Stockton, Calif. - Facing the top team in the WCC and one of the top teams in the country, the Tigers started out blazing but were cooled off by No. 10 BYU on Thursday night as the Cougars took a 3-1 win at the Spanos Center. Pacific's loss dropped the Tigers to 14-4 on the year and 3-2 in the WCC while BYU extended its lead at the top of the standings as the Cougars improved to 15-2 and 6-0 in conference play.

Set scores for the match were: 20-25, 25-17, 25-21, 25-17.

Junior Kat Schulz paced the Tigers' attack with 16 kills on .311 hitting while sophomore Lexi Elman added 12 kills on 36 swings. However, the duo's attack was not enough to overcome BYU's all-american attack on the pins as Alexa Gray scored a match-best 20 kills on .419 hitting while Jennifer Hamson added 11 kills on 31 swings.

In a battle of two of the top defensive teams in the country, it was BYU's top-rated block that proved to be the ultimate difference in the match as the Cougars were able to blanket the Tigers' attack and slowly extinguish the fire that was Pacific offense. Pacific opened the match looking nearly unstoppable as the Tigers' hit .314 in the opening set to claim the first set victory and hand the Cougars just their second set loss of the conference season. Pacific was able to build a 10-point lead at 19-9 thanks to Schulz's attack and senior Gillian Howard's block before the Cougars could respond with rally that brought them to within three late in the opening frame.

The late charge in set one by the Cougars set up a reversal of fortunes in set two as BYU knocked the Tigers on their heels early before putting the set away to even the match. Just as the Tigers had done in the first set, BYU was able to build a lead by as much as 10 before the Tigers stormed back with a 7-0 run that created a showdown at 19-16. Despite the run, the comeback was not to be as a handful of unforced errors cut Pacific's rally short as the Cougars ran off six of the final seven points to claim the win.

After both teams came up with big leads in the opening two frames, the third set played completely differently as neither team gave any ground to the other in a back-and-forth battle for supremacy. Other than an early three point lead for the Tigers, neither side lead by more than a single point throughout much of the third set until BYU scored three-straight points to capture a late 19-16 lead. Not giving in, the Tigers responded with a three-spot of their own tying the set at 19-19. Sensing trouble, the Cougars went to their Gray to stop the bleeding as the junior outside put down one of her six kills in the set to begin a 6-2 BYU run that closed out the set.

Trailing by one set and facing just their second loss at home on the year, the Tigers could not find the spark they needed to claw back into the match as the Cougars used a 7-0 run midway through the set to put Pacific in a hole it would not be able to get out of. Down 14-9, the Tigers would never close the gap closer than five points as the Cougars held the Tigers to just nine kills and nine errors in the set while picking up 14 kills themselves.

Overall, the Tigers were held to .140 hitting (47-25-157) as the Cougars posted 14.0 blocks to the Tigers' 9.5 blocks. In addition to their kills, Schulz and Elman each posted double-doubles in the match as Schulz picked up 16 kills and 12 digs for her sixth double-double while Elman added 14 digs to her 12 kills for her team best seventh double-double. Senior Gillian Howard added eight kills and five blocks while freshman Katrin Gotterba posted 16 digs alongside of junior Mia Feiner's 11.

The Cougars' all-american pins got help from their third running mate in the match as Tambre Nobles added 11 kills to go along with a match-high 18 digs and three blocks. In the middle, Amy Boswell and Whitney Young each posted six blocks to lead the Cougars defensively. Camry Willardson guided the Cougars to .231 hitting (55-19-156) on 41 assists while adding 10 digs and four blocks.

Pacific has no time to rest as the Tigers immediately jump back into action against the reigning WCC champions, the San Diego Toreros, on Friday, Oct. 10. The match is scheduled for 7:00 pm at the Spanos Center.