BYU volleyball: Cougars climb to No. 11 in the polls

PROVO, Utah — BYU women’s volleyball jumped in the poll once again, coming in at No. 11 in the AVCA Coaches Poll Monday after taking down former No. 14 Pepperdine.

The ranking is the Cougars’ highest since Sept. 3, 2007, when BYU was ranked No. 9.

BYU defeated Pepperdine 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-22) Thursday in the Cougars’ first match of West Coast Conference play. BYU followed the win with another 3-0 win, this time against Gonzaga. The Saturday win included the Cougars’ best set of the season, when they held Gonzaga to only seven points.

The win was BYU’s eighth sweep in a row and 11th of the season. The team hasn’t lost a set since the match against No. 14 Tennessee on Sept. 1.

At 14-0 on the season, the Cougars have the best record in the top 25. Only two other top-25 teams are undefeated, No. 2 Oregon and No. 5 Washington, and both have a record of 11-0.

Pepperdine is now ranked No. 18 and San Diego, who the Cougars play Oct. 31, is No. 16.

BYU faces San Francisco Thursday at 6:30 p.m. PDT and Saint Mary’s Saturday at noon PDT in the team’s first weekend on the road in conference play.

Rachel Hawks is the women's volleyball sports information director for BYU Athletic Communications.