SEATTLE, Wash. — BYU’s Shawn Olmstead has been named the MPSF Coach of the Year for the fourth time (2016, 2018, 2020, 2021).

Olmstead, now in his sixth season, coached the 2021 team to a 19-3 season record, 17-3 regular season record and an MPSF championship. The Cougars are entering the NCAA Tournament as the No. 2 seed nationally. Olmstead’s 124-32 (.795) record is the highest of any active men’s volleyball coach in the NCAA Division I-II.

The Cougars lead the MPSF in four categories: hitting percentage (.348), opponent hitting percentage (.225), blocks per set (.278) and service aces (1.76). Nationally, BYU ranks in the top three of multiple categories including hitting percentage (second, .348), blocks per set (second, 2.78) and aces per set (third, 1.76).

This award marks BYU’s eighth all-time Coach of the Year recognition. Olmstead — 2021, 2020, 2018, 2016; Chris McGown — 2013; Tom Peterson — 2003; Carl McGown — 2001 & 1999).

Olmstead also won an AVCA national coach of the year with the BYU women’s team (2014) and led the Cougars to the NCAA championship game that year.

Olmstead and the Cougars will wrap up the 2021 season at the NCAA Tournament May 6-8 in Columbus, Ohio.

BYU football locker room renovation underway

With the conclusion of the winter semester, BYU Athletics has initiated its scheduled renovation of the BYU football locker room in the Student Athlete Building.

The project is the first major renovation of the locker room since the Student Athlete Building opened in 2004. Funding for the renovations comes from the SAB maintenance endowment fund that was established prior to the facility’s construction, with interest earned on the endowment devoted to the ongoing maintenance and future improvements of the facility.

“This project is possible because of the generosity of so many great Cougar fans who years ago contributed to the building of the Student Athlete Building and its endowment,” said BYU director of athletics Tom Holmoe. “Cougar Nation’s tremendous support of BYU Athletics continues to bless the lives of our student-athletes.”

Located on the main level of the Student Athlete Building, the locker room will undergo a complete interior reconstruction with upgraded amenities within the existing locker room footprint. The 75-yard long locker room, which was patterned after the locker room of the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles, offers the football team and staff convenient access to the program’s equipment room, athletic training facilities, strength and conditioning center, practice fields and meeting rooms.

Construction on the project begins this week and will be completed this summer.

BYU’s Allysha Mae Mateo selected to compete at NCAA Regionals

The NCAA Division 1 Women’s Golf Committee selected BYU’s Allysha Mae Mateo as the third individual invited to compete in the Stanford Regional on May 10-12 at the Stanford Golf Club.

Mateo, who was named WCC Women’s Golf Player of the Year, was one of just six selected to compete as an individual at the NCAA regional. The field will also includes 90 golfers from the 18 teams selected to compete at the Stanford Golf Course. The top-three teams at the Stanford Regional are national powers No. 3 Wake Forest, No. 6 Oklahoma State and No. 10 USC.

The top-6 teams and top-3 individuals from each regional will advance to compete at the NCAA Nationals, held at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona on May 21-26. Three other NCAA regionals will be played in Columbus, Ohio, Simpsonville, Ky., and Baton Rouge, La.

Mateo becomes the first BYU individual women’s golfer to compete at an NCAA regional since Rose Huang did so in 2019. Huang tied for 35th at the Cle Elum, Washington regional with a three-round score of 77-76-68–221.

Mateo, a junior from Honolulu, Hawaii, was a consistent frontrunner for the Cougars throughout the season, posting a team-low score in eight of ten tournaments and leading BYU to top-5 finishes in its last five events.

For the season, she posted top-15 individual finishes in nine of ten tournaments, including five in the top-5 and four top-3. Mateo was also featured in the Golfstat top-250 player rankings throughout the season, coming in at No. 109 in the most recent ranking.