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OREM — Much like two nights ago, BYU's 12th-ranked women's volleyball team jumped out to a big first-set victory and then found itself on the ropes.
Unlike in Wednesday night's 3-1 win over Utah, Hannah Billeter wasn't going to let Friday night's match go to four sets.
The sophomore defensive specialist had four digs and tied a career high with four aces, and Erin Livingston laid down 10 kills with five blocks as the Cougars swept Utah Valley 25-8, 25-17, 25-14 Friday night in front of a standing room-only crowd of 1,951 fans at Lockhart Arena.
"When I'm in there, I'm just in the zone and try to stay as calm as possible," Billeter said. "I was so dialed in, and so ready."
BYU setter Whitney Bower added six kills, five digs, three aces and 21 assists, and Kate Prior added seven kills and four blocks for BYU, which hit .361 and held the Wolverines to .061 hitting with 13 blocks. Freshman Mia Lee had a team-high six blocks, and Whitney McEwan-Llarenas added four kills and five blocks for the Cougars (10-1).
Avery Shewell led Utah Valley (3-8) with nine kills, and Abbie Medeiros dished out 16 assists for the Wolverines.
But the tide turned on Billeter, who served a similar role in the third set against Utah after the Utes had tied that match at 1-1.
"She was super determined behind the service line, and I'm proud of the way she served tonight," BYU coach Heather Olmstead said. "Our whole team served well tonight; we had nine aces and no errors. I don't think that's ever happened for us. But she's really focused behind that line and really helped us get our energy back, get some blocks, and set up our defense pretty well."
TWO ACES IN A ROW🤯
— BYU Women's Volleyball (@BYUwvolleyball) September 16, 2023
📺 https://t.co/ZCIcUsUibdpic.twitter.com/JSD2q3thm7
Much like they did one night prior in a sweeping loss to Utah State, the Wolverines got off to a slow start. And much like they did Wednesday night against in-state rival Utah, BYU held Utah Valley to a negative hitting percentage in the opening set.
The Wolverines hit negative-.138 in the first set, and Livingston and Prior both poured in four kills apiece as the Cougars rolled to a 25-8 first-set victory, laying down 12 kills on 24 swings with just two errors.
Hailey Cuff capped a 4-0 scoring run to give Utah Valley a 7-4 lead early in the second set, capitalizing on six kills from the Wolverines.
But back-to-back aces by Billeter helped the Cougars retake the lead 12-10, and the sophomore from McKinney, Texas, served eight straight points to take a 17-10 advantage before Whitney McEwen-Llarenas finished off the 25-17 win with a block.
"I knew when I came in, I needed to do my job and just serve flat, low and get it into the seams," Billeter said. "I really credit my team for letting me stay on those runs."
BYU used the momentum to jump out to a 9-1 lead in the third set on a double block by McEwan-Llarenas and Bower, and the Cougars never looked back, hitting .290 on the set en route to a 25-14 win on Eden Bower's kill.
In two matches since a 3-1 loss to No. 11 Washington State, the Cougars have dropped just one set and won the other six sets by an average of 9.5 points per set.
And the Cougars from the Pac-12? They went to Austin and stunned No. 6 Texas in four sets Friday.
"That's a good team," Olmstead said of the 11th-ranked Cougars from the Pac-12. "We knew that we played well last week, and we just wanted to come back, refine some areas of our game, and I thought we did that Wednesday night, tonight, and we're looking to do that again tomorrow on the road.
"We know we're going to be in hostile environments in the Big 12 on the road, and so these are the environments we want to be in heading into the new conference."
BYU wraps up nonconference play Saturday against Utah State. First serve from the Wayne Estes Center is scheduled for 7 p.m. MDT.
New scholarship at Utah Valley
Before the match, Utah Valley unveiled the Sam Atoa endowed volleyball scholarship, an award that alumni and friends of the program will present annually to a player on the team in honor of the 25th-year head coach.
Atoa, who led Utah Valley through its transition from junior college to NCAA Division I, has a record of 473-293 since the BYU alum took over the program in 1999. Prior to being named head coach, he served as an assistant under Lori Richards for six seasons.
