The No. 13 BYU women’s volleyball team bounced back at the Shocker Volleyball Classic to defeat VCU 3-1 (25-8, 22-25, 25-22, 25-21) on Saturday at Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, Kan.
Freshman Kate Grimmer hit double-digit kills for the first time in her young career with 11 on .611 hitting with no errors. Fellow freshman Whitney Bower registered five aces for the second time this season, adding 42 assists, 15 digs and four kills for the Cougars. She is the first BYU player in the rally era (2001-present) to record at least three kills, three aces, 10 assists and 15 digs in a single match.
“I like the way we problem solved throughout the match,” BYU head coach Heather Olmstead said. “Kate did a great job scoring on the right and her energy was a huge positive for us.”
Senior McKenna Miller led BYU (7-2) with 13 kills to go with six digs, three blocks and an ace while junior Kennedy Eschenberg had 11 kills and four blocks. Senior Mary Lake added 11 digs, four assists and an ace.
Bower and Lake were named to the all-tournament team for the Cougars.
Cal Poly 3, No. 16 Utah 2 • In Malibu, Calif., the No. 16 Utah volleyball team lost a five-set marathon rematch with Cal Poly (19-25, 25-17, 25-18, 14-25, 16-18) at the Pepperdine Asics Classic.
Utah had three match points in the fifth set, but Cal Poly held off the Utes, and the first time the Mustangs got a match point, they took advantage.
Dani Drews led Utah with 26 kills, hitting .286. She also had seven digs, three aces and three blocks.
Saige Ka’aha’aina-Torres had 41 assists, while also having a career high 18 digs. Berkeley Oblad was the other Ute with double-figure kills with 13. She hit .333 on the night.
Utah’s record falls to 8-2 after this weekend.
