No. 4-seed BYU hosts Weber State in First Round of NCAA Tournament

No. 4-seed BYU women’s volleyball opens NCAA Tournament play against Weber State on Friday, Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. MST.

Author Cameron Muh
Erin Livingston celebrates with BYU women's volleyball after a big pointErin Livingston celebrates with BYU women's volleyball after a big point

PROVO, Utah — No. 4-seed BYU women’s volleyball opens NCAA Tournament play by welcoming Weber State to the Smith Fieldhouse on Friday, Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. MST.

The Cougars will also host Georgia and No. 5-seed Arizona State in a First Round match earlier in the afternoon, at 4:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased through the BYU Tickets website.

NCAA Tournament First Round
Match Date/Time Stream Live Stats
Georgia vs. No. 5-seed Arizona State Friday, Dec. 1 | 4:30 p.m. MST ESPN+ Stat Broadcast
Weber State @ No. 4-seed BYU Friday, Dec. 1 | 7 p.m. MST ESPN+ Stat Broadcast
12-straight NCAA Tournament appearances for BYU women's volleyball

BYU remained at No. 16 in the AVCA poll this week, marking 166-straight weeks that the Cougars have been ranked in the Top 25, and 157-consecutive polls inside the top 18.

Earning a 4-seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament, BYU finished the regular season 24-6 overall and 13-5 in Big 12 play. The Cougars picked up a pair of sweeps at West Virginia and TCU last week, hitting a combined .347 with 12 service aces across the two wins.

BYU makes a trip to the postseason this year for the 12th-consecutive season and 36th overall. Outside of the spring 2020-21 covid season where the NCAA Tournament was played entirely at a neutral site, Cougar head coach Heather Olmstead has hosted at least the opening weekend of the tournament in all but one year at helm.

The Cougars are 12-1 in Provo this season, dropping just six of 43 (.860) sets at the Smith Fieldhouse in 2023. Overall, BYU is 24-5 in first round games, and 32-6 at home in the NCAA Tournament, hosting at least one match in 27 of its 36 tourney appearances.

Smith Fieldhouse during BYU vs. Texas Tech match on October 14, 2023

Entering the postseason, the Cougars rank No. 22 in the country in blocks per set (2.63), No. 24 in team hitting percentage (.274) and No. 33 in opponent hitting percentage (.170).

BYU had four players named to All-Big 12 teams on Tuesday afternoon: setter Whitney Bower, outside hitter Erin Livingston and middle blocker Whitney McEwan-Llarenas each earned All-Big 12 First Team honors, with middle blocker Mia Lee named to the Big 12 All-Rookie Team.

Bower averages 9.12 assists per set and leads the team with six double-doubles. Livingston has a team-high. 425 kills, recording double-digit kills in 26 of the Cougars’ 30 games.

McEwan-Llarenas is second on the team in kills (209), hitting percentage (.345), total blocks (112) and points (.285), while Lee leads the team in total blocks, with 116, to go along with a team-high 12 solo blocks.

BYU and Weber State have met 63 times previously, but Friday night will mark the first matchup between the two teams in the NCAA Tournament.

Weber State (21-9, 11-5 Big Sky)

  • The Wildcats earned the Big Sky’s automatic bid by winning the conference tournament last week.
  • As a 4-seed, WSU beat Portland State, top-seeded Sacramento State and 3-seed Montana State to clinch its third league title in program history.
  • BYU leads the all-time series, 63-0. The last matchup between the two teams came in 2021, a five-set win for the Cougars in Provo. Prior to 2021, BYU had swept the previous six meetings.

The winner of the BYU-Weber State match will take on the winner of the afternoon match between Georgia and Arizona State in a Second Round contest on Saturday, Dec. 2 at 7 p.m. MST. All three matches will be streamed on ESPN+. Should the Cougars advance to the Second Round, their all-time record against the Bulldogs and Sun Devils are below:

No. 5-seed Arizona State (26-6, 14-6 Pac-12)

  • BYU leads the all-time series between the two teams, 21-4. The Cougars and Sun Devils last met on Dec. 6, 2013, a 3-2 BYU win in an NCAA Tournament First Round match in Hawai'i.
  • Including the 2013 matchup, the two teams have met in the NCAA Tournament twice, with the first postseason contest coming back in 1986. The last meeting in Provo, was on Sept. 13, 1991, a 3-0 Cougar win.

Georgia (19-11, 10-8 SEC)

• BYU leads the all-time series, 3-0. The Cougars and Bulldogs haven't played each other since Sept. 3, 1999, a five-set win for BYU. The Cougars won the last matchup in Provo in four sets on Sept. 5, 1995.