BYU women’s volleyball: Cougars’ Sweet 16 streak puts them in elite company
By Shaun Gordon
BYU women’s volleyball plays in their sixth straight Sweet Sixteen this weekend. That streak puts the Cougars in elite company.
Six in a row.
When No. 13 seed BYU women’s volleyball takes on No. 4 seed Kentucky on Friday morning, it will be their sixth-straight year playing in the Sweet Sixteen (see the bracket here).
It’s not easy winning at such a high level that consistently.
For example, in men’s college basketball, only two teams have had streaks of six or more straight appearances in the Sweet Sixteen (North Carolina 1985-93, Duke 1986-92, 1998-2006).
Women’s volleyball does have an inherent advantage for the best teams. Because the first two rounds are played at the home of the top seed in each foursome, the top teams enjoy that home-court advantage. Elite programs win enough to earn that edge year in and year out.
In fact, this streak puts the Cougars in that elite company. Only four teams in women’s volleyball have a current streak of at least six straight years reaching the second weekend of the tournament.
Let’s take a look at all four.
T3 – Nebraska
Nebraska’s six-year Sweet Sixteen streak began in 2012. The Cornhuskers are one of the most accomplished programs in women’s volleyball history. They’ve advanced to the Final Four 13 times and won the title four times.
This is the third time in program history that Nebraska has a Sweet Sixteen streak of six or more years (1984-1992, 1994-2010). In fact, the Cornhuskers have only failed to make the Sweet Sixteen twice in the last 34 years.
Their current streak has included two runs to the Final Four, including the 2015 NCAA title.
The Cougars and Cornhuskers most recently met in the tournament in 2014, where BYU downed Nebraska 3-0 in the Elite Eight during their run to the championship game.
If BYU can knock off Kentucky and Nebraska beats Colorado on Friday, it would set up an Elite Eight rematch between the two teams.