BYU earns 5-seed, plays Loyola Chicago in First Round

PROVO, Utah — No. 5-seed BYU women’s volleyball will head to West Lafayette, Indiana for the opening rounds of the 2024 NCAA Division I Volleyball Tournament.

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"We're super excited to be heading into the NCAA Tournament," BYU head coach Heather Olmstead said. "We're grateful to be playing Loyola Chicago, I think they're a great team. We're going to dive into them later today, but as a group we're really happy with the body of work that we put together this whole season. We've battled and we've gotten better, and that's what we're going to continue to focus on this week so we can play our best volleyball in the tournament."

The Cougars (19-9, 12-6 Big 12) will face Loyola Chicago (21-11, 13-5 Atlantic 10) on Thursday, Dec. 5 at 3:30 p.m. EST. No. 4-seed Purdue will host Western Michigan in the 6:30 p.m. nightcap.

The winners of both first round matches will advance to the second round on Friday, Dec. 6. Further details on ticket information will be announced at a later date.

This year marks the 13th-straight NCAA Tournament appearance and 37th overall for BYU, who finished sixth in the 15-team Big 12. The Cougars have earned a trip to the Tournament in each of Olmstead’s 10 seasons at the helm, advancing at least to the second round each time.

Closing out the regular season on a three-match win streak, BYU led the Big 12 in both blocks per set (2.60) and total blocks (286.5). The Cougars finished No. 24 nationally in blocks per set, No. 30 in total blocks and No. 33 in team hitting percentage (.261).

Individually, BYU middle blocker Brielle Kemavor also led the league in the same metrics, ranking No. 6 in the country in total blocks (164) and No. 10 in blocks per set (1.49).

Teams winning both matches this weekend will move onto regional play from Dec. 12-15. Regional winners will advance to the national semifinals, slated for Dec. 19 on ESPN, with the championship match set for Dec. 22 on ABC.