BYU Women’s Volleyball Advances To Sweet 16 With Sweep Of UCLA

PROVO, Utah – The No. 16 seed BYU Women’s Volleyball was put to the test by UCLA, but the Cougars ultimately prevailed with a sweep. BYU took down UCLA (26-24, 31-29, 25-17).

WE'RE HEADED TO THE REGIONAL SEMI-FINALS 🤗 pic.twitter.com/7BuAn6bVx5

— BYU Women’s Volleyball (@BYUwvolleyball) April 16, 2021

The win was BYU’s first against UCLA in the rally era (since 2001). Taylen Ballard-Nixon led BYU with 13 kills. Whitney Bower had 38 assists in the match.

Only members of the team and invited guests by the players were allowed in attendance for the match in Omaha, Nebraska. The capacity for matches is expected to increase as the NCAA Tournament progresses.

Here’s a recap of BYU’s sweep over the Bruins.

Set 1: BYU Women’s Volleyball 26, UCLA 24

BEWARE of the @BYUwvolleyball block! 😳#NCAAVB pic.twitter.com/gPjE1wUFT1

— NCAA Women's Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) April 16, 2021

BYU was down 14-9 before going on a 13-6 run to put themselves two points away from the set. UCLA called a timeout and then reeled off a quick 4-0 run of their own to have a set point. BYU senior Taylen Ballard-Nixon came up clutch with a kill off an assist from Whitney Bower. Abbey Dayton put BYU back in front with an ace and the Cougars closed out the set with another kill from Ballard-Nixon.

#BYU takes set 1 against UCLA, 26-24. @BYUwvolleyball #NCAAVB pic.twitter.com/FH7F51oH8d

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) April 16, 2021

Set 2: BYU 31, UCLA 29

What an impressive display of high-level volleyball in set two. UCLA had seven set points, but couldn’t close the deal. BYU kept battling in a set that they found themselves down 20-14 at one point. BYU had a 23.4% hit percentage in set two. Whitney Bower has been all over the place with 26 assists through the first two sets of the match.

Wow. #BYU takes set 2, 31-29. UCLA had 7 set points and the Cougars kept battling.#BYU up 2-0.#BYUWVB #NCAAVB @kslsports pic.twitter.com/azKKhg25N0

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) April 16, 2021

Kennedy Eschenberg had a clutch kill to tie the set at 24-24. From there the two teams went back and forth, putting together one of the best sets in this year’s NCAA Women’s Volleyball tournament.

After nine set points, #BYUWVB takes set two 31-29! 🥳

BYU 2 | UCLA 0 pic.twitter.com/4oWi31tX99

— BYU Women’s Volleyball (@BYUwvolleyball) April 16, 2021

Set 3: BYU 25, UCLA 17

The experience from BYU overmatched the youth of UCLA in set 3. BYU was on fire in set 3 with a 32.4% hit percentage and 41.2% kill percentage. Losing out on set two was too big of a hole for UCLA to climb out of.

BYU Women’s Volleyball advances to the Sweet 16

BYU advances to its eighth Sweet 16 in the last nine NCAA Tournaments. The Cougars will now the tall task of taking on the number one overall seed in the tournament and Big Ten Champion, Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday in Omaha, Nebraska.

All of the Sweet 16 matches will be played on Sunday, April 18th, except BYU/Wisconsin. The NCAA adjusted their schedule to accommodate #BYU not playing on Sundays.

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) April 16, 2021

BYU and Wisconsin will be played one day earlier than the other regional semifinals, which take place on Sunday, April 18th. The NCAA Tournament adjusted the schedule for BYU and its No Sunday policy.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12-3 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.