WCC champion Cougars (29-1) and red-hot Utes (21-8) are on a collision course in second round if they can knock off Broncos, Wolverines, respectively, in the first round at Smith Fieldhouse in Provo
Longtime rivals BYU and Utah are on a collision course in the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament again.
BYU (29-1) received the No. 11 national seed in the tournament on Sunday and will be one of 16 hosts in first and second-round matches to be held Friday and Saturday at Smith Fieldhouse in Provo.
The Cougars will meet Mountain West tournament champion Boise State (24-10), while Utah (21-8) will meet Utah Valley (16-12) in the other match Friday.
Winners will meet on Saturday night.
BYU’s only loss this season was to No. 3-seed Pitt 3-1 at Pitt on Sept. 10 in the Panther Challenge, but strength of schedule was again fingered on the tournament selection show as the reason the Cougars got a double-digit seed.
The Cougars are ranked No. 4 in the national poll.
Only top-seeded Louisville (28-0) has a better record than the Cougars.
The Utes, ranked No. 17 in the poll, were hoping to get a top-16 seed and the right to host first-round matches, but it wasn’t to be.
Utah has won eight of its last nine matches, including a sweep of No. 21 Washington State last Wednesday.
Utah’s only loss since a Nov. 5 setback to No. 13 UCLA in five sets was to No. 19 Stanford 3-1 on Nov. 21.
BYU defeated Utah Valley 3-0 in Provo on Sept. 18, two days after sweeping the Utes in Provo.
The scores in that match were 25-23, 25-23, 25-16, so Utah is obviously capable of hanging with the one-loss Cougars.
No. 11 pic.twitter.com/PCPHtbIubF
— BYU Women’s Volleyball (@BYUwvolleyball) November 29, 2021
Locations are more important than seeding to the NCAA, which is why two top 20 teams are on course play in Provo next weekend.
BYU holds a 74-29 record all-time against Utah, but in 2019 the Utes traveled to Provo and knocked off No. 17 BYU 3-0 in a second-round tournament match.
Five days after BYU defeated Utah 26-17 in football, the No. 15 Cougars hosted the No. 10 Utes and handed Utah its first loss of the season.
In front of 5,140 fans, BYU record 53 kills and a .299 hitting percentage to hold off the Utes.
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— Utah Volleyball (@UtahVolleyball) November 29, 2021
Opening the NCAA Tournament against Utah Valley in the Provo Regional! pic.twitter.com/en2YiSYhkk
BYU was led by Kenzie Koerber, who transferred from Utah before this season. She had 14 kills and six digs in that match.
The national championship match will be played Dec. 18 in Columbus, Ohio.
No. 11-seed BYU will host Boise State, Utah, UVU in NCAA women’s volleyball tournament
Source: Gabriella Pinoys
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