2020–21 BYU Cougars women's volleyball team

2020–21 BYU Cougars women's volleyball
2020–21 BYU Cougars women's volleyball
WCC regular season champion
NCAA, Regional semifinals
Conference	West Coast Conference
Record	17–2 (15–1 WCC)
Head coach	Heather Olmstead (6th season);
Assistant coaches	David Hyte (7th season); Jonny Neeley (5th season);
Home arena	Smith Fieldhouse
	Seasons ← 2019 2021 →

The 2020–21 BYU Cougars women's volleyball team represented Brigham Young University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's volleyball season. The Cougars were led by sixth year head coach Heather Olmstead and played their home games at the Smith Fieldhouse. The Cougars were members of the WCC.

BYU came off a season where they finished second in the WCC regular season championship. The Cougars received an at-large bid and once again participated in the NCAA tournament before falling to Utah in the second round.

Due to the COVID-19 coronavirus, the 2020 fall season was delayed until winter/spring, and the Cougars were scheduled to play a conference only schedule. However, when the Santa Clara series was postponed, BYU was able to set up a non-conference match with Utah Valley.

2021 West Coast Conference spring volleyball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 14 BYU ‍†‍‍^y	15	–	1	.938	17	–	2	.895
No. 20 Pepperdine ‍‍‍^y	14	–	2	.875	17	–	4	.810
No. 21 San Diego ‍‍‍^y	12	–	4	.750	13	–	5	.722
Loyola Marymount ‍‍‍	7	–	9	.438	7	–	9	.438
Saint Mary's ‍‍‍	6	–	10	.375	7	–	10	.412
San Francisco ‍‍‍	5	–	10	.333	7	–	10	.412
Gonzaga ‍‍‍	5	–	10	.333	6	–	11	.353
Santa Clara ‍‍‍	4	–	11	.267	5	–	12	.294
Pacific ‍‍‍	2	–	7	.222	2	–	7	.222
Portland ‍‍‍	2	–	13	.133	2	–	13	.133
Pacific suspended their season on March 15, 2021.

† – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of December 19, 2024 Rankings from AVCA Source:West Coast Conference

Season highlights

Will be filled in as the season progresses.

Roster

2020–21 BYU Cougars roster^[3]

Defensive Specialist/Libero

3 Morgan Bower - Sophomore
17 Grace Wee - Sophomore
18 Madi Allen - Freshman

Opposite hitters

12 Kate Grimmer - Sophomore
14 Makayla Tolman - Freshman

Outside hitters

1 Taylen Ballard-Nixon - Senior
4 Leilani Dodson - Freshman
11 Abbey Dayton - Sophomore
13 Morgan Johnson - Freshman
14 Makayla Tolman - Freshman

Setters

7 Whitney Bower - Sophomore
8 Tayler Tausinga - Junior

Middle blockers

16 Allie Hakes - Freshman
21 Whitney Llarenas - Sophomore
24 Kennedy Eschenberg - Senior

Schedule

Date Time	Opponent	Rank ^{(Tournament Seed)}	Arena City (Tournament)	Television	Result	Attendance	Record (WCC Record)
1/26 1 p.m.	@ Portland*	#16	Chiles Center Portland, OR	WCC Network	W 3–0 (25–9, 25–22, 25–17)^[4]	0	1–0 (1–0)
1/27 1 p.m.	@ Portland*	#16	Chiles Center Portland, OR	WCC Network	W 3–0 (25–23, 26–24, 25–22)^[5]	0	2–0 (2–0)
02/02 7 p.m.	Santa Clara*	#14	Smith Fieldhouse Provo, UT	BYUtv	PPD- COVID-19 cases at Santa Clara
02/03 7 p.m.	Santa Clara*	#14	Smith Fieldhouse Provo, UT	BYUtv	PPD- COVID-19 cases at Santa Clara
2/04 6 p.m.	@ Utah Valley	#14	Lockhart Arena Orem, UT (UCCU Crosstown Clash)	WAC DN	W 3–1 (25–17, 22–25, 25–20, 25–20)^[6]	260	3–0
2/09 6 p.m.	Gonzaga*	#12	Smith Fieldhouse Provo, UT	BYUtv.org	W 3–1 (25–17, 23–25, 25–12, 25–17)^[7]	150	4–0 (3–0)
2/10 4 p.m.	Gonzaga*	#12	Smith Fieldhouse Provo, UT	BYUtv.org	W 3–0 (25–19, 25–22, 25–22)^[8]	150	5–0 (4–0)
2/16 7 p.m.	Loyola Marymount*	#12	Smith Fieldhouse Provo, UT	BYUtv	W 3–0 (25–21, 25–20, 25–19)	150	6–0 (5–0)
2/17 7 p.m.	Loyola Marymount*	#12	Smith Fieldhouse Provo, UT	BYUtv.org	W 3–0 (25–17, 27–25, 25–23)	150	7–0 (6–0)
2/23 8 p.m.	@ Pepperdine*	#12	Firestone Fieldhouse Malibu, CA	WCC Network	L 0–3 (20–25, 16–25, 19–25)	0	7–1 (6–1)
2/24 8 p.m.	@ Pepperdine*	#12	Firestone Fieldhouse Malibu, CA	WCC Network	W 3–2 (24–26, 25–23, 19–25, 25–21, 15–13)	0	8–1 (7–1)
3/05 2 p.m.	@ San Francisco*	#15	The Sobrato Center San Francisco, CA	WCC Network	W 3–0 (25–23, 25–20, 25–21)	0	9–1 (8–1)
3/06 2 p.m.	@ San Francisco*	#15	The Sobrato Center San Francisco, CA	WCC Network	W 3–1 (25–15, 20–25, 26–24, 25–18)	0	10–1 (9–1)
03/12 1 p.m.	Pacific*	#15	Smith Fieldhouse Provo, UT	BYUtv	Canceled- COVID-19 cases at Pacific
03/13 1 p.m.	Pacific*	#15	Smith Fieldhouse Provo, UT	BYUtv	Canceled- COVID-19 cases at Pacific
03/17 2 p.m.	@ #21 San Diego*	#16	Jenny Craig Pavilion San Diego, CA	WCC Network	W 3–1 (25–20, 25–20, 19–25, 25–17)	1	11–1 (10–1)
03/20 1 p.m.	#21 San Diego*	#16	Smith Fieldhouse Provo, UT	BYUtv	W 3–0 (25–19, 25–21, 25–17)	550	12–1 (11–1)
03/26 5 p.m.	@ Saint Mary's*	#15	University Credit Union Pavilion Moraga, CA	WCC Network	W 3–0 (25–17, 25–15, 26–24)	0	13–1 (12–1)
03/27 4 p.m.	@ Saint Mary's*	#15	University Credit Union Pavilion Moraga, CA	WCC Network	W 3–0 (25–19, 25–23, 25–21)	0	14–1 (13–1)
03/30 1 p.m.	Santa Clara*	#14	Smith Fieldhouse Provo, UT	BYUtv.org	W 3–0 (25–18, 25–20, 25–11)	400	15–1 (14–1)
03/31 1 p.m.	Santa Clara*	#14	Smith Fieldhouse Provo, UT	BYUtv.org	W 3–0 (25–18, 25–16, 25–9)	400	16–1 (15–1)
04/15 8:30 p.m.	y- #15 UCLA	#14 ⁽¹⁶⁾	CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center Court 4 Omaha, NE (NCAA 2nd Round)	ESPN3	W 3–0 (26–24, 31–29, 25–17)	0	17–1 (15–1)
04/17 6:00 p.m.	y- #1 ⁽¹⁾ Wisconsin	#14 ⁽¹⁶⁾	CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center Court 3 Omaha, NE (NCAA regional semifinal)	ESPN3	L 0–3 (20–25, 17–25, 12–25)	0	17–2 (15–1)

