by Mike Miller
BYU continued their impressive display across all sports this last week. Another huge football victory, a rivalry sweep in volleyball, and consistent performances across their other sports have left the Cougars flying high.
Women’s Volleyball
The Cougars had a pair of in-state sweeps this week as they dismantled Utah and UVU. The Thursday night game against the Utes is always big as a rivalry game, but it was also a ranked matchup as #15 BYU hosted #10 Utah. The first two sets were as close as one would expect from a ranked matchup, as BYU edged out Utah 25-23 in both sets. In the third set, the Cougars ran away with the game, riding a 10-0 run to an eventual 25-16 set victory. An intense game was matched by a raucous crowd of 5,140.
On Saturday, the team took a business-as-usual approach to their match against UVU as they improved to 18-0 all-time against the Wolverines. An efficient 25-16, 25-18, 25-20 sweep brought the Cougars to 10-1 on the season and eyeing a bump up in the national rankings.
Next Up: Conference play begins as Pacific comes to town on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. MST followed by Saint Mary’s on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. MST.
Women’s Cross Country
The Cougars traveled to Florida for a competition hosted by Florida State University. The team finished first, a full 27 points ahead of second place FSU. Whittni Orton won the individual race. The Cougars had two of the top three runners, five of the top ten, and thirteen of the top twenty runners.
Women’s Soccer
​On Thursday, the women’s soccer team jumped all over Idaho State 7-0 for their fifth win of the season. Senior Mikayla Colohan led the way with a hat trick. The Cougars were comfortably ahead 5-0 at half time, leading to a pedestrian second half where the team saw out the rest of the game.
On Saturday, BYU was upset at home in overtime by visiting Utah State. The 2-1 loss may threaten the #18 ranked Cougars as they could find themselves tumbling out of the top 25.
Conference play starts for soccer as well as they visit Gonzaga on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. MST. The Zags are riding a seven-game win streak and a 9-1 record into the match.
Football
Another late evening meant another comfortable win as the Cougars dispatched Arizona State 27-17 for a 3-0 start and first place in the PAC 12 South. BYU had a flair for the dramatic on Saturday, which included ASU committing two fumbles and two interceptions, one of which included the play of the year from Tyler Allgeier. After quarterback Jared Hall threw an interception, Allgeier ran fifty yards down field to strip the returner and get the ball back for the Cougars. BYU also had an impressive offensive performance once again, with the team’s best touchdown coming from a flea flicker in the first half.
Late night football in Provo continues for the third week in a row as South Florida comes to Lavell Edwards Stadium at 8:15 p.m. MDT on Saturday night.
Other Sports
Women’s and men’s swimming and diving visits Utah this Friday. Women’s golf participated in the Dick McGuire Invitational hosted by New Mexico State last week, but results are not yet available. The team travels to Knoxville, Tennessee this week for the Mercedes Benz Collegiate Championship. Men’s golf will replace the ladies’ team in New Mexico this week for the William H. Tucker Invitational. Men’s tennis hosts the ITA Mountain Region competition this week. Men’s cross-country is traveling to Minnesota this Friday for the Roy Griak Invitational.
Featured image courtesy BYU Photo