IRVING, Texas — BYU women's volleyball's Elli Mortensen and Kelli Jo Burgess were named the Big 12 Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, the league announced on Tuesday.
Earning the first weekly conference honor of her career, Mortensen led the Cougars to a pair of road victories last week, recording a team-high 33 kills while hitting .467, to go with 15 digs, eight blocks and three assists. She also posted two career highs.
The outside hitter recorded a career-high 19 kills at Kansas State, posting her second career double-double in as many matches while hitting .630, the third-highest hitting percentage in Big 12 play this season. She followed with 14 kills and a career-high five blocks in a sweep of No. 19 Kansas. Mortensen averaged 4.71 kills, 2.14 digs and 1.14 blocks per set on the week.
Burgess was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week for the third time this season after tallying a team-high 15 total blocks during BYU's road swing through Kansas, including a match-high 10 at Kansas State. It marked her second double-digit block performance of the season and the third of her career.
The middle blocker added five more blocks at Kansas and contributed eight kills while hitting .353 across seven sets. She continues to lead the nation in blocks per set at 1.86 and leads the Big 12 with 78 total blocks, which ranks 17th nationally.
Mortensen and Burgess also were named to the Big 12's Starting Seven, which honors the four weekly award winners — Offensive, Defensive, Setter and Rookie of the Week — along with the week's top three vote-getters.
| Week 6 Big 12 Starting Seven | |
|---|---|
| Name | School |
| Elli Mortensen (Offensive) | BYU |
| Kelli Jo Burgess (Defensive) | BYU |
| Rosemary Archer (Setter) | TCU |
| Kinsley Young (Rookie) | TCU |
| Shannon Dworaczyk | Houston |
| Reese Messer | Kansas |
| Addison Massey | Kansas State |
This marks the Cougars' fourth weekly conference honor of the 2026 season:
- Kelli Jo Burgess (Defensive: Week 3, Sept. 15)
- Kelli Jo Burgess (Defensive: Week 4, Sept. 22)
- Elli Mortensen (Offensive: Week 6, Oct. 6)
- Kelli Jo Burgess (Defensive: Week 6, Oct. 6)
View the full release on the Big 12’s website.