She really changed momentum there with a couple of blocks right in a row, some of them solo blocks. And she really just owned her space well. She got over and into their space, and really intimidated them a little bit. – BYU coach Heather Olmstead, on Whitney Howard

PROVO — The seniors led the way for the no. 10-ranked BYU women's volleyball team, helping forge a straight set win over visiting Princeton (25-21, 25-15, 25-23) and advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Senior Whitney Howard led the way for the Cougars, earning a team-high five blocks, which paired nicely with her team-high nine kills.

While solid throughout the match, Howard was never better than midway through the second set, when she scored five of the Cougars' six points during a key 6-1 run that put her team up 14-9. Howard's points were highlighted by four blocks, including three straight, which topped off the scoring run.

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"She really changed momentum there with a couple of blocks right in a row, some of them solo blocks," said BYU coach Heather Olmstead. "And she really just owned her space well. She got over and into their space, and really intimidated them a little bit."

As for her emotion's during the stretch, Howard was beaming in postgame, simply stating, "It was so much fun. I love blocking, so it was good."

Howard's proficiency on Friday went well with fellow senior middle blocker Amy Boswell, who contributed four kills and five blocks, as the Cougars leaned heavily on their senior middles throughout the match.

"Amy took a bunch of a swings as well, and so, if people take something away, we'll score a different way," Olmstead said. "But I thought Princeton's defense caused us some problems, and so we adjusted throughout the match."


GAME HIGHLIGHTS

.@BYUwvolleyball beats @PrincetonVolley in straight sets tonight in the first round of the @NCAAVolleyball tournament pic.twitter.com/PSOVBy89Ud

— Brandon Judd (@brandonljudd) December 3, 2016


What the Tigers tried to take away was the outside hitting of BYU's leader in kills, freshman McKenna Miller, who didin't record her first point until the second set. Miller did find some stride late in the third and finished with three kills, but was relatively kept in check throughout.

Picking up a lot of the slack for Miller on the outside was sophomore Veronica Jones-Perry, who matched Howard's kill total with nine. Jones-Perry's most notable stretch came at the end of the match, where she logged two straight kills to close things out.

"I felt like it was a complete team effort," Jones-Perry said of her final two points. "I just go out there, take a swing, get blocked and my team is there to cover off the block. So it just felt like we were just together fighting, and that I could count on my teammates … it was just so fun. Those last two points of that set were just fun."

While the Cougars dominated the second set, the first and third sets told a different story, with the Tigers keeping things close until the final moments, when the Cougars proved able to close things strong. The first set saw BYU score a 4-1 run to prevail at 25-21, along with another 4-1 run to close out the third by the score of 25-23.

"The whole match I thought our serving was pretty steady, and so especially at the end of sets — I thought we went back and served our zones and served the serves that we wanted," Olmstead said. "So I think that was key to go back with composure and serve tough in those tight moments."

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While BYU is no stranger to the NCAA tournament, Friday's match marked the first time Princeton has played in the tournament since 2007. Considering the spectacle, matched by BYU's always great environment, the Tigers' came away encouraged, despite the loss.

"Now we have a whole group of players who have been on this stage (who) know we can do well here," said Princeton coach Sabrina King. "So having that knowledge next year is going to be big for us through our regular season play and then hopefully back to the tournament."

Princeton was led by freshman Maggie O'Connell, who scored a team-high 12 kills and senior Cara Mattaliano, who added 11.

With the win, BYU advances to the second round where it will take on UNLV Saturday at 7 p.m. MST.

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