SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco volleyball team hung tough with No. 11 BYU through the early stages of the afternoon before succumbing to the Cougars 3-0 Saturday at War Memorial Gym.
The Cougars, who were coming off just their second loss in West Coast Conference action, rebounded effectively to improve to 19-4 on the season and 10-2 in league games. BYU, ranked No. 11 in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll, stands atop the WCC standings. Meanwhile, USF now stands at an even 12-12 (5-7 WCC) after its sixth loss of the season to a ranked foe.
Individually, USF was paced by a match-high 12 kills from
Anja Segota to go with seven digs, and a nine-kill, eight-dig outing for freshman
Jessica Gaffney. Libero
Kim Gutierrez dug out 19 balls in the three-set match and
Kiara McKibben finished with 41 assists on the day.
"Well, we lost to a better team today, obviously," said head coach
Gilad Doron. "I was happy with Kim, Anja, and Jessica but we needed everybody to play solid, and maybe that was BYU's game plan. We were missing a little spark, and I have to give credit to BYU shutting down Valentina [Zaloznik] and Katarina [Pilepic]."
USF's tandem of Zaloznik and Pilepic typically lead the team offensively, but the pair combined for just 14 kills on .024 hitting in the match.
The Dons opened the day with the first point of the contest, on a kill from Pilepic. USF was either tied or ahead for the first third of the set, holding a two point advantage on Pilepic's strike to make it 9-7. The Cougars responded with a 6-1 run to take a 13-10 lead off the block from Jennifer Hamson and Amy Boswell. The teams continued to battle for the rest of the frame, seeing ties at 19 and 20 points before a service error into the net by Gutierrez gave the Cougars the slim advantage. BYU would go on to close with the next four points of the set, punctuated by a set-ending ace by Ciara Parker.
BYU jumped to an early lead, but the Dons and Cougars were knotted at 12 apiece after Boswell's attack sailed out of bounds. Late in the frame, USF again evened the score after Gaffney's strike made it 21-21. The Dons edged back in front after an attack error from BYU's Alexa Gray gave USF the opportunity to take the set. However, she regrouped for two timely kills for the Cougars to give BYU a 25-24 lead. Boswell's service ace capped the frame and sent the Dons into halftime with the 2-0 deficit.
The Cougars exploded in the third set, opening up with an 11-1 lead with the duo of Camry Willardson and Tia Welling at the service line. The Dons could never recover from
the early hole before falling 25-14 in the third set. The Cougars held USF to .000 hitting in the final frame thanks in no small part to 8.5 team blocks for the NCAA categoryleaders.
All told, BYU finished with a 16.5 to 4 blocking advantage and outhit the Dons .260 to .127. USF took the digs category 47 to 38, and finished with 43 assists compared to BYU's 34. The nation's leading blocker entering the contest, Whitney Young finished the day with 10 total blocks, all assisted. The loss is just USF's second at home on the season, as the Dons are a stout 7-2 at War Memorial Gym.
"In Game 1, costly serves gave BYU the breaks they needed," noted Doron. "In Game 2, Alexa Gray made two big plays to win it, and that's why she's an All-American. It's disappointing to lose at home … we didn't play bad, but we didn't play great. And to beat BYU, you have to play great."
Now the Dons swing through the Pacific Northwest for two, first meeting up with Portland Nov. 6, at 7 p.m. USF has won the last six contests against the Pilots and are looking for the season sweep.