*-Indicates Conference Opponent

y-Indicates NCAA Playoffs

Times listed are Mountain Time Zone.

^[9]

Announcers for televised games

All home games will be on BYUtv or the BYUtv App. All road game will also be televised or streamed on WCC Network.

Portland: No commentary
Portland: No commentary
Utah Valley: Matthew Baiamonte^{[permanent dead link‍]} & Kayli Doxey
Gonzaga: Jarom Jordan (Set 1), Spencer Linton (Sets 2–4), & Amy Gant
Gonzaga: Spencer Linton & Amy Gant
Loyola Marymount: Spencer Linton & Amy Gant
Loyola Marymount: Spencer Linton & Amy Gant
Pepperdine: Al Epstein
Pepperdine: Al Epstein
San Francisco: Charlie Walter
San Francisco: Charlie Walter
San Diego: Jack Cronin^{[permanent dead link‍]}
San Diego: Jarom Jordan & Amy Gant
Saint Mary's: Charlie Walter
Saint Mary's: Ben Ross
Santa Clara: Jarom Jordan & Amy Gant
Santa Clara: Jarom Jordan & Amy Gant
UCLA: Paul Sunderland
Wisconsin: Tyler Denning & Jenny Hazelwood

References

For information on BYU's other athletic sports this season please check out the following:

^ "Brother and sister Shawn and Heather Olmstead named as men's and women's volleyball coaches". Deseret News. June 22, 2015. Archived from the original on June 23, 2015. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
^ "Sports Briefs for Thursday". Daily Herald. Archived from the original on August 21, 2019. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
^ https://byucougars.com/roster/w-volleyball/2020
^ "No. 16 Cougars open season with sweep of Portland". Daily Herald. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
^ "No. 16 BYU completes road sweep at Portland". Daily Herald. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
^ "BYU women's volleyball holds off determined effort to win at UVU". Daily Herald. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
^ "No. 12 BYU adapts to changes in 3-1 victory against Gonzaga". Daily Herald. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
^ "Grimmer's timely play leads to sweep of Gonzaga". Daily Herald. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
^ "Conference schedules announced for women's volleyball and soccer". Retrieved December 4, 2020.

[1] "Brother and sister Shawn and Heather Olmstead named as men's and women's volleyball coaches". Deseret News. June 22, 2015. Archived from the original on June 23, 2015. Retrieved June 22, 2015.

[2] "Sports Briefs for Thursday". Daily Herald. Archived from the original on August 21, 2019. Retrieved February 8, 2016.

[3] ttps://byucougars.com/roster/w-volleyball/2020

[4] "No. 16 Cougars open season with sweep of Portland". Daily Herald. Retrieved January 26, 2021.

[5] "No. 16 BYU completes road sweep at Portland". Daily Herald. Retrieved January 27, 2021.

[6] "BYU women's volleyball holds off determined effort to win at UVU". Daily Herald. Retrieved February 4, 2021.

[7] "No. 12 BYU adapts to changes in 3-1 victory against Gonzaga". Daily Herald. Retrieved February 9, 2021.

[8] "Grimmer's timely play leads to sweep of Gonzaga". Daily Herald. Retrieved February 10, 2021.

[9] "Conference schedules announced for women's volleyball and soccer". Retrieved December 4, 2020.

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