BYU and Utah are once again colliding in the women’s volleyball tournament organised by NCAA.
On Sunday, BYU got the No. 11 seed in the game. They are going to be hosting first and second-round matches on Friday and Saturday in Provo.
The Cougars will face Boise State, while Utah will be set against Utah Valley in Friday’s match. The winners of the two matches will play against each other on Saturday night.
Coach Beth Launiere said that although Utes were expecting to host a regional and receive the top 16 seed, they weren’t disappointed with the performance.
She also said that the draw didn’t surprise them, as they are familiar with what they are doing.
She added it doesn’t matter where the location of the match is because at the end of the day winning is all that matters. They must play matches and face challenges.
For BYUs their only loss was to No. 3-seed Pitt in the Panther Challenge on September 10. But the strength of the schedule was brought up during the selection process as the reason why Cougars received a two-digit seed.
The Cougars hold the No. 4 rank in the national poll.
The only team with a better record than Cougars is Louisville.
The Utes, hold the No. 17 spot in the poll, as they won eight out of nine matches. This includes a sweep of No. 21 Washington State which took place last Wednesday.
Launiere said that they never take it for granted. The team has worked hard to occupy third place in the Pac-12. It took them a lot of effort to reach the tournament and therefore, it needs to be celebrated. Utah Valley is backed by very efficient staff and a very good program. They also have Sam Atoa as their head coach, who they respect a lot.
She also said that they need to work hard to prep them.
Utah Valley was defeated by BYU in Provo on 18th September. This was a couple of days after defeating the Utes in Provo. The match scores were 25-23, 25-23, 25-16. This proves that Utah is capable enough to defeat Cougars.
For NCAA, locations matter more than seeding. This is why two of the top 20 teams are on course play in Provo in the coming weekend.
BYU has a record of 74-29 against Utah. In 2019 the Utes defeated BYU in Provo.
After Utah was defeated by BYU in football, the No. 10 Utes were hosted by the No. 15 Cougars, who gave Utah their first defeat of that season.
BYU registered.299 hitting percentage and 53 kills to hold off the Utes.
Kenzie Koerber, was leading Utah. Right at the beginning of this season, she was transferred from Utah. She had six digs and 14 kills in that match.
The national championship tournament is scheduled to take place in Columbus, Ohio. The scheduled date is December 18.
The national semi-final matches will be broadcast on ESPN.
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