PROVO, Utah — No. 13 BYU women’s volleyball is back home for its final regular season match at the Smith Fieldhouse, welcoming No. 17 Kansas to Provo for senior night on Friday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. MST.
No. 13 BYU vs. No. 17 Kansas
The Cougars will honor liberos Kamaile Hiapo and Aria McComber, middle blocker Whitney McEwan-Llarenas and setter Whitney Bower prior to the match.
Despite picking up two sweeps at UCF last week, BYU dropped a spot to No. 13 in the AVCA poll this week. The Cougars been ranked in the Top 25 for 164-consecutive weeks, with 155-straight polls inside the top 18.
BYU hit .330 across the pair of matches in Orlando, including .400 in game two, while holding the Knights to a .156 hitting percentage. Outside hitter Erin Livingston again paced the Cougars with 34 total kills, hitting .438. Livingston tallied seven service aces, with a career-high five coming in game one as the BYU served a season-high 13.
The Cougars also received 14 kills from opposite hitter Kate Prior and 13 from outside hitter Eden Bower, with middle blockers Mia Lee and Whitney McEwan-Llarenas each contributing nine. Setter Whitney Bower averaged 11 assists per set, totaling 66 on the week, and libero Kamaile Hiapo posted 29 digs, finishing with double-digit digs in both matches.
On the season, BYU has five hitters with clips of .265 or better: Whitney Bower (.355), McEwan-Llarenas (.351), Lee (.298), Livingston (284) and Elyse Stowell (.265).
Livingston ranks No. 25 nationally in kills per set (4.14) and No. 29 in points per set (4.69). She ranks second in conference in total points (422) and third in both points per set and total kills (373).
With three games left in Big 12 play, the Cougars lead the league in opponent hitting percentage (.162) and are second in aces per set (1.71), blocks per set (2.65), hitting percentage (.270), total service aces (156) and total blocks (241).
With the Jayhawks coming to town, BYU puts its 12-0 home record and four-game win streak to the test in its seventh ranked matchup of the season. The Cougars are 3-3 against Top 25 opponents in 2023.
No. 17 Kansas (19-5, 10-4 Big 12)
- The Jayhawks host No. 23 Baylor on Wednesday night before making their way to Provo for Friday night’s matchup.
- Kansas has been on a six-game win streak before splitting a series at Iowa State last week
- Head coach Ray Bechard is in year 26 with KU, going 466-307 (.603) since 1998.
- BYU leads the all-time series, 3-1, with a 2-0 record against the Jayhawks in Provo. Kansas took the last matchup between the two teams, a 3-0 sweep in Lawrence, on Sept. 7, 2006.
Following the Cougars’ senior night matchup against Kansas, BYU will hit the road for the final week of the regular season with games at West Virginia and TCU.