No. 23 BYU women's volleyball will be on the road Friday in Salt Lake City to play their rivals, the Utah Utes.
Last week, the Cougars fell to No. 8 Arizona State in a four-set match after also falling to Arizona that same week in four.
Despite the two losses, standout freshman Suli Davis hit 40 kills on the week reaching 400 career kills. Alongside her were teammates, Claire Little Chambers and Sophia Callahan both with 23 kills, and middle blocker Brielle Kemavor with 14 kills. Callahan made a big impact, hitting .315 percentage, the team high on the week.
Davis and Little Chambers both had double-doubles against the Wildcats, as well as setter Alex Bower who joined the duo for three double-doubles against the Sun Devils. Their outstanding play was not enough to take the wins on the road.
The Cougars were able to keep their spot in the top 18 nationally in kills and assists per set and are second in the Big 12 for aces per set, assists per set, hitting percentage, kills per set, total assists and total kills and are leading the conference in total aces.
Davis’ 410 kills put her at 21st in the country and Bower is ranked No.13 and No.15 nationally in assists per set and total assists.
After a week since their last game, the Cougars are gearing up for their matchup with Utah on Friday night.
In a sea of red at the Huntsman Center, the Cougars will be looking for their 19th win on the season, their 79th win against the Utes. The team will also be celebrating Military Appreciation in honor of Veterans Day last Tuesday.
The Utes have a handful of players looking for career stat milestones and some who have already met some major achievements. Senior middle blocker Emrie Moea’i is just seven kills away from hitting 1000 career kills, as well as 30 blocks away from 500 career blocks. In their recent match against TCU, junior outside hitter Kamryn Gibadlo reached 1000 career kills. In that same match, Leah Wilton-LaBoy, their senior setter, totaled 2000 career assists.
Both teams will be fighting for the win, not only to improve their record, but to also gain bragging rights over their in-state rivals.
The match will begin at 7 p.m. on Friday and will be aired on ESPN+.