Women’s volleyball: BYU’s Davis named Big 12 Freshman of the Year
- BYU freshman Suli Davis celebrates a point during a women’s college volleyball match against Northern Colorado at the Smith Fieldhouse on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2025.
- BYU’s Alex Bower (7) and Claire Little Chambers celebrate a point during a women’s college volleyball match against Wichita State at the Smith Fieldhouse on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025.
- BYU’s Brielle Kemavor (center) celebrates a point with teammates in a Big 12 women’s volleyball match at Colorado in Boulder, Colo., on Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025.
- BYU’s Claire Little Chambers takes a swing during an exhibition match against Weber State on Friday, February 28, 2025.
- BYU’s Claire Little Chambers (12) takes a swing against Colorado in a Big 12 women’s volleyball match at the Smith Fieldhouse on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025.
The BYU women’s volleyball program has had some outstanding freshmen over the years, but Suli Davis is in a class by herself.
On Tuesday afternoon, Davis was selected as the Big 12 Freshman of the Year by the league’s coaches.
Davis was also a member of both the All-Rookie Team and All-Big 12 First Team. Setter Alex Bower and middle blocker Brielle Kemavor joined Davis on the First Team, while outside hitter Claire Little Chambers earned All-Big 12 Second Team honors.
Davis was one of seven unanimous selections to the First Team and one of three on the All-Rookie Team. BYU and conference champion Arizona State were the only two schools to have three First Team selections.
A six-time Big 12 Rookie of the Week and the leading freshman nationally in both kills and kills per set, Davis is the Cougars’ first conference freshman of the year since Heather Gneiting in 2018 and 11th overall. She finished second in the Big 12 in both kills (523) and points (473), and fourth in kills per set (4.59), ranking No. 9 nationally in total kills and No. 16 in kills per set.
The Euless, Texas/Hau’ula, Hawai’i native set both BYU’s rally-scoring era and all-time freshman kills record in the last two weeks and now sits in third place of the program’s rally-era individual season kill totals. Also tied for the fourth-most (29) double-digit kill matches in a rally-era season, Davis leads the team with nine double-doubles as well.
Bower dished out a league-leading 1,217 assists and 10.68 assists per set this year, ranking No. 10 and 11 in both statistics, respectively. The setter surpassed the 2,000-career assist mark earlier in the year for her second-straight 1,000-assist season after an All-Rookie campaign last year. A Nampa, Idaho product, Bower is tied for second on the team with seven double-doubles. She has paced the Cougars to a .268 team hitting percentage, good for second in the Big 12.
Kemavor finished with a conference-high .374 hitting percentage and the third-most blocks in the Big 12, at 135. The middle blocker has led BYU in blocks in 18 matches this season, including in 14 of the last 17 contests. Hailing from Bristow, Virginia, Kemavor also has eight double-digit kill matches, four in the last six matches, and has led the team in hitting percentage 13 times. Also a BYU Nike Invitational all-tournament team member, this is Kemavor second All-Big 12 honor.
Little Chambers has 25 double-digit kills matches on the year, leading the team in kills in nine matches. Both a BYU Nike Invitational and dōTERRA Classic MVP, the outside hitter is tied for second on the team with seven double-doubles, and has eight double-digit dig matches on the year. Out of Temecula, California, she leads the team in aces with 40, good for sixth-most in the Big 12. Named to the All-Big 12 First Team last year, this is Little Chambers’ second postseason Big 12 award.
BYU, one of a Big 12 record and nation-leading 10 teams in the conference to earn a trip to the postseason, will open NCAA tournament play on Thursday, Dec. 4 against Cal Poly at 5 p.m. PST.
Arizona State junior outside hitter Noemie Glover was named the Big 12 Player of the Year. Iowa State’s Rachel Van Gorp (libero) and Morgan Brandt (setter) also earned major awards, with Arizona State’s JJ Van Niel the Big Coach of the Year and UCF’s Avah Armour the league’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year.











