PROVO, Utah — BYU women’s volleyball wrapped up its third season in the Big 12 with a second straight sixth-place finish, a 14th consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament and a No. 25 final AVCA ranking.
The Cougars went 22-9 overall with a 10-8 record in league play, finishing behind No. 12 Arizona State, No. 14 Kansas, tied No. 22 Iowa State, tied No. 22 Colorado and No. 20 Baylor in the Big 12 standings.
BYU began the season strong, going 12-0 in nonconference play, highlighted by a sweep of No. 16 USC. During conference action, the Cougars earned four-set road wins at No. 10 TCU and No. 23 Colorado, along with a sweep of No. 13 Kansas at home.
Ranked in the AVCA poll for the entirety of the season, BYU climbed as high as No. 14 five weeks into the year. The Cougars have appeared in the AVCA final poll in 12 of the last 13 seasons.
BYU earned a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season and traveled to Los Angeles for a first-round matchup against Cal Poly, hosted by USC. The Cougars led 2-1 after three sets but fell in five to the Mustangs, who advanced to the Sweet 16 after also defeating the Trojans in five sets and finished No. 21 in the final AVCA poll.
BYU finished the season ranked in the top 25 nationally in four statistical categories: No. 19 in total assists (1,539), No. 20 in kills per set (13.92), No. 22 in assists per set (12.93) and No. 22 in total kills (1,656).
The Cougars led the Big 12 in assists per set and service aces (196) and finished second in aces per set (1.65), hitting percentage (.267), kills per set, total assists and total kills.
Individually, BYU was represented by Suli Davis and Alex Bower. Bower finished No. 11 nationally in total assists (1,265) and No. 16 in assists per set (10.63), while Davis ranked No. 13 in total kills (541), No. 15 in total points (591.5), No. 20 in kills per set (4.55) and No. 25 in points per set (4.97).
Bower led the Big 12 in both assist categories, while Brielle Kemavor’s .372 hitting percentage also topped the league. Davis finished third in the conference in both total kills and total points.
It was a historic season for Davis, who led the nation among freshmen in both total kills and kills per set. She broke BYU’s all-time freshman kills record, led the team with 30 double-digit kill matches, the third most in the program’s rally-scoring era, and posted a team-high 10 double-doubles.
Following the season, six Cougars earned postseason honors for performances on the court and in the classroom:
AVCA All-America
Davis was tabbed a Second Team All-American, while Kemavor was named an Honorable Mention All-American.
AVCA All-West Region
Davis was selected as the West Region Freshman of the Year and joined Kemavor on the All-West Region First Team. Bower and Claire Little Chambers received Honorable Mention recognition.
All-Big 12
Davis earned Big 12 Freshman of the Year honors and was named to the All-Big 12 First Team and Big 12 All-Rookie Team. Bower and Kemavor also received First Team honors, while Little Chambers was named to the All-Big 12 Second Team.
CSC Academic All-District
Kemavor, Elli Mortensen and Emma Barbero were named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District Team, with Kemavor advancing to the Academic All-America ballot.
After consecutive First Round exits in the NCAA Tournament, BYU will look to build on its success in 2026 with continued regular-season consistency and a deeper postseason run.