Provo, Utah –The No. 20 Utah Volleyball team traveled south to Provo to take on in-state and Big 12 Conference rival No. 24 BYU, falling to the Cougars in an instant classic, 2-3 (21-25, 27-25, 25-23, 23-25, 12-15).
Utah was tested in the first set, trailing BYU 13-15 at the media timeout. The back-and-forth down the backstretch of the first set began, as the scoreboard flashed a tie score at 17, 18, 19 and 20. The Cougars put together a pair of scoring streaks to take the first set, 25-21.
The Utes could not be denied in the second set, jumping out to an early 7-3 lead. Utah continued to add to its advantage, doubling up on the Cougars after stringing together a five-point scoring run, taking the lead up to 14-6. The Utes saw kills come from Ashley West, Allie Olsen and Lauren Jardine, to get the offensive rally ignited. Utah was forced to fend off a pair of four-point runs by the Cougars to help maintain the lead at 21-17. After one final back-and-forth, BYU put together a five-point run to tie the match at 23-23. After a marathon rally, Kamryn Gibadlo put away the go-ahead kill for the Utes at 26-25. Lauren Jardine brought the match back to even at one set apiece, serving up an ace, giving Utah the 27-25 set victory.
Utah kept the momentum rolling into the third set, stringing together an eight-point run throughout the early stages to secure a 12-7 lead. The Utes didn’t look back, exchanging points with BYU and maintaining…
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