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PROVO — Alexa Gray didn't have the best start to a volleyball match Friday night.
But as the match wore on, she got more comfortable — and came through when the BYU women's volleyball team needed it most.
The two-time defending West Coast Conference player of the year tallied a match-high 21 kills, eight digs and four blocks to help the No. 11 and 13th-seeded Cougars take down Ohio, 19-25, 25-23, 25-17, 26-24 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament at the Smith Fieldhouse.
"I thought we believed in ourselves a little bit more. They came out strong, and I think we backed off a bit," said Gray, who scored all but three of her kills after the first set. "But we settled down and knew that we could fight with them."
Jaime Kosiorek placed three-straight points as Ohio took a 23-22 lead in the final set and threatened to send the match to a fifth set. But Amy Boswell followed with a block to revive the Cougars' chances and freshman Lacy Haddock's kill deep in the penultimate rally set up the match-winning point on an attack error.
Boswell finished with 18 kills and four blocks, hitting at a .516 kill percentage with just two attack errors. Camry Willardson dished out 16 assists, and Alohi Robins-Hardy added eight helpers and five digs for the Cougars.
"The part I love about my job is that our passes make us have a good night," Boswell said. "Our passing was there; Alohi and Camri gave us all the sets they were putting us out, and it made my job really easy. I'm just trying to do my best."
Mallory Salis scored six of her team-high 21 kills for Ohio in the first set, and the Bobcats used a blend of speed and athleticism to fend off the BYU blockers for the opening-set win. From there, first-year head coach Heather Olmstead adjusted on the fly, and the Cougars roared out of the gates of the second set to even the match 1-1 at the break.
"Our kids had a lot of heart. They had a relentless effort tonight, and we asked them for that," Olmstead said. "We've been there before, and we said we were going to be calm. We play in a great conference that prepares us for battles like this, so we feel right at home when we are tested and battled in every match. That's what we got from Ohio."
The Bobcats outblocked BYU 8-6 on the night, holding the Cougars well below their 2.9 blocks per set average from the regular season.
"We knew coming in this was going to be a battle of speed against size. If we tried to go size-on-size, it wasn't going to go too well," said Ohio coach Deane Webb, whose team dramatically sped up its offense through senior setter Abby Gilleland a month ago. "In the first set, we hit a crazy number and were thrilled with that. As the match went on, I think they got a little more used to the speed we were running, as any good team will."
After going down 1-0, BYU took a 10-6 lead in the second set before Ohio rallied to tie at 10-10. Haddock then placed a 5-0 run from the service line as the former Timpview High standout served four-straight points with an ace, and got a crucial block by Gray, to give the Cougars a 15-10 lead.
Gray notched a pair of kills to help the Cougars outscore the Bobcats 5-3 down the stretch and even the match on Amy Boswell's tip-kill going into the break.
After the break, BYU raced out to a 17-11 lead on Cosy Burnette's smasher. The Cougars continued to power through the third set, and Gray delivered Robins-Hardy's ball deep into the middle of Ohio's side to take the 25-17 third-set win and a 2-1 advantage on her 14th kill of the match.
As the night went on, Gray — like the rest of her team — got better and better.
"I just noticed where they were playing defense, and I was moving my shots," the senior from Calgary, Alberta, said. "I tried to keep it on them and get them in trouble."
The Bobcats jumped out to a 15-12 lead in the fourth set, finishing off the start with back-to-back points on a kill and a block by Karin Bull.
But BYU came back, tying the match at 18-18 on Cosy Burnett's cross-court spike from the right side and taking the lead on Gray's kill on the next play to finish the set and take a 2-1 lead into No. 4.
Gilleland finished with 28 assists and five kills for Ohio, which got six kills from Kosiorek.
The Cougars advance to face 20th-ranked Western Kentucky on Saturday night in Provo. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. MST.
"It's going to be another great match; they're obviously really well coached," Olmstead said. "They deserve to be here; they played a great match against Arizona. We'll meet with the kids tomorrow, put a game plan together, and be ready."
