PROVO, Utah — BYU women's volleyball head coach Rob Neilson has announced the signing of transfer middle blocker Kelli Jo (KJ) Burgess.
Burgess, who graduated from Oklahoma in the fall after spending two seasons in Norman, will join the Cougars for her final year of eligibility.
The six-foot-two Lehi, Utah native was named an AVCA All-Central Region Honorable Mention for the Sooners last season while also earning an All-SEC Second Team nod.
She tallied 195 kills on a .411 clip, second highest on the team, and recorded 136 total blocks, including 18 solo stuffs, as well. Burgess posted a career-high 11 blocks against Kentucky in 2025.
Prior to OU, she spent two years at Utah, redshirting her 2023 sophomore season. As a freshman with the Utes, Burgess was tabbed the AVCA Pacific South Region Freshman of the Year and earned a spot on the All-Pac-12 Freshman Team.
The middle blocker led all Pac-12 freshman in hitting percentage (.376) and blocks per set (1.20), ranking in the top six nationally among freshmen in both categories in 2022.
A three-time state champion at Lone Peak High School, Burgess was a 2021 Second Team AVCA High School All-American and the Deseret News 6A Player of the Year to go along with a pair of First Team All-State selections (2020-21).
The daughter of BYU men's basketball assistant coach, Chris Burgess, her younger sister, Zoey, is also a middle blocker and currently plays at Arizona State.
Burgess will join Kylie Buttars, Brooke Hardy, Rachel Jepsen and Kaylie Kofe as the fifth member of the Cougars' 2026 signing class this summer.