Wildcats Fall in Five Sets to No. 13 Cougars

On Thursday night, Weber State made the short drive south to Provo to take on the #13 BYU Cougars on their home court and open the BYU Invitational. A new career high in kills for senior outside hitter Rylin Adams (25) and an additional 22 kills from sophomore outside hitter Dani Nay kept the Wildcats close, but BYU held on to win the match 3-2 (25-23, 23-25, 25-18, 19-25, 15-4). The Cougars improved to 4-0 on the season, Weber State dropped their first match of the year to move to 3-1.

After a back-and-forth first set in which Weber State had the lead against the 13^th ranked team in the nation at 23-22, the Cougars managed to score the final three points of the set and win it 25-23.

In the second set, the Wildcats jumped out to an 8-6 lead, but the tables turned quickly. BYU rallied to and managed to get a 20-14 lead before Weber State would flip the script one more time. Adams and Nay combined for five kills down the stretch, and the 'Cats would go on to score 11 of the next 14 points to tie the match up at one set a piece in front of a raucous home crowd. This was the first set that BYU had lost all season.

The Cougars came roaring back in the third set, leading by as much as ten points at one time. The Wildcats scored five of the last seven points, but BYU ended up taking the set 25-18 to take a 2-1 advantage in the match.

In the fourth set, WSU came out on absolute fire and had a 13-7 lead when BYU burned its second time out of the set. BYU came out of the timeout and scored the next four points to make it 13-11, forcing Jeremiah Larsen to counter with a timeout of his own. After the timeout, Weber State came out on fire and won the set 25-19.
In the fifth and final set, BYU came out with a determination to defend their home court and that's exactly what they did. They got out to a big 7-2 lead and forced Larsen to burn a timeout, but it wouldn't be enough. The Cougars scored eight of the final ten points and won the fifth set and the match.

Adams had a double-double with 26 kills and 14 digs, as did Nay with 22 kills and 19 digs of her own. Senior setter Ashlyn Power also had a double-double with 50 assists and 13 digs.

The Wildcats will be back in action tomorrow afternoon for their second match in the BYU invitational against the Michigan State Spartans. The match will start at 4:00 in the Smith Fieldhouse in Provo, Utah, admission is free. Masks are required when social distancing isn't possible.

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Team Stats

Rylin Adams

Dani Richins

Sam Schiess

Emma Mangum

Players Mentioned

Rylin Adams

Ashlyn Power

Dani Richins

Players Mentioned

Rylin Adams

Ashlyn Power

Dani Richins

Weber State University Athletics