@BYUWVOLLEYBALL WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL CONTACT Braden Taylor | [email protected] BYU VOLLEYBALL @bradenjtaylor | 385-230-4088 HIGHEST DIVISION I WINNING PERCENTAGE IN THE LAST FIVE SEASONS (.889, 144-18) | THIRD-MOST WINS IN NCAA HISTORY (1,319) #15 BYU SAINT MARY’S STAT COMPARISON 2020-21 SCHEDULE #15 BYU H 5-0 | A 7-1 | N 0-0 VS. 12-1 W/L 7-8 JANUARY SAINT MARY’S 45 SETS 57 K 26 at Portland W 3-0 MARCH 26-27, 2021 650 633 176 E 271 COUGARS UCU PAVILION GAELS 27 at Portland W 3-0 MORAGA, CALIFORNIA 1573 TA 1969 12-1 11-1 7-8 7-8 HIT% OVERALL WCC OVERALL WCC .301 .184 FEBRUARY .209 OPP% .231 14.44 K/S 11.11 2 Santa Clara PPD 615 ASTS 576 13.67 ASTS/S 10.11 3 Santa Clara PPD QUICK HITS 74 SA 88 • No. 15 BYU will face off against Saint Mary’s in its final road trip of the regular season 4 at Utah Valley W 3-1 113 SE 128 March 26-27 at University Credit Union Pavilion in Moraga, California. The Cougars lead the 1.64 SA/S 1.54 series 17-6 and are currently on a 12-match win streak against the Gaels. Under head coach 9 Gonzaga W 3-1 Heather Olmstead, BYU is 10-0 overall and 5-0 in Moraga. 686 DIGS 845 15.24 DIGS/S 14.82 10 Gonzaga W 3-0 • After completing the sweep over No. 21 San Diego last week, the one-loss Cougars are No. 15 BS 17 16 Loyola Marymount W 3-0 2 in the WCC standings (.917 WCC win pct.) behind Pepperdine (.929 WCC win pct.) while 165 BA 195 leading the league with a .929 overall win percentage. 97.5 TBLK 114.5 17 Loyola Marymount W 3-0 2.17 BLK/S 2.01 • On Monday, sophomore setter Whitney Bower received WCC Offensive Player of the Week 821.5 PTS 835 23 at Pepperdine L 0-3 honors and senior middle blocker Kennedy Eschenberg collected WCC Defensive Player of the Week to complete the BYU sweep of the weekly awards. Bower helped BYU hit a combined 24 at Pepperdine W 3-2 .315 against a San Diego team that entered the week leading the WCC in opponent hitting percentage and blocks while Eschenberg averaged 1.57 blocks per set to help the Cougars LAST 5 MATCHES (5-0) hold the Toreros to their two lowest hitting percentages of the season. TOP OFFENSIVE PERFORMERS MARCH HIT% K E TA A SA PTS Taylen Ballard-Nixon .226 72 25 208 2 3 81.5 5 at San Francisco W 3-0 • The Cougars moved back up to No. 15 in this week’s AVCA national poll, marking the seventh Whitney Bower .464 13 0 28 212 6 25.5 week being ranked in the top 15 this season. BYU has now been ranked for 115-consecutive Erin Livingston .237 53 16 156 1 1 61.5 weeks dating back to Oct. 7, 2013. Under Heather Olmstead, the Cougars have never ranked Kate Grimmer .302 55 16 129 0 0 59.5 6 at San Francisco W 3-1 Kennedy Eschenberg .379 44 8 95 3 24 60.0 lower than No. 17 nationally. 12 Pacific CANC • As a team, BYU is fourth in the NCAA in assists per set (13.67), 10th in kills per set (14.44) TOP DEFENSIVE PERFORMERS and 12th in hitting percentage (.301). The Cougars lead the WCC in all three categories. Digs BS BA TOTB 13 Pacific CANC Madi Allen 72 0 0 0 Whitney Bower 72 1 11 12 17 at #21 San Diego W 3-1 • Senior middle blocker Kennedy Eschenberg leads the WCC with a .427 hitting percentage Kennedy Eschenberg 5 4 24 28 (34th-best percentage in the NCAA) and with an average of 1.26 blocks per set (45th-best Taylen Ballard-Nixon 39 3 7 10 Leilani Dodson 8 2 16 18 20 #21 San Diego W 3-0 average in the NCAA). 26 at Saint Mary’s WCCN 4 p.m. • Sophomore setter Whitney Bower ranks No. 26 in the nation (No. 2 in the WCC) with an average of 10.84 assists per set. LAST 10 MATCHES (9-1) 27 at Saint Mary’s WCCN 3 p.m. TOP OFFENSIVE PERFORMERS HIT% K E TA A SA PTS • True freshman libero Madi Allen has been named the WCC Defensive Player of the Week two Taylen Ballard-Nixon .233 132 46 369 6 6 148.5 30 Santa Clara BYUtv App 1 p.m. times this season (Feb. 1, Feb. 15). Allen currently leads the team with 4.09 digs per set (184 Whitney Bower .459 31 3 61 375 13 52.5 total) and has recorded double-digit digs in 10 of the 13 matches this season. Kate Grimmer .349 106 26 229 3 0 114 31 Santa Clara BYUtv App 1 p.m. Erin Livingston .238 93 31 260 1 1 106 Kennedy Eschenberg .406 68 10 143 3 0 90.5 • BYU head coach Heather Olmstead and her staff bring a .889 winning percentage (144-18) APRIL over the last five seasons, the highest of any Division I program in the nation (min. of two TOP DEFENSIVE PERFORMERS completed seasons). The 2018 AVCA National Coach of the Year, Olmstead is the third- Digs BS BA TOTB 4 NCAA Tournament Selection s fastest Division I women’s volleyball coach in history to reach 100 wins, doing so in just 111 Madi Allen 136 0 0 0 matches. Whitney Bower 114 1 15 16 Kennedy Eschenberg 8 5 35 40 Taylen Ballard-Nixon 66 3 15 18 All times local to site Leilani Dodson 11 3 28 31 WCC games