BYU volleyball is getting familiar to being the bridesmaid and not the bride.
Over the past nine seasons, the Cougars have reached the NCAA national championship four times, only to lose in the title match. That included Saturday, when Hawaii swept BYU in the 2021 national championship match.
The 2022 BYU team will also be facing a significant challenge.
Off the Block, which extensively covers college volleyball, shared its top 10 way-too-early rankings for the 2022 season. While BYU makes the top 10 — the Cougars sneak in at No. 9 — there’s a big reason for the expected dropoff.
“The Cougars will be depleted with a majority of their starting lineup from this year graduating. BYU, though, still has All-America outside Davide Gardini and will go as far as Gardini can carry them,” Off the Block’s Vinnie Lopes wrote.
National champion Hawaii fares better in the way-too-early rankings, coming in at No. 6. The top three include BYU’s MPSF rival, Pepperdine, at No. 1, followed by Long Beach State at No. 2 and Penn State at No. 3.
Another interesting note, especially for BYU, comes from the team at No. 4, UCLA. The Bruins twice beat the Cougars in MPSF play this season.
“Coach John Speraw openly admitted at the MPSF Tournament he advised many of his players to redshirt this season because of the uncertainty of it being played during the pandemic,” Lopes wrote. “Now Speraw gets those players back, a majority of his starting lineup returning and another recruiting class for a team that narrowly missed the NCAA Tournament this year.”
Combined with BYU losing generational talents like Gabi Garcia Fernandez and Wil Stanley, among others, and other programs bringing back a heavy amount of experienced players, it will pose a challenge for the Cougars to find their way back to the NCAA Tournament next season.