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BYU's Suli Davis (6) celebrates a point while competing with the U.S. U19 women's volleyball team at the World Championships in Croatia on Sunday, July 13, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Athletics

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BYU women's volleyball head coach Heather Olmstead and assistant David Hyte yell instructions during a Big 12 women's volleyball match against Colorado at the Smith Fieldhouse on Thursday, Sept. 27, 2024.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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BYU freshman Suli Davis had 800 kills during her senior season at Colleyville Heritage High School in Texas.

That’s not a misprint.

The number is almost unbelievable. The high school leader in kills in Utah last season according to MaxPreps was Bountiful’s Taylor Harvey. The state’s Ms. Volleyball and University of Texas signee totaled 604 kills in 105 sets, or 5.8 kills per set.

Davis, who was named national Player of the Year by PrepVolleyball.com, produced her 800 kills in 122 sets, which works out to 6.6 kills per set. For her career, Davis had 2,099 kills.

They play some pretty good volleyball in the state of Texas and Colleyville Heritage is a AAAAA (5A) school with more than 1,800 students.

So just how good will Davis be in her freshman season at BYU? Good question, and one that will be answered next month when the Cougars get started on the 2025 season.

In the meantime, Davis has proved she can do her thing at the world level.

Davis’ play led the U.S. U19 National Team to a silver medal at the 2025 World Championships this weekend in Croatia. The Americans fell to Bulgaria 3-1 (21-25, 25-16, 25-17, 29-27) in the final on Sunday. Davis contributed a 13-kill, 16-dig double-double, along with three aces. She finished with 88 kills and 16 aces in all matches and was named the tournament’s Best Outside Hitter.

The 6-foot-2 Cougar freshman led the Americans in kills in four of their eight matches in Croatia, tallying double-digit kills in five of them. She paced the U.S. in aces on five separate occasions as well.

Davis helped the Americans medal for a fourth straight World Championship after the U19 U.S. team won gold in 2023 following the FIVB’s event age group switch. The U18 squad took bronze in 2021 and gold in 2019.

“Its a great opportunity,” Davis said during a recent interview on BYU Sports Nation. “When I go into it I’m really hard on myself but I have to give myself grace and just think that not everyone gets this chance. Only 18 went to training and only 12 get to go to Croatia, so it’s fun. Everyone is really good and competing. It’s a whole mix of emotions, but you have to to let it go and just play volleyball.”

Davis leads a strong freshman class into the 2025 season for BYU, a group that also includes 6-2 opposite hitter Anna Blamires (Colorado Springs, Colo.), 5-8 libero Kaylee Tingey (Overland Park, Kan.) and 5-11 setter Grace Fredrick (Salt Lake City).

All four of the freshmen enrolled in January, participating in spring practice as well as a summer player-run workouts.

“Suli is very physical at the net,” BYU coach Heather Olmstead said. “She has a great arm and jumps well. She really uses her physicality. She can pass and play defense so she’s a six-rotation player. We played four freshmen last year and freshmen don’t know what they don’t know. All of them (this year’s freshmen) are learning our systems. They are in the gym and in the weight room working hard and utilizing all of our resources.”

Returning junior Claire Little Chambers had this to say about Davis: “Players like that come in and change programs. We’re excited to see what she will bring to BYU.”

Olmstead, meanwhile, will spend the next month coaching the U.S. U21 team in the Pan Am Cup in Costa Rica. Then its back to Provo for preseason workouts in the Smith Fieldhouse to prepare for Year 3 in the Big 12.

“Everyone in the Big 12 is really good, from top to bottom,” Olmstead said. “We cant rest on our laurels. We have to bring it every night and that’s what the players want. Not everyone is going to have their best game every night. Sometimes we have to figure things out and problem solve that night. All of the girls have a great growth mindset.”