Courtesy BYU Photo

Answering the usual questions after an impressive 3-0 sweep of Sun Belt champion James Madison in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, BYU coach Heather Olmstead perked up when asked about freshman Kate Prior.

“How good was Kate Prior today?” Olmstead said.

Answer: Really good.

Prior, a highly touted 6-foot-4 freshman from Henderson, Nev., has come on strong in the past eight matches since a move from middle blocker to right-side hitter and was dynamic against the Dukes.

Courtesy BYU Photo

Prior started fast with six kills in the first set and finishing with eight on 11 swings with one error (.686) while adding a team-high six block assists. The No. 7 seeded Cougars ran away from James Madison 25-20, 25-10, 25-15 on Friday to move on to Saturday’s second round at Pittsburgh’s Peterson Events Center.

“Kate brought fire and energy,” Olmstead said. “She’s been waiting patiently for her turn and doing a good job playing a position she’s not super familiar with on the right side. I think the greatest thing about Kate is her ability to want to help the team in any capacity, She’s really embraced this opportunity to play right side for us. She’s really blossoming before our eyes. She’s someone teams are going to have to pay attention to as another attacker who can get kills for us. I thought she was fantastic tonight.”

In the past eight matches, Prior has 57 kills and is hitting .372 with with 18 block assists.

Junior outside hitter Erin Livingston, a first team All-West Coast Conference performer, is usually the lead item on opponents’ game plans and the Dukes focused on her early. Prior’s big swings loosened things up for Livingston, who led all hitters with 20 kills and hit .395. Heather Gneiting added 10 kills for the Cougars, who outdug James Madison 53-39 behind libero Kelsey Knudson (14 digs) and defensive specialist Aria McComber (12). Setter Whitney Bower had 33 assists and led BYU to a .373 hitting percentage for the match.

“It’s easy to do my job when I have hitters firing from all cylinders,” Bower said. “All my hitters want the ball and they’re calling for it super loud. Great passing helps and is a big contribution to our offense.”

Courtesy BYU Photo

The Cougars (22-6) overcame a five-point deficit in the first set with a 19-9 run and won 25-20, dominating the rest of the match by totaling nine blocks while holding James Madison to a .112 hitting clip.

“I’m proud of our team’s focus and fight, especially in the first set,” Olmstead said. “We played some clean volleyball and our coaches put together a great scouting report that our girls executed well. It was a great first round match.”

BYU will face No. 2 seed Pittsburgh (28-3) in Saturday’s second round after the Panthers powered past Colgate 25-16, 25-16, 25-14 in the other first round matchup.

The Cougars and Panthers met in the Smith Fieldhouse in September with Pittsburgh coming out with a 3-1 victory. In addition, BYU played in Pittsburgh’s preseason tournament in 2021 and also faced Purdue in the NCAA Sweet 16 in the same arena last season.

“We’re super excited to be here,” Gneiting said. “We call it our second home because we’ve been here a few times. We’re grateful to be in the tournament and every game is a great opportunity for us.”

The match is scheduled for 5 p.m. MT on Saturday and can be viewed on ESPN+.

Newsletter