PROVO, Utah — No. 20 BYU women's volleyball continues its Arizona road trip on Friday night, visiting No. 15 Arizona State in Tempe.
The matchup will mark an NCAA Tournament rematch from last season after the Cougars and Sun Devils met in Provo in the Second Round last December, a 3-0 ASU win.
| No. 20 BYU @ No. 15 Arizona State | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Time | Stream | Live Stats |
| Friday, Oct. 4 | 5 p.m. MST/6 p.m. MDT | ESPN+ | Stat Broadcast |
BYU (9-4, 2-1 Big 12) dropped its fourth match of the year at Arizona (13-25, 25-23, 21-25, 25-18, 13-15) on Wednesday night. All four of the Cougars' losses this season have been by two points in the fifth set, with two of them to Top 25 teams.
Despite the loss, both outside hitter Claire Little and freshman setter Alex Bower, the Big 12 Rookie of the Week, recorded double-doubles in the contest, their second and sixth in 2024, respectively.
Little put down a career-high 24 kills and 16 digs, but her career night was not enough as BYU came up two points short. The Cougars also received 13 kills from Elli Mortensen, and double-digit digs from Lulu Uluave (13) and Hannah Billeter (11) to go along with Bower's 39 assists and 13 digs.
After hitting a season-low .168 in Tucson, BYU's season hitting percentage dropped to .273, which ranks No. 22 in the nation. The Cougars' 141.5 total blocks rank No. 15 and their 2.72 blocks per set average rank No. 21. Opponents are hitting .161 against BYU, a mark that ranks 34th in the country.
Brielle Kemavor continues to lead the Big 12 in total blocks (72) and blocks per set (1.38), where she ranks No. 13 and No. 22 nationwide. Bower's 510 assists rank 32nd, while Little is 32nd in points (239.5), 37th in kills (208) and 48th in both kills per set (4.0) and points per set (4.61)
0-2 on the year, the Cougars look for their first Top 25 win this season. BYU head coach Heather Olmstead is 29-27 (.518) in ranked matches during her 10-year tenure, but just 4-11 (.267) in Top 25 matches on the road.
No. 15 Arizona State (11-2, 0-2 Big 12)
• The Sun Devils have dropped just two matches this season, one at then-No. 5 Nebraska, and the other last week at then-No. 19 Baylor.
• JJ Van Niel is also in his second season as head coach. He is 40-9 (.816) through 49 games in Tempe.
• BYU leads the all-time series, 21-5, and is also 6-1 against the Sun Devils in Tempe. Arizona State swept the Cougars in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament last season, a Dec. 2, 2023 meeting in Provo.
Following its Top 25 matchup in Tempe, BYU will return home next week for two more ranked meetings against No. 14 Baylor and No. 22 TCU, with the match against the Bears televised on FS1.