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BYU Women’s Volleyball falls in the Final Four, but the future is bright

By Shaun Gordon

ATHENS - AUGUST 21: Shadow image of celebration by the USA team during their men's indoor Volleyball preliminary match against Australia on August 21, 2004 during the Athens 2004 Summer Olympic Games at the Peace and Friendship Stadium part of the Faliro Coastal Zone Olympic Complex in Athens, Greece. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)
ATHENS - AUGUST 21: Shadow image of celebration by the USA team during their men's indoor Volleyball preliminary match against Australia on August 21, 2004 during the Athens 2004 Summer Olympic Games at the Peace and Friendship Stadium part of the Faliro Coastal Zone Olympic Complex in Athens, Greece. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images) /
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BYU Women’s Volleyball fell in straight sets to Stanford in the Final Four on Thursday night, but more deep NCAA Tournament runs should be in store for the Cougars.

No. 4 seed BYU Women’s Volleyball picked a bad time to have an off night.

The Cougar offense had their worst match of the season in Thursday night’s NCAA Tournament Semifinal match against No. 1 seed Stanford, and the Cardinal swept the Cougars 25-15, 25-15, 25-18.

BYU struggled to get good hits on Stanford’s serves, taking the Cougars out of system and out of rhythm. Those hitting woes, combined with stellar Cardinal defense, spelled doom for BYU’s national championship aspirations.

The Cougars finished with a negative hitting percentage in all three sets, by far their worst hitting of the season. Veronica Jones-Perry hit -.114 for the match, and only three BYU hitters had a positive percentage.

On the flip side, Stanford had an astounding 17 blocks and 23 digs. Their exceptional defense more than made up for their hitting woes early on, and that offense got even better as the match progressed.

The loss ends the season for BYU. The Cougars finish with a 31-2 record, winning the West Coast Conference and finishing as one of the four best teams in the country.

Not to mention the individual honors. Six All-Americans and the AVCA Freshman of the Year (Heather Gneiting) and Coach of the Year (Heather Olmstead).

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And while the Cougars lose two of those All-Americans to graduation, Jones-Perry and Lyndie Haddock-Eppich, the rest will be back for at least one more year.

Plus BYU should see the return of Sara Hamson, who missed the entire season with injury, and McKenna Miller, who missed the final eleven matches due to injury as well.

Add the returning players to another strong incoming freshman class, and the Cougars should reload in 2019.

Will they make another Final Four run next year? Who knows. But the program has reached a point where deep NCAA Tournament runs should no longer become a surprise.

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