PROVO — Experience pays off. Mixed in with a little luck, of course.
The BYU women's volleyball team had both Friday night when it swept Hofstra (New York) 15-3, 15-10, 15-6 to advance to the second round of NCAA playoffs.
"It's always nice to win that first one in the NCAAs," BYU coach
Elaine Michaelis said. And she would know.
BYU is wise beyond its years in postseason tournament play, appearing in its 11th straight NCAA tournament. BYU has qualified for the NCAA tournament 19 of the 20 years the postseason program has existed. Many of the current Cougars weren't even alive before the NCAA streak started.
While all of the Cougars' postseason success may bleed together over the years, the 39th-year head coach sees this one as different.
"This is a better team than we've had in years past. We're much better than last year," Michaelis said.
Indeed.
BYU garnered a No. 12 national ranking coming into the tournament and has not fallen below No. 17 all season.
Friday night, the Cougars (25-6) had enough built-up confidence stored from their previous games that it almost seemed too easy.
After all, ever since BYU upset the No. 4 Colorado State Rams for the Mountain West Conference title two weeks ago, they have been on a proverbial roll. The Cougars are on a 12-match winning streak — 10 of those coming at home.
BYU held Hofstra (23-11) to a mere .081 attacking percentage, while the Cougars nearly tripled that. In fact, BYU blew the Pride away in nearly every category: 59 kills, 17 team blocks and 47 digs.
The Cougars' first game proved to be their most dominating as BYU produced 11 straight points before Hofstra spoke up.
BYU slipped in game two as the Pride took a 7-6 lead and eventually went up four points. But a Jackie Bundy kill knotted the game at 10-10, which was the first of a six-point run and 15-10 victory.
"In the first game, we didn't see the real Hofstra team," Michaelis said. "They started to adjust to us."
But 10 points was the most Hofstra would adjust as it would go on to lose 15-6 in the final game.
Bundy and Nina Puikkonen led all players with 16 kills. Melissa Layton and Sunny Tonga followed with 11 and 10, respectively.
BYU will host in-state rival Utah State Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse. The Aggies defeated the Cougars in Logan earlier this season 3-0, setting up what the Cougars call the "ultimate grudge match."
"It's a pretty big deal (to play Utah State again)," Bundy said. "We'll show up this time and play."
The Aggies (22-9) won the Big West Conference and are ranked No. 21 in the nation.