PROVO, Utah — BYU women’s volleyball wrapped up its inaugural season in the Big 12 Conference making its 12th-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and a No. 18 final ranking in the AVCA poll, marking 167-straight weeks that the Cougars have been in the AVCA Top 25.
Posting a 25-7 overall record and going 13-5 in Big 12 play, BYU finished third in conference behind eventual national champion Texas and No. 17 Kansas.
The Cougars earned a No. 4-seed in the NCAA Tournament and hosted the first and second rounds at the Smith Fieldhouse. BYU swept in-state foe Weber State before falling to No. 5-seed Arizona State in three sets.
With the win over the Wildcats, head coach Heather Olmstead improved to 9-0 in all Tournament-opening matches. Olmstead is now 238-36 in her nine-year career, and her .869 win percentage is the highest of any women’s volleyball coach in NCAA Division I history.
The Cougars finished the 2023 season in the top-50 of four statistical categories: No. 23 in blocks per set (2.64), No. 23 in hitting percentage (.272), No. 35 in opponent hitting percentage (.172) and No. 49 in total blocks (282).
Led by outside hitter Erin Livingston, BYU also had three players amongst the national rankings on an individual scale:
| Individual National Rankings | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Statistic | Player | Value |
| 21 | Kills/Set | Erin Livingston | 4.30 |
| 30 | Points/Set | Erin Livingston | 4.80 |
| 43 | Total Kills | Erin Livingston | 456 |
| 51 | Total Points | Erin Livingston | 509 |
| 62 | Blocks/Set | Mia Lee | 1.19 |
| 69 | Hitting Percentage | Whitney McEwan-Llarenas | .356 |
| 70 | Attacks/Set | Erin Livingston | 10.36 |
| 86 | Total Blocks | Mia Lee | 124 |
| 90 | Blocks/Set | Whitney McEwan-Llarenas | 1.13 |
| 95 | Total Attacks | Erin Livingston | 1,098 |
Livingston and setter Whitney Bower were both named AVCA All-America and VolleyballMag All-America honorable mentions. The pair were joined by libero Kamaile Hiapo and middle blocker Whitney McEwan-Llarenas on the AVCA Southwest All-Region team.
Bower, Livingston and McEwan-Llarenas were each named All-Big 12 First Team honorees, with middle blocker Mia Lee named to the Big 12 All-Rookie Team. Livingston was a three-time Big 12 Player of the Week honoree, with Lee being named Rookie of the Week twice and McEwan-Llarenas earning Defensive Player of the Week honors once.
On the season, McEwan-Llarenas led the Cougars with a .356 hitting percentage, while Livingston paced BYU in kills, with 456. Bower tallied team-highs in assists (980) and service aces (.34), while Hiapo led the way in digs, with 377. Lee recorded 124 total blocks, including 12 solo, both team highs.
Bower became the program’s rally scoring era assist leader midway through the season. She concluded her five-year Cougar career with 4,583 assists. Bower also finished second in service aces (135) and sets played (464), and third in digs (1,230) in the rally scoring era at BYU.
Livingston also etched her name in the Cougars’ record book, becoming the 23rd player to surpass 1,000-career kills. The outside hitter now has 1,289 kills, and will return next season for one final year of eligibility.
BYU will look to build upon year one in the Big 12 with Livingston and underclassmen experience as it strives for continued success in 2024.