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PROVO — No. 24 BYU women's volleyball was down, and sometimes out. But never completely out.
That's the magic of rivalry volleyball.
Claire Little poured in 16 kills and 12 digs, and freshman Elli Mortensen added 15 kills, nine digs and three blocks as the 24th-ranked Cougars rallied to win a five-set match for just the second time this season 25-21, 25-26, 23-25, 26-23, 15-12 over No. 20 Utah in front of a capacity crowd at the Smith Fieldhouse.
"They just battled," BYU head coach Heather Olmstead told BYUtv after the match. "We were up, we were down, we were in it, we were out of it. They just always believed."
Brielle Kemavor added nine kills and 10 blocks for the Cougars (12-6, 5-3 Big 12), and Alex Bower distributed 41 assists with nine digs and three blocks to help BYU to a 78-29 all-time record against the Utes with Olmstead's 250th career victory.
But Saturday night was anything but easy. It never is between these two schools, but being in the same conference for the first time in more than a decade and both ranked in the AVCA coaches' poll top 25 only added to the stakes.
Kamryn Gibadlo had 16 kills and six digs to lead six Utah players with double-digit attacks, including Emrie Satuala, the Idaho State transfer from Bountiful who has been a key part of the Utes' attack that ranks third nationally in kills per set during a three-match winning streak.
Kjersti Strong put down four kills on .600 hitting percentage, and the Cougars took advantage of six service errors to take the first set from the Utes, 25-21.
Utah (15-3, 5-2 Big 12) got up big in the second set, but BYU used a 10-2 run to tie the set at 23-23 when Mortensen struck a kill off the block.
The Utes forced their third set-point opportunity on a kill by Gibadlo to cap a long rally, and Lauren Jardine clinched the 27-25 win with an ace.
"We talked about how this could be a game of runs," Utah coach Beth Launiere said midway through the match. "We've just got to get out a little bit faster, but what a great rally that was. This is a great scene for volleyball."
The Utes rode that momentum into a lead in the four se — before Little scored four times during a 5-0 run to take a 20-15 advantage before holding on for a 25-23 win that forced the winner-take-all fifth set.
Ashley West scored one of her 12 kills to give the Utes an 8-7 edge midway through the decisive fifth set, and Allie Olsen stretched the lead to 10-7 with her 11th kill.
Back-to-back blocks by Kemavor and freshman Blaykli Bobik tied the set at 11-all, and momentum seemed to shift — except, perhaps, for the Cougars.
"I think the mindset the entire set never changed: it was just one ball at a time," said Little, who also had an ace in the fifth set. "I just thought what I could do for my team every point."
Kjersti Strong tipped one back over the net to give the Cougars the lead, and Hannah Billeter served her second ace of the night to cap a 7-2 run and give the hosts a 14-12 lead before Utah mishandled an attack on match point to give the Cougars just their second win in five sets this year and a second-straight victory since last week's five-set loss to No. 17 TCU.
The two rivals will meet again Nov. 8 in Salt Lake City.
