Broncos Fall in Season Opener at No. 9 BYU

Friday, August 30

Provo, Utah

Noon (MT)

Boise State

0-1

BYU

1-0

Boise State

BYU

Photo by: Boise State University

8/30/2019 3:37:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Courtesy: Boise State Athletics

PROVO, Utah - Freshman Lauren Ohlinger's eight kills were a team high for the Broncos, unfortunately it was not enough as Boise State dropped its season opener 3-0 (25-13, 25-21, 25-17) at ninth-ranked BYU Friday afternoon. The Broncos fell behind early in all three sets as they struggled hitting against the more experienced Cougars. In the second and third the Blue and Orange mounted rallies to challenge BYU, but came up short each time.

S3 (BYU 3-0) | Boise State falls 25-17 in set three as #9 BYU defeats the Broncos 3-0.

GO BRONCOS! #BleedBlue @BroncoSports @MW_OlySports pic.twitter.com/sCEziH6TMe
— Boise State VB (@BroncoSportsVB) August 30, 2019

"It was fun to see the team compete versus a ranked opponent on the road," said Boise State head coach Shawn Garus. "We did some good things out there, but just made too many errors to hang with BYU. I think the team learned a lot from this match and is excited to compete against another ranked opponent tonight when we play Marquette."

This was the first of two matches against nationally ranked opponents for Boise State on Friday in Provo, Utah, as the Broncos face 16th-ranked Marquette at 5:30 p.m. tonight. They will close out the BYU Nike Invitational Saturday afternoon against Utah Valley.

After struggling to hit in the opening set finishing it in the negative, Boise State settled down and played much better in the final two periods hitting a match-best 23.7 percent in the second and 17.6 percent in the third.

The Broncos played well defensively holding the Cougars below 20 percent hitting at 19.2 percent as a team. That was a good job against a squad that returns nearly everyone, including four AVCA All-Americans, from last year's NCAA semifinalist team that hit 30.4 percent in 2018.

MATCH NOTABLES

Boise State started four freshmen against the Cougars in middle blocker Alyssa Wissinger (redshirt-freshman), outside hitter Lauren Ohlinger, defensive specialist Cameron Gray and libero Allison Casillas ... the other three starters were seniors Janell Walley and Cassedi Simon, as well as sophomore Danielle Boss.
Other Broncos debuting in the blue and orange Friday against the Cougars were sophomore-transfer Olivia Bradley and freshman Jordi Holdaway, both Idaho natives.
Defensively, Walley and Wissinger combined for four of Boise State's six blocks.
Walley finished the contest with a second-best six kills and hit 29.4 percent, she also had nine digs and five blocks assists.
Freshman Allison Casillas led the team in digs with 12.
Sophomore Danielle Boss started at setter for Boise State finishing the match with 23 assists, three kills and eight digs.
Boise State is now 0-9 all-time against the BYU Cougars.