in bold @BYUWVOLLEYBALL BYUCOUGARS.COM 2021 QUICK FACTS COACHING FAMILY TREE WINNING STATISTICS Head coach Heather Olmstead comes from a family of BYU has a number of different active winning streaks, volleyball coaches. Her father, Rick, is a well-known high including when the Cougars: GENERAL INFORMATION school and club coach in California who coached U.S. star School: ...............................................Brigham Young University and current National Team head coach Karch Kiraly at Santa Stat Wins Last Loss Barbara High. Record a higher hit % 129 LMU, 9/29/15 Location: ....................................................................Provo, Utah Record more kills 89 at Portland, 10/13/16 Founded: ................................................................................1875 Heather’s sister, Laci, played setter for the Cougars from Record more digs 77 Utah, 9/15/16 1994-95. Hit .300 or higher 60 at San Diego, 9/30/16 Enrollment: .........................................................................33,615 Outblocking opponent 30 at LMU, 11/20/18 Heather’s brother, Shawn, has been the BYU men’s Nickname: ........................................................................Cougars volleyball coach the last five seasons, winning three MPSF Colors: ........................................................Navy Blue and White titles. Previously, Shawn and Heather worked together on BYU’S RECORD IN 2021 WHEN... the women’s team for four seasons with Shawn as the Overall . 12-1 Conference: ............................................West Coast Conference head coach, helping BYU to two conference titles and three Conference. .11-1 trips to the NCAA Tournament, including a 2014 national President: .........................................................Kevin J. Worthen Nonconference . .1-0 runner-up finish. Athletics Director: ...................................................Tom Holmoe Home . .5-0 Both Heather and Shawn have both been named AVCA Away. .7-1 National Coach of the Year as the head coaches of the Neutral. .0-0 BYU women’s program, the only two coaches to do so in program history. ARENA INFORMATION Day. .7-0 Night. .5-1 Home Court: ...................................................Smith Fieldhouse Capacity: ...............................................................................5,000 ALL-TIME GREAT COACHES Playing ranked opponents . 2-0 Three BYU coaches are found among the winningest in Playing unranked oppponents. .10-1 Surface: ............................................................................Taraflex the history of NCAA women’s volleyball. BYU is the only program with three coaches win an .800 or higher winning In three sets. .7-1 percentage. In four sets . .4-0 In five sets. .1-0 Elaine Michaelis (886-219-5, .800) is ninth in the NCAA ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS history in career win percentage and 10th in career victories Winning the first set . 11-0 after coaching from 1969-01. When she retired, Michaelis Media Relations Director ......................................Braden Taylor Winning the second set . .9-0 was second on the career victories list and first among any Winning the third set. .10-0 Email ..................................................... [email protected] woman in collegiate volleyball. She is an AVCA Founders Winning the fourth set . .5-0 Award and USA Volleyball All-Time Great Coach honoree. Phone ..................................................................385-230-4088 The Cougars’ home court is also named after her. Losing the first set . .1-1 Twitter ................................................................. @bradenjtaylor Losing the second set . .3-1 is 17th in NCAA history Shawn Olmstead (103-25, .805) Losing the third set. .2-1 Assoc. AD/Communications: .................................Jon McBride in career win percentage among coaches with four or Losing the fourth set . .0-0 Email ............................................... [email protected] more seasons. The 2014 AVCA National Coach of the Year, Olmstead led BYU to its first national title game that same Hitting .250 or better. .9-0 BYU Athletics Website .....................................byucougars.com season. He now coaches the BYU men’s volleyball team. Hitting .249 or worse . .3-1 BYU Volleyball Twitter & Instagram ............@BYUWVolleyball Opponent hitting .250 or better. .3-1 is the third-fastest Heather Olmstead (156-19, .891) Opponent hitting .249 or worse . .9-0 Division I women’s volleyball coach in history to reach 100 wins, doing so in just 111 matches. The 2018 AVCA National Outblocking opponent . 8-0 Coach of the Year, Olmstead currently holds the highest Getting outblocked .