BYU Cougars sports has no place to go but up after this year
By Adam Gibby
Why 2018 can’t be worse for the other sports
Women’s basketball, like the men’s team, is not going to be losing much of their production from this season. Cassie Devashrayee and Amanda Wayment will be missed but about 60% of the points and 65% of rebounds will return next season.
Women’s soccer may have another rough season next season by losing top scorers Madie Matthews, Nadia Gomes and Avery Walker. They will also lose senior goalkeeper Hannah Clark. In other words the team is going to be starting from square one, which like the football team does not bring very high expectations.
The fact is, this year was “the year” for senior stars and that fell short. And nothing including another losing record would be more disappointing next season since there is almost no returning key players.
Losing in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament is not normally considered a bad season. But the volleyball team posted a 28-2 record during the regular season so expectations were high. This is the one sport that could potentially disappoint more next season. There are zero seniors graduating this year, meaning that the whole team will be returning next season. A losing record would be a step down from this year.
Forget and look ahead
BYU men’s cross country does deserve recognition for finishing third place at the Nationals race this year. Men’s volleyball may turn things around and softball and baseball have not yet started. However, for the expectations, potential, financial resources and results that the Cougars have generally had this year it is unfortunately safe to say that this year is the worst academic sports year in BYU history.