 Big 12) went all out in their first Big 12 matchup of the season, with four Cougars (Claire Little Chambers, Elli Mortensen, Brooke Hardy and Sophia Callahan) earning 10+ kills each for the first time this season. Little Chambers led the team with 21 kills, while Mortensen, Hardy and Callahan followed with 17, 11 and 10, respectively.

Moretensen earned her first career double-double in the fourth set with 17 kills and a career-high 14 digs. Little Chambers and Lulu Po’uha each marked nine digs out of the team’s 46.

Hardy not only tallied a career-high of 11 kills, but also led the team in a career-high of six aces, the most by a freshman in the rally-scoring era at BYU. Little Chambers and Mortensen also contributed to the team’s season-high nine aces.

Kelli Jo Burgess led the Cougars in blocks with seven, and Little Chambers and Kate Prior followed close behind with three each. Kaylie Kofe and Alex Bower added to BYU’s successful night with 26 and 25 assists, respectively.

BYU will travel to Manhattan, Kansas to take on Kansas State in another Big 12 matchup on Oct. 1 at 5:30 p.m. MDT. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.

Cross Country shows strong in Cowboy Jamboree

STILLWATER, Okla. – No. 3 BYU women’s cross country triumphed at the Cowboy Jamboree, placing first with 32 points Saturday morning.

This marks the Cougars’ second consecutive win at the Cowboy Jamboree, remaining undefeated in the season. The women bested their score from last year by two points and took down No. 2 New Mexico in the process. No. 15 Oklahoma State took second place with 64 points followed by No. 2 UNM, SMU and Oklahoma.

“I am very proud of the team effort,” head coach Diljeet Taylor said. “This was a good September race for us to build off of. We had some things go really well and we got good data as we go back to a big block of training in October.”

The Cougars were led by sophomore Jane Hedengren, who placed third and crossed the line in 19 minutes and 32 seconds, just eight seconds behind Oklahoma State’s Billah Jepkirui. Hedengren and New Mexico’s Mercy Kirarei battled for the lead for the first 5,000-meters of the race as the sophomore has now finished in the top three in all six of her collegiate cross country races.

Senior Jenna Hutchins wasn’t far behind and remained consistent in fifth place with 19:56.9, almost beating her personal 6k best of 19:54.5. Fellow senior Lexi Goff-Thompson improved from last year’s ninth place finish, placing seventh with 20:07.3.

“I have good memories from running in Oklahoma last year, so I was excited to come back,” said Goff-Thompson. “I’m proud of the team and the grittiness that was displayed. Oklahoma is a notoriously tough course but it gave us the chance to practice being tough. This is just the beginning of the season so it’s exciting to look forward to the fitness that we can gain in the month before we race here again.”

Nelah Roberts and Taylor Lovell ran the course within seconds of each other, claiming eighth and ninth place at 20:15.2 and 20:15.9, respectively. Transfer Karrie Baloga fought her way from 22nd after the first split to 10th place at the finish, clocking a 20:17.5

In her collegiate cross country debut, freshman Lily Alder rounded out BYU’s top seven finishers, crossing the finish line at 20:29.0 and taking 12th place. Noteably, junior Tessa Buswell ran a personal 6k best of 20:48.8, beating her previous record by 10 seconds.

The Cougars will take on Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, Ind. on Friday, Oct. 16 at 8:00 a.m. MDT where they will be introduced to the course on which they hope to compete for a national title in late November.