Weber State put up nine blocks Thursday night. BYU still found 46 kills and its cleanest scorer was attacking from the right side.
Anna Blamires finished a career night with 12 kills, two errors and a .526 hitting percentage as No. 24 BYU swept Weber State 25-18, 25-16, 25-17 at Swenson Gym. Elli Mortensen added 10 kills on 13 swings, Kelli Jo Burgess returned with six error-free kills and seven block assists, and the Cougars moved to 7-1.
The final was comfortable. The way BYU built it is more interesting. Weber State had enough hands at the net to finish with two more blocks than the Cougars, yet BYU hit .365 and produced 16 more kills. Blamires gave the setters an efficient release on a night when Sophia Callahan struggled, which kept one rough line from narrowing the entire offense.
BYU-Weber State match receipt
| Category | BYU | Weber State |
|---|---|---|
| Final | 3 | 0 |
| Set scores | 25, 25, 25 | 18, 16, 17 |
| Kills | 46 | 30 |
| Attack errors | 11 | 16 |
| Attempts | 96 | 82 |
| Hitting percentage | .365 | .171 |
| Blocks | 7 | 9 |
| Aces | 5 | 0 |
| Digs | 31 | 31 |
The finalized WMT file settles one small source conflict: BYU’s recap describes the second set as 25-15, while the official match data and Weber State’s recap record it as 25-16. The WMT set score is used here.
BYU won all three sets by at least seven points and never hit below .300 in a frame. The Cougars opened at .375, rose to .423 in the second and finished at .300 in the third. That last number came with six attack errors, more than the first two sets combined, but Weber State hit only .160 in the same frame and could not turn the opening into a fourth set.
Blamires made one bad matchup disappear
Callahan had four kills and five errors on 17 swings. That is a minus-.059 line from one right-side option, the kind of number that can make an offense predictable if the other opposite cannot carry real volume.
Blamires changed the arithmetic. Her 12 kills came on 19 attempts with only two errors. Combined, BYU’s opposites produced 16 kills on 36 swings. The position was not uniformly efficient, but it still supplied more than a third of the Cougars’ kills because one player turned her chances into points.
The timing mattered. BYU led only 9-6 in the first set after Weber State answered an early run. Blamires put away two kills during the next stretch, then added two more as the Cougars closed 25-18. She finished the second set with consecutive kills after Weber State had already spent both timeouts.
Blamires did her damage before the result was safe. She helped make it safe.
Her .526 percentage also fits the larger shape of the attack. Mortensen hit .692 with 10 kills and one error. Burgess hit .545 with six kills and no errors. Rachel Jepsen added four kills on seven attempts. Those four attackers combined for 32 kills and four errors on 50 swings, a .560 percentage.
Weber State could win individual block exchanges and still lose the match at the net because BYU had too many clean routes around them.
Burgess returned without shrinking the middle rotation
Burgess did not play in Tuesday’s sweep of Utah Valley. Brooke Hardy and Jepsen responded with 11 error-free kills and nine block assists between them, giving BYU evidence that the middle room could survive without its established leader.
Thursday supplied the next piece. Burgess returned and immediately posted six kills on 11 swings without an error. Her seven block assists were the match high. Jepsen remained involved with four kills and one error on seven attempts.
That is a better outcome than simply handing every middle touch back to Burgess. The depth discovered Tuesday did not vanish when she returned. BYU used the veteran’s block and still kept another middle efficient enough to hold Weber State’s attention.
The Cougars needed it because the Wildcats had real blocking production. Ziya Munyer was involved in six blocks, Rose Moore and Stacia Barker in three apiece. Weber State’s nine team blocks were not cosmetic. They were the host’s best answer to a BYU offense that otherwise controlled the match.
BYU’s response was distribution. Kaylie Kofe had 20 assists, Alex Bower had 17 and Lulu Po’uha added five. Seven Cougars recorded a kill. Five reached at least four. Weber State could close one lane and still find Mortensen flying through another or Blamires waiting on the right.
The serve test ended decisively, but not cleanly
The pregame watch guide identified Weber State’s serve as the shortest route to making BYU predictable. The Wildcats entered with 47 aces in seven matches.
They finished Thursday with none.
BYU’s passers did more than avoid the ace column. They gave the setters enough usable first contacts to produce 44 assists on 46 kills. Po’uha led BYU with nine digs, while both teams finished with 31. Weber State did not create a transition advantage from the back row.
The Cougars’ own serving was more mixed. Claire Little Chambers and Bower had two aces apiece, Kofe added one, and Weber State never scored an ace. BYU also missed nine serves. Five aces against nine errors is pressure with a bill attached, not a spotless service night.
The misses never became expensive because Weber State gave seven service errors back and hit .171. Rose Moore led the Wildcats with nine kills, but she needed 23 swings and made eight attack errors. Gonder and Carlson combined for 15 kills on .214 hitting. Those are playable numbers, not enough to chase a team hitting .365.
BYU held the Wildcats to .171 without winning the block total. That points back to the serve-and-floor sequence: Weber State often had to attack from less comfortable positions, and BYU did enough behind the block to prevent those swings from becoming extended runs.
Two sweeps, two different lineup answers
BYU has now swept Utah Valley and Weber State in the same week, but the receipts are different.
Tuesday proved Hardy and Jepsen could replace missing middles while the offense hit .520. Thursday proved Burgess could return without reducing that new depth, and Blamires could rescue the right side when Callahan had a difficult attacking night. The Cougars did not repeat their season-best percentage. They found a different group of answers on the road.
That is more useful than another clean final by itself. Big 12 opponents will trap a pin or change the middle matchup. BYU is finding alternatives before conference play starts.
Utah State comes to Smith Fieldhouse on Saturday at 1 p.m. Mountain on ESPN+. The permanent BYU volleyball schedule carries the official event and access links, and the volleyball hub has the current roster and results.
The next test arrives quickly. BYU leaves Ogden knowing its block can lose the box-score comparison and one attacker can have a bad night without wrecking the offense. It needed Blamires’ 12 kills to make that true Thursday.
Sources and further reading
- BYU Athletics: Blamires’ career night fuels No. 24 BYU’s sweep for the official result, rotation sequence, Blamires career-high designation and Utah State listing.
- BYU Athletics event 25280 for the stable schedule ID, completed status, Swenson Gym venue, official recap ID and WMT match link.
- Finalized WMT game 6603866 and player statistics for the final, set scores, team splits, player lines, records, attendance and 82-minute duration.
- Weber State Athletics: Wildcats fall to BYU in three sets for independent confirmation of the 3-0 final, 25-18/25-16/25-17 set scores, team totals, Weber State leaders and next match.
- BYU Sport Nuts: Weber State watch guide, Utah Valley result analysis and volleyball schedule.
