BYU Women’s Volleyball: Cougars aren’t nearing any records…yet

No. 1 BYU Women’s Volleyball is off to a 13-0 start in 2018, but the Cougars still have a long way to go to start breaking program records.

It’s been a long time since this much excitement has swirled around BYU Women’s Volleyball, at least before the NCAA Tournament starts.

But that’s what happens when you’ve started the season 13-0. And you’ve beaten four Top 25 teams, two Top 10 teams, and knocked off the then-No. 1 team in the nation.

And when you’re now the No. 1 team in the nation.

With how dominant the Cougars have been so far this season, you’d think they’d be coming up on a team record or two. Longest winning streak maybe? Or most consecutive sets won?

Actually, BYU isn’t really that close to setting any team records during this run…yet.

Historical Dominance

It’s likely that most people don’t realize how dominant BYU Women’s Volleyball has been historically. The Cougars were consistently a Top 10-caliber team throughout the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s.

In the 30-year span from 1970-1999, BYU won 21 conference titles. Once the NCAA Tournament began in 1981, the Cougars went to it 18 out of the 19 years before the turn of the century, including 13 Sweet Sixteen berths, eight Elite Eight appearances, and a Final Four run in 1993.

They finished seventeen seasons in the 80’s and 90’s in the Top 25, and ten of those in the Top 10.

In program history, the Cougars are currently 1,262-360-5. They’ve won 78 percent of their games.

BYU’s newfound dominance isn’t really new. It’s a return to where the Cougars have spent most of their history.

History Looms

So how far away are the Cougars from breaking records?

They’ve won 13 straight matches. The record is 28, set in 1992. The most to start a season is 23, set in 1977.

How about sets? The Cougars are on an 18-set win streak, but the record was set in 1981 with 34.

Home streak? BYU has won 13 in a row there too, quite a bit shy of the record 31 in a row won from 1982-84.

Conference win streak? BYU’s ten match streak pales in comparison to 1974-78, when the Cougars won 42 straight.

At their current pace, the Cougars won’t come near breaking the team records for most kills, assists, or digs, although their .336 hitting percentage would rank third all-time.

Appreciate Greatness

I’d originally researched this article thinking that the Cougars had to be drawing near to some of these records.

I was dead wrong.

That’s not to say that the Cougars won’t chase history by the time the season is out. They can break some of the win streaks listed above by the end of the year, and there’s a decent shot that they could win out in the regular season, which they’ve never done before.

But it’s also goes to show how good BYU Women’s Volleyball has been historically. Although the program slipped a bit in the 2000’s, this resurgence has put the Cougars right back where they belong as one of the premier programs in the sport.