BYU eliminated by Arizona State in NCAA Tournament’s 2nd round

In its first season of Big 12 play, the BYU women’s volleyball team acquitted itself well, finishing in third place, winning 25 games and qualifying for a 12th straight NCAA Tournament.

But the inaugural campaign ended Saturday night at the hands of a future conference opponent as No. 5-seed Arizona State swept No. 4-seed BYU, 25-20, 25-21, 25-21 In Provo in the NCAA Tournament’s second round.

“Congrats to Arizona State. I thought they played a great match,” said BYU head coach Heather Olmstead.

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“Super proud of our team for the whole season and what they’ve done. The inaugural Big 12 season, the highs and the lows that we’ve had, I’m really proud of our group for sticking together. I thought they fought tonight.”

The Sun Devils controlled the match from almost start to finish, outhitting the Cougars .301 to .186 behind a tough service game that kept BYU on its heels and yielded six aces.

Sophomore opposite hitter Kate Prior had seven kills and six blocks and senior outside hitter Erin Livingston added 10 kills and digs for BYU. Freshman middle blocker Mia Lee contributed five blocks and three kills.

BYU senior setter Whitney Bower ended her five-year Cougar career totaling 28 assists, five kills, seven digs and two blocks.

Bower started at setter every season and consistently filled the stat sheet. The Nampa, Idaho, native finishes as the only player in BYU history with at least 400 kills, 4,500 assists, 130 aces, 1,200 digs and 200 blocks.

She ranks third in assists and eighth in aces all-time and first in assists, second in aces and sets played and third in digs in the rally era at BYU.

“I’m so grateful to have played with some of the most humble and selfless teammates ever,” Bower said. “They’re givers, so it’s easy to play with them.

“I’m so grateful for selfless coaches that put in so much time to coach us; I know it’s not easy for them. I love the grittiness about BYU and I’m just grateful for the chance I’ve had to play here.”

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The Cougars ran into an Arizona State team ranked 18th in the nation after finishing the regular season 26-6, the best record by an ASU team this century.

All-Pac-12 First Teamer Marta Levinska led the Sun Devils Saturday with 17 kills, hitting .533 on the night along with five aces and 10 digs.

“I thought they served well and put us in some tough spots,” Olmstead. “We knew they were going to bring their best serves and I thought we were trying to problem solve the best we could. We needed a few more good passes to get our offense going a little bit better.”

Both teams stayed within two points of each other through the early part of set one until the Sun Devils went on a small run to open up a 13-9 lead.

The two teams continued to battle, but BYU couldn’t get the offense in sync, hitting just .121 and never getting closer than two the rest of the way.

ASU took the set 25-20 off a kill by Lavinska, her eighth of the frame.

Set two didn’t start any better for the Cougars, who dropped the first four points on a service error, an ace by ASU and two blocks.

That edge was all Arizona State needed in the set as the Sun Devils never trailed and led by as many as nine before closing out the set at 25-21.

Three kills from Livingston helped BYU stay even with ASU at 11-11 in the third set until ASU scored six of the game’s next seven points behind the arm of senior outside hitter Roberta Rabelo, who had three kills of her own during the run.

The run essentially sealed the set and the match, as BYU couldn’t put together its own run the rest of the way, losing 25-21.

The loss ended BYU’s season in the NCAA’s second round for the second straight year with an overall record of 25-7.