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BYU players celebrate a point during a women's college volleyball match against Southeastern Louisiana in the doTERRA Classic at the Smith Fieldhouse on Friday, August 30, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Claire Little (12) takes a swing against Southeastern Louisiana at the doTERRA Classic in the Smith Fieldhouse on Friday, August 30, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Hannah Billeter, center, celebrates a point during a match against Southeastern Louisiana at the doTERRA Classic in the Smith Fieldhouse on Friday, August 30, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU freshman Lulu Uluave, left, passes the ball during a women's college volleyball match against Southeastern Louisiana in the doTERRA Classic at the Smith Fieldhouse on Friday, August 30, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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Even the most casual BYU women’s volleyball fan can recognize that there are a lot of new faces in the Cougars starting lineup in 2024.

The results in the home opener on Friday, however, were very familiar.

No. 16 BYU blasted Southeastern Louisiana 25-15, 25-13, 25-15 in front of an afternoon crowd at the Smith Fieldhouse in its first game of the doTerra Classic.

“I’m excited that we showed up and played some clean volleyball,” Cougar coach Heather Olmstead said. “I thought our serving and passing, it was about as clean as you could want for a first match.”

It was a dominant performance by a program that has spent 159 straight weeks in the top 25 rankings. Sophomore Claire Little led the Cougars with 12 kills and just one error on 20 swings, hitting .550.

Little was hard pressed to come up with any flaws in her team’s opener.

“We had a lot of younger players, so no one really knew what was going to happen,” she said. “Everyone was kind of on the edge of their seat to see who was going to be in the lineup and what was going on. I thought it was really cool to see all of our younger players contribute. We were good. I think we can clean up some things a little bit. It was just a really good match.”

Freshman Elli Mortensen earned her first start and added 10 kills. Saint Mary’s transfer Kjersti Strong had seven kills and three blocks and sophomore Brielle Kemavor also posted seven kills and three blocks. Freshman Alex Bower, who has replaced her All-American sister Whitney at setter, had 30 assists and led BYU to a .390 hitting percentage.

“I thought offensively, it was a really strong match for Alex,” Olmstead said. “She did a good job distributing the ball and getting hitters involved, and she set the middle a good amount. She did a good job understanding the game plan.”

BYU started two freshmen (Bower and Mortensen), two sophomores (Little and Kemavor) a junior (libero Hannah Billeter) and a transfer (Strong). Little started five matches last season but none of the others had ever started for the Cougars before Friday.

“The freshman class is just ready for their moment, their opportunity,” Olmstead said. “Our coaches did a good job in the preseason and the offseason and the winter working on our system and training up our players as best we can.”

BYU got off to a big early lead with a seven-point scoring run in Set 1, easing out to a 10-2 advantage. The Cougars hit .565 in the first set and held SE Louisiana to .080. Kate Prior’s kill got BYU to set point and Strong logged a solo block for the winner at 25-15.

SE Louisiana, which won the Southland Conference last season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, slowed down the BYU offense in the second set but was held to -.200 hitting with 14 errors in the second set. Leading 10-6, the Cougars scored 11 straight points, with the 6-foot-5 Kemavor contributing two blocks and a kill, for a 21-6 advantage. Strong’s kill made it 24-11 and a SE Louisiana service error ended things at 25-13.

SE Louisiana was much more competitive in Set 3, tying the score at 5-5 and then at 10-10 on a BYU hitting error. But the Cougars took control from there with 7-2 run highlighted by an Alyssa Erickson ace along with two kills and a block from Strong, for a 17-12 lead. Kemavor’s two kills and a scoring attack from Little pushed BYU to match point, and Prior’s second swing off the SE Louisiana block was the winner at 25-15.

“This team is going to have a battle all year,” Olmstead said. “Everyone wants to get on the court. It’s good for our group. This is one match, and it’s a long season. We’re not going to get too caught up in who was out there today. But I thought, whoever was out there, did a great job. Everyone is going to have an opportunity to get on the court at some point. We know we need the whole team, and this year, the strength of our team is going to be our team.”

BYU (1-0) was scheduled to play Fairfield late Friday. On Saturday, BYU will finish out the Classic by taking on High Point at 7 p.m.

In earlier Friday action, High Point took care of Fairfield 3-1 (22-25, 25-18, 25-23, 25-13) behind 14 kills from Dylan Maberry and 10 from Eve Wilson. The Panthers held the Stags to a .109 hitting percentage.