Women’s volleyball: No. 24 BYU cruises by Utah Valley in 1st of 3-match week

PROVO — BYU women’s volleyball was shorthanded Tuesday night, but you never would’ve guessed it.

Elli Mortensen and Claire Little Chambers each put down nine kills, and freshman Brooke Hardy added a career-high six blocks to go with six kills, five digs and two aces as the 24th-ranked Cougars cruised to a 25-11, 25-9, 25-16 win over crosstown rival Utah Valley in the Smith Fieldhouse.

Kaylie Kofe dished out 18 assists with five digs, and Alex Bower added 14 assists for BYU, which improved to 6-1 before a short trip to Weber State (5-2) and returning home to host Utah State (0-7) on Saturday afternoon.

But four days after a five-set victory over UCLA and reigning Big 12 defensive player of the week KJ Burgess joining All-American middle blocker Brielle Kemavor on the bench, the Cougars showcased their depth across the middle.

BYU posted nine blocks to hold the Wolverines (2-8) to .044 hitting while hitting at a season-best .520 clip on offense.

“All of our middles are so amazing,” Hardy said of the Cougars’ block, which also got five touches from opposite Kate Prior and three from Pitt transfer Rachel Jepsen. “I was overwhelmed with the talent that we have. Every middle on our roster is an elite athlete, and so competitive. It’s so fun, especially in practice when we get to compete against a bunch of players who are crazy good.”

BYU’s block party started early, throwing down four in the opening set including three block touches by the freshman Hardy en route to a 25-11 first-set win.

Chambers had four kills, and freshman Kylie Buttars added three in a balanced offense as the Cougars held Utah Valley to .000 — seven kills with seven hitting errors — to take a 1-0 advantage.

NOT TODAY.

📺https://t.co/MUVjgltd4Y
📊https://t.co/KFA6ZRVSGi pic.twitter.com/CX311dCj5V

— BYU Women’s Volleyball (@BYUwvolleyball) September 16, 2026

BYU continued to roll in the second set, with Elli Mortensen’s ace capping a 10-2 run to jump out to a 19-6 advantage and cruising to a 25-9 victory.

Brielle Rueckert totaled nine kills and two blocks to lead Utah Valley, and Evalyn Medaris dished out 19 assists with five digs in the 1-hour, 19-minute match.

But the Cougars’ depth overwhelmed their crosstown rivals, particularly in the middle with the addition of Hardy, the freshman out of Fruitland, Idaho, who first-year BYU coach Rob Neilson tried to recruit at his previous stop at Utah State.

“You don’t expect a freshman (like Hardy) to be that far along, and you don’t expect a returned missionary (like Jepson) to be that far along,” Neilson said. “Mia Lee was our middle in the spring, too, and when she ended up transferring, I wondered where are we going to be.

“Then obviously we got KJ, Brooke came back in the fall at another level, and Rachel came back at another level. They’ve been pushing each other … I went from waking up at 3 a.m. thinking about our middles to that being a position of strength for us.”

With Hardy in the rotation and Kemavor returning to full health, the Cougars go five-deep in the middle — and maybe even more, a luxury in modern college volleyball, especially for a program that lost former Mountain View standout Mia Lee to TCU after the spring.

“It’s always been a strength of BYU, to have good middle-blocker play,” Neilson said. “It’s a luxury, and we’re grateful to have it because it’s not common. Usually you’re falling off quite a bit after three or four. But man, we’ve got some kids that can play.”

First serve for BYU and Weber States scheduled for Thursday at 6 p.m. MT on ESPN+.

The Wolverines head to Logan to face winless Utah State at 7 p.m. MT on the Pac-12 YouTube channel.