PROVO, Utah — No. 20 BYU women's volleyball heads south this week, opening its Big 12 road trip at Arizona with a match against the Wildcats on Wednesday night.
The Cougars (9-3, 2-0 Big 12) will take their season-long five-game win streak into the McKale Center in the two teams' first matchup since an NCAA Tournament meeting in 2014.
| No. 20 BYU @ Arizona | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Time | Stream | Live Stats |
| Wednesday, Oct. 2 | 6 p.m. MST/7 p.m. MDT | ESPN+ | Stat Broadcast |
Despite winning both its games last week to open Big 12 play, BYU dropped three spots from No. 17 to No. 20 in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll, marking 173-straight polls that BYU has been ranked in the Top 25. All 10 of head coach Heather Olmstead's seasons have been spent inside the top-20, where the Cougars have also been for 164-conseuctive polls.
Going 2-0 last week, BYU beat new Big 12 member Colorado in four sets before sweeping Texas Tech to close out the weekend. The Cougars hit .268 across the two matches, and out-blocked opponents 42-31, including nine solo blocks.
Four Cougars finished with double-digit kills on the week: Claire Little (29), Kjersti Strong (21), Brielle Kemavor (17) and Elli Mortensen (13), with Kemavor and Strong leading the team in hitting percentage at .469 and .395, repsectively.
The duo of middle blockers also paced BYU with 14 and eight total blocks respectively. Kemavor was one block away from her second-consecutive double-double in the match against Colorado.
Four BYU players recorded double-digit digs, led by Lulu Uluave and Alex Bower, who each finished with 18 digs, while Little posted 17 and Hannah Billeter 16.
Setter Alex Bower led the way with 74 assists, averaging 10.57 per set, and four service aces. The freshman from Nampa, Idaho recevied the first Big 12 Rookie of the week nod of her career on Tuesday, also the Cougars' first conference honor this season.
Through week one of Big 12 play, BYU leads the league in total blocks (177) and blocks per set (2.86). Kemavor also paces the conference in the same metrics, with 67 total blocks and a 1.43 block per set average.
As a team, the Cougars rank 13th nationally in blocks per set, No. 16 in hitting percentage (.285), No. 23 in opponent hitting percentage (.153) and 26th in total blocks.
Kemavor is No. 13 in the country in blocks per set and No. 24 in total blocks. Strong's .385 season hitting clip is good for No. 48, and Bower's 10.02 assists per set on the year rank No. 49.
Hitting the road for the second time this year, BYU prepares for just the fifth meeting with Arizona since 2000.
Arizona (11-2, 0-2 Big 12)
- The Wildcats were undefeated in non-conference play, but dropped their first two Big 12 matches at then-No. 19 Baylor and then-No. 22 TCU last week.
- Head coach Charita Stubbs is in her second season at Arizona. She is 19-25 (.432) in Tucson and 41-136 (.232) in her career.
- BYU leads the all-time series, 24-13. The Cougars are 4-4 against the Wildcats in Tucson, winning the last two matches at McKale, a four-set NCAA Tournament match in 2014 and a five-set win in 1999.
Following their Wednesday night matchup at Arizona, the Cougars will go from Tucson to Tempe for a match at No. 15 Arizona State on Friday night.