Davis breaks all-time freshman record as No. 24 Cougars topple Utes in five-set thriller

PROVO, Utah — Outside hitter Suli Davis led No. 24 BYU women's volleyball to a five-set victory over Utah (25-23, 17-25, 25-23, 15-25, 15-10), breaking the program's all-time freshman kills record in the senior night match. 

BOX SCORE

The previous record, which was set by Dylann Duncan in 1985, stood for 40 years before Davis surpassed the standard at the Smith Fieldhouse on Wednesday night. She now has 507 kills on the season, embedding herself as the only Cougar freshman to reach 500 kills.

 

 

 

 

 

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Davis finished with 26 kills, hitting .258, and was a dig shy of her ninth double-double. Brielle Kemavor recorded 14 kills of her own on .550 hitting percentage to go along with three blocks.

Alex Bower recorded 49 assists, two blocks and had three kills of her own. Sophia Callahan added seven kills on .333 hitting. Claire Little Chambers had her only ace of the game on the final point of the fifth set.

As a team, the Cougars (21-8, 9-8 Big 12) hit .263 to the Utes' .283, recording three more kills (60-57) and 11 more digs (54-43) despite being out-blocked (8-4) and out-aced (13-4) in the contest.

Set 1
The Cougars and Utes started the game trading points on short rallies early with BYU leading 5-4 after Utah served into the net twice. The Utes went up 7-5 after a 3-0 run but the Cougars responded with a 3-1 run of their own, led by an ace from Elli Mortensen and a kill from Davis to lock it up at 8 apiece. 

Down 15-12, BYU scored three straight with a Kemavor kill and two Ute attack errors, tying it up at 15. The Cougars then took a timeout after Utah scored two in a row. Trading scores down the stretch, with Utah leading 20-18, BYU then scored off kills from Little Chambers and Davis to tie it up at 20 apiece. 

Utah went on a 3-1 run to put the Cougars behind 23-21 before a momentum-shifting kill from Kemavor forced a Utah timeout. BYU quickly scored again after forcing a tip out of bounds, causing the Utes to take another timeout. BYU won the set after a block error by Utah, 25-23.

Set 2
Utah started out quick with a 4-1 run. After trading points, BYU went on a 3-0 run to even the score at seven. Utah went on a 3-0 run to go up 13-9, and the Cougars took a timeout. BYU quickly responded with a kill from Davis, sparking a 2-1 run.

The Utes responded with a 5-1 run, forcing the Cougars to go down 19-12. Led by back-to-back kills from Kemavor, BYU then went on a 4-2 to make the score 21-16. Utah closed the set on a 4-1 run with the score, 25-17.

Set 3
The Utes again started off quick on a 2-0 run before the Cougars answered with a 4-1 run of their own, highlighted by three-straight kills from Davis that gave BYU a 4-3 lead. Davis recorded another kill and the Cougars forced an attack error to go up 6-4 before the Utes responded with a 3-1 run to lock the game up at seven.

A kill from Kemavor then sparked a 5-3 BYU run that featured two kills and a solo block from Davis, putting the Cougars up 11-9. Utah responded, tying it up at 12 before BYU went on a 5-1 run powered by a kill from Elena Wallace and an ace from Davis to lead 17-13.

Utah responded with a 2-0 run to cut the lead to 17-15 before a back-to-back kill and solo block from Kemavor followed by a Ute attack error forced Utah to take a timeout with BYU leading 20-15. The Cougars and Utes then traded points down the stretch before BYU fended off a 5-0 Utah run to close the set 25-23.

Set 4
BYU started the set by scoring on three kills from Davis before Utah responded with a 4-0 run to take the lead 5-3. Utah scored six more to lead 11-4, where the Cougars took a timeout.

The teams traded points down the stretch with BYU trailing 19-8. The Cougars then went on a 3-0 run that featured two kills from Sophia Callahan, forcing a Utah timeout down 23-14. Utah then closed the set out 25-15.

Set 5
The Utes started the set hot, opening up a 3-1 lead before the Cougars fought back with a 2-0 run led by Kemavor and Davis to cut the deficit to one. A missed serve by the Utes and a kill by Callahan on the next possession tied the score at 7-7. 

The teams switched sides with the Utes leading 8-7, and traded through  9-9 before a roof block from Kemavor and Bower gave the Cougs the lead 10-9. A kill from Little Chambers then sparked a 4-0 BYU run that featured an overpass kill from Kemavor, forcing a Utah timeout with BYU leading 12-10.

The Cougars finished the run out of the break, scoring on kills from Kemavor and Davis, forcing another Ute timeout at 14-10. BYU ended the game on an ace from Little Chambers, 15-10.

Up Next
The Cougars finish out their regular season on the road against No. 23 Colorado on Saturday, Nov. 29 at 1:00 p.m. MST, with streaming available on ESPN+.