WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — No. 5-seed BYU women’s volleyball struggled to find its rhythm and fell to Loyola Chicago, 3-0 (20-25, 21-25, 17-25) in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday afternoon at Holloway Gymnasium.
The Cougars were outhit by the Ramblers .277 to .164. Twenty-eight errors to Loyola’s 19 proved too much for BYU to overcome. The A-10 Champion Ramblers also held a 53-37 advantage in digs.
Kjersti Strong and Claire Little led the Cougars with eight kills each. Strong hit at a clip of .429 while recording five total blocks. With two solo stuffs in the match, Strong finished her collegiate career with a final tally of 50 solo blocks.
Brielle Kemavor hit .467 with seven kills, a solo block and block assist. Elli Mortesnsen had seven kills on .316 hitting along with three total blocks and six digs.
Setter Alex Bower finished with 10 digs and 29 assists for her 11th double-double of the season. The freshman Bower now holds BYU’s rally-scoring era record for single-season double-doubles. Bower’s older sister Whitney previously held the record with 10 in 2019.
The Cougars finished the 2024 season with a 19-10 (12-6 Big 12) record. Thursday marked BYU’s 13th-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and 37th all-time.
Set One
The Cougars and Ramblers traded scores to a 7-5 Loyola lead when Kemavor began making her presence felt. Kemavor hammered down her second kill of the match and Little put down an ace to knot the set 7-7. A Loyola service error along with kills from Kemavor and Strong put BYU in front 11-9 at the set’s midpoint.
Little rattled off two more kills but a flurry of Rambler scores on kills, an ace and block, gave the Ramblers a 17-14 lead. Loyola built the lead to as many as six at 23-17 after consecutive Cougar hitting errors.
Strong and Mortensen led BYU on a 3-0 run, but a Cougar service error sent the Ramblers to set point. Loyola finished the set on an ace for the 25-20 win.
The Ramblers hit .265 in the opening frame to BYU’s .162. The Cougars were hampered throughout the set by eight hitting errors along with two from the service line.
Set Two
The second set began much the same as the first with a back-and-forth battle between the two teams. BYU benefitted from three Rambler service errors and tied the set at five with a kill from Mortensen. Blaykli Bobik came off the bench and added a pair of kills as the Cougars looked to keep pace with Loyola.
The Ramblers used two BYU service errors and a net violation to build a 13-10 lead before Kemavor responded with a solo block to bring the Cougars back within two at 14-12. Strong and Mortensen combined for a block to keep it a one-score set but Loyola continued to hammer away and built another three-score lead at 18-15 and 21-18.
Bobik notched the Cougars’ final two kills of the set though two BYU service errors helped Loyola pull away with the 25-21 set win. Recording just seven errors to the Ramblers’ 10, the Cougars were again out-hit by Loyola .265 to .209.
Set Three
The Ramblers didn’t let up and opened the third set with a 5-1 lead on two kills, an ace and two BYU hitting errors. The Cougars came within two at 9-7 after Mortensen got going with consecutive kills.
Two Loyola errors and an ace from Mortensen brought BYU to a one-score deficit at 11-10, but the Ramblers again responded, this time with a 4-0 run. Despite kills from Little and Kemavor, Loyola finished the set on a 9-5 run and eliminated the Cougars with a 25-17 win in the third.
Postgame Quotes
Following the match, head coach Heather Olmstead was joined by middle blocker Brielle Kemavor and setter Alex Bower in a postgame press conference. View their thoughts at the conclusion of their season below:
Head coach Heather Olmstead
Opening statement
"I want to congratulate Loyola Chicago on a great match and for advancing in the tournament. We're happy to be here and thanks to Purdue for hosting us. Obviously, we're disappointed in the match that we just put together but grateful for the season that we had with this group, the growth that we had and the opportunities we had to be together, to learn and to battle. I wish it would have showed up in this match and that's what we've been talking about and trying to figure out, so we'll be able to reflect on this match. I think we just didn't quite have what it takes today, and we'll go back to the drawing board, figure it out and learn from this just like we've learned from all the other matches, win or lose, this whole season. I'm grateful for our team and their fight all year and the growth that we've had. It's been a wild ride for us and we're grateful for the opportunity to play in the tournament. We've just got to learn from it and get better."
On Alex and Brielle's contributions this season
"Alex and BK [Brielle Kemavor] have been phenomenal leaders all year. I don't think either of them are satisfied with what just happened. I told them that this is an opportunity to learn and grow, take it on the chin, sit in our pain and be grateful for the pain that we get to feel together because we know that our worth comes from more than just winning and losing, and we've learned that this year. We're not going to be defined from a match or a performance, and that's what we want them to know, but we expect to show up in the tournament and play better. They know that and they want that, so I don't really have to say much. Alex has been a phenomenal leader, she's led our offense all year to some incredible performances. She's been super resilient and battled through a lot with this group. Same with BK, the growth that we've seen from Brielle from last year to spring to be named to the All-Big 12 First Team and Alex to the All-Rookie Team, I just can't say enough about them, but it's our whole team. The strength of our team has been our team, and our team just didn't have it today, but these two, and the rest of our team show up every day and put in the work, so I'm super proud of them."
On the team's success this season
"I think just the whole group. I mean, again, the strength of our team was our team. We had performances all year from different players that stepped up. I could name everyone on the team, but back to what BK and Alex said, we've got to use this to fuel us to get better as a team. We're grateful for our seniors, we're losing four players, and we're grateful for what they've given our program. Elyse [Stowell], Alyssa [Erickson], Kjersti [Strong] and Kalia [Thunstrom], all four of them have meant a lot to our program. We're just grateful to be here, we want to learn and grow and just keep getting better."
Middle blocker Brielle Kemavor
On building into next season
"I think we can definitely lean on each other and like Heather said, lean onto this pain and remember how it feels. I think the building points that we can target are things that we need to personally get better at. We can all individually get better at things and then mesh together as a team. I'm super grateful for this opportunity and if we have to go down, I wouldn't rather go down with any other team. I love these girls and I love our coaches so I'm grateful for this opportunity."
On what she can bring to next year's roster as an upperclassmen
" think one of the biggest things is leadership, for sure, and stepping up and owning things. Volleyball is a team sport, and the fact that we get to do it with each other is great, but at the same time, we also need to learn how to step up and lead our team. I think we have leaders on this team, and we have people who do that, but just being an upperclassman, I think I can just show by example and help out where anyone needs."
Setter Alex Bower
On building into next season
"I love this group of girls. There's no group of girls who work harder than us, and I think what's important, what's so cool about this loss is, yes, we are not satisfied, but what's important is our response and our reaction to this, and I can guarantee you that we're going to be the hardest working team you'll see next year and in this spring. We're excited to get back at it, and we just are so grateful to have each other. This team is very selfless, so we're always getting better because of that."
On how a successful freshman season will translate to the future
"I owe that all to my passers and hitters. You can't set a ball without a pass, and you can't get an assist without a kill, so I owe that all to my teammates. I think the cool thing about it is I can just chuck a ball up anywhere, and I have belief in any of my hitters that they're going to get a kill. So going into next season, just knowing our potential, going after it and staying confident."