BYU women’s volleyball coach Heather Olmstead wouldn’t let the post-match news conference via Zoom end Thursday night without throwing a bouquet toward the NCAA.
After the Cougars fought off eight set points and swept UCLA 3-0 in an NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament second-round match, the sixth-year coach thanked the NCAA for moving the third-round match away from Sunday to accommodate the school’s religious beliefs.
Owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, BYU does not participate in Sunday games or practices.
“We are grateful to the NCAA for changing up their tournament a little bit for us. We talked about that as a team. We are super grateful to them for moving our match to Saturday. We are talking about them doing something that maybe has never been done before, and having to shift and adjust.” — BYU women’s volleyball coach Heather Olmstead
While the other seven Sweet 16 matches in the tournament will be played Sunday, No. 16 seed BYU’s match with No. 1 seed Wisconsin will be played Saturday at 6 p.m. MDT at CHI Health Center Convention Center in Omaha, Nebraska.
As Thursday’s news conference was winding down, Olmstead reminded reporters she hadn’t had a chance to make an opening statement, as is customary for a coach in NCAA media gatherings, and used her time to congratulate UCLA on a great season and thank the NCAA.
“We are grateful to the NCAA for changing up their tournament a little bit for us,” Olmstead said. “We talked about that as a team. We are super grateful to them for moving our match to Saturday. We are talking about them doing something that maybe has never been done before, and having to shift and adjust.”
Wisconsin swept Big Sky champion Weber State a couple hours before BYU swept UCLA, so the move doesn’t disadvantage the Big Ten champion Badgers. Both teams will have a similar amount of time to rest and prepare for the regional semifinal.
However, the regional finals are Monday, meaning the Ohio State-Missouri winner will have a quicker turnaround than the BYU-Wisconsin winner. Live scouting is not allowed at this year’s tournament, which is being played entirely at the CHI Health Center, due to COVID-19 precautions.
“We are super grateful to be advancing in the tournament,” said Olmstead, who owns the highest winning percentage (.894) of any women’s volleyball coach in NCAA Division I history (161-19).
“We are looking forward to playing the No. 1 seed,” she said. “We have talked about it as a team and we are (eager) to keep getting better, keep growing this team, keep seeing how good we can be, and keep getting back at it in practice and keep developing this team.”
Wisconsin (16-0) went from Feb. 21 to March 21 without playing a match, then didn’t play after that until April 1-2, sweeping No. 24 Michigan in Madison, Wisconsin, on successive nights. The Badgers played in the 2019 national championship match, losing 3-0 to Stanford in Pittsburgh.
“I know our team, and our coaches, are so excited, and we are ready,” said BYU senior middle blocker Kennedy Eschenberg. “We are going to prepare and be ready.”
BYU is making its eighth Sweet 16 appearance in nine seasons.
Against UCLA, the Cougars made 16 blocks, the most team blocks in a three-set match since 2015, and held UCLA to a .115 hitting percentage. UCLA had seven set points in the second set, but BYU rallied and won it, 31-29.
“A thing that was huge in those big moments and throughout the whole game was our energy,” Eschenberg said. “Our energy on the court, our energy from our coaches, from our bench, was just amazing and magical, so that really helped us in those moments.”