Senior Tasman Dwyer |
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Four Cougars recorded double figures in kills and the Hornets were held to .143 hitting percentage as 16th-ranked BYU defeated the Sacramento State women’s volleyball team, 3-1 (28-30, 30-18, 30-21, 30-28), Thursday evening in Hornet Gym.With the victory, BYU improved to 13-4 while snapping the Hornets’ season-high eight-match winning streak. The Hornets, who hadn’t lost a match since Sept. 26, dropped to 15-6.
The Cougars’ Nina Puikkonen led all players with 21 kills while Sunny Mahe (17), Jackie Bundy (14) and Lauren Richards (10) rounded out the BYU players with double-figure kills. Puikkonen missed a triple-double by one block as she also finished with a team-high 18 digs and nine blocks. BYU hit .259 in the match while holding an advantage over the Hornets in kills (71-59), assists (66-55), digs (68-63) and team blocks (14.0-12.0).
Senior Tasman Dwyer led the Hornets with 18 kills and eight blocks to go along with a .400 hitting percentage. Dwyer has now hit .300 or better in six-consecutive matches. Sophomore Kazmiera Imrie added 12 kills and a team-high 14 digs while Lisa Beauchene missed a triple-double by three kills, finishing with seven kills, 46 assists and 12 digs.
After hitting .295 in game one, Sacramento State was held to marks of .108, .128 and .056, respectively in games 2-4.
Sacramento State squeaked out game one as BYU came back from a 14-7 deficit to knot the score at 19-19. The Hornets retook the lead at 27-23 but the Cougars again clawed back to within 29-28. The comeback fell short, however, as Imrie’s sixth kill ended the first game.
BYU cruised through games two and three with relative ease as the Hornets never really threatened.
In game four, Sacramento State erased a 20-13 deficit to eventually take a 25-24 lead (the team’s only lead of the game). Both teams traded points until the score was deadlocked at 27-27. From there, a Kelly Voeltz service error and a Mahe kill put the Cougars up, 29-27. After an Imrie kill sliced the lead to one point, Dwyer’s attack error ended the contest.
Tonight’s attendance of 792 was the Hornets’ second largest home crowd of the season.
After two-straight non-conference matches, the Hornets venture back into Big Sky Conference play this Saturday, Oct. 27, as they travel to Flagstaff, Ariz., to take on Northern Arizona. Sacramento State is currently 8-1 in conference play and holds a two-game lead over three second-place teams (including Northern Arizona).
