UCLA had Mac May, but BYU had Erin Livingston, Kennedy Eschenberg and Taylen Ballard-Nixon. The three Cougars combined for 36 kills, proving to be too much for the Bruins, and led BYU to a 3-0 win in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Cougars advance to the regional semifinals 6 p.m. on Saturday against top-seeded Wisconsin. The remainder of the third-round matches will be played on Sunday.
This is the eighth time in the last nine tournaments that BYU advances to the third round.
“I just want to congratulate UCLA on a great season,” BYU coach Heather Olmstead said. “They’re a great opponent, and we just had a lot of fun matching up against them. They’ve got a great coaching staff, and I know they had a good season, but we’re excited to be advancing.”
“We’re grateful to the NCAA for changing up their tournament a little bit for us. We talked about that as a team, we’re super grateful to move our match to Saturday,” Olmstead added.
The Bruins gave BYU the most trouble in the first two sets of the match. In the first, UCLA lead 14-10 before the Cougars went on a 8-3 run to regain the lead. BYU kept the lead until UCLA threatened to close out the first set, with a 24-23 advantage.
However, the Bruins were unable to get set point and a kill by Ballard-Nixon sealed the first set as a BYU victory.
Eschenberg played a big defensive role in the first set, recording five blocks. The senior finished the night with eight blocks, tying her season high. Ballard-Nixon added five blocks and nine digs.
West Coast Conference Player and Setter of the Year Whitney Bower provided stability to a BYU squad that struggled a bit in the second set. The sophomore finished the night with 38 assists, 11 digs and three blocks.
Once again, UCLA found itself one point away from a win, up 24-21, but failed to get set point seven times. So, the Cougars ended up taking the second set, 31-29.
“I think a couple of things were important,” Eschenberg said. “First of all, just focusing on the moment and our jobs and what we wanted to do. And then another thing that was huge in those big moments, and also just throughout the whole game, was our energy. Our energy on the court, our energy from our coaches, from our bench, was just amazing and magical. Those really helped us in those moments.”
After two highly competitive sets, the Cougars cruised to victory on a seemingly easy third set.
Olmstead said she was proud of her team for the way they were focused, stayed in the present and executed. Although BYU was in a deficit for a good portion of the set, the Cougars still believed they were in it.
That mentality helped close out the match and send BYU to the third round.
“I hope people appreciated what they saw tonight — it was some good volleyball,” Olmstead said.
