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KJ Burgess (far right) celebrates a point with her teammates against Colorado in a Big 12 women's volleyball match at the Smith Fieldhouse on Thursday, October 22, 2026.

Courtesy BYU Athletics

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BYU's Brooke Hardy (4) celebrates a point with her teammates against Colorado in a Big 12 women's volleyball match at the Smith Fieldhouse on Thursday, October 22, 2026.

Courtesy BYU Athletics

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BYU's KJ Burgess (17) and Sophia Callahan put up a block against Colorado in a Big 12 women's volleyball match at the Smith Fieldhouse on Thursday, October 22, 2026.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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BYU's Claire Little Chambers (12) blocks a Colorado swing in a Big 12 women's volleyball match at the Smith Fieldhouse on Thursday, October 22, 2026.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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Is there anything in volleyball — or life, for that matter — that feels better than a block?

BYU middle KJ Burgess would know: She came into Thursday’s match against No. 25 Colorado leading the country in blocks.

“A block is just such a special feeling,” Burgess said. “But I would say maybe like going to In-N-Out, and there being no line in the drive-through, and it’s the best burger? That’s a good one.”

Burgess added nine more burgers … er, block assists to her totals against the Buffaloes at the Smith Fieldhouse, helping to lead the No. 11 Cougars to their 13th straight victory in a 3-1 (23-25, 25-22, 25-16, 25-18) Big 12 special.

Burgess and freshman middle Brooke Hardy combined for 18 kills (with just three errors) and 14 block assists as the Cougars rallied from their first Set 1 loss since Sept. 3 against No. 2 Pitt, a stretch of 12 matches.

“Brooke had 11 kills on 14 swings, hitting 786,” BYU head coach Rob Nielson said. “Just this little freshman getting it done, and then KJ just blocking out the sun. Defensively, she just does a great job. It’s funny. There’s kind of this trend that we’ve noticed that she’ll get an overpass, and if she doesn’t put it away, then the next ball that comes our way in the other team’s transition, she stuffs it every time. She’s incredible. We’re so lucky to have her.”

Colorado’s Ines Losada and Ana Burilovic were unstoppable in Set 1, combining for 12 kills as the Buffaloes hit better than .500 for most of the set. Colorado led 20-15 on an ace from Losada but the Cougars battled back to trail just 24-23. A Losada kill ended the set in a 25-23 win for the visitors.

Nobody panicked on the BYU sideline.

“We believe in our competitive capacity over time, and we can put pressure on teams,” Nielson said. “You can play with us for a set. But can you play with us for two sets? Can you play with us for three sets? If you can, great. I just think eventually we’re going to put enough pressure on you that it’s going to get real hard. You’re going to find small windows to be successful. We’re immediately going to transition and attack and take great swings.”

That’s just what happened as the Cougars took control of the match. BYU led 14-12 after a Claire Little Chambers kill and maintained that advantage throughout, getting two blocks from Burgess down the stretch and a Hardy kill for a 25-22 win.

The Cougars went on a late 8-0 run in Set 3, turning a 17-16 lead into a 25-16 victory. Anna Blamires came off the bench to spark the run offensively and BYU’s block dominated. Hardy hammered down an overpass for the win and a 2-1 lead in the match.

The Cougars led Set 4 15-14 on an Elli Mortensen kill and a flury of Colorado errors gave the home team a 22-17 advantage. Blamires went off the block for match point and after a long rally she fired off another kill for the win.

“I feel like for us, it was just kind of limiting the small errors and just getting a few more good touches on the block, picking up some more tips and that stuff,” Burgess said. “Then once we did those little things, I felt like our hitters were able to get going and feel more confident. After the first set, we just started ripping balls, so it was fun.”

Mortensen finished with 13 kills and 10 digs for BYU and Little Chambers added 12 kills with just one error, hitting .500.

The Cougars (16-1 overall, 8-0 Big 12) have another huge match in the Fieldhouse on Saturday night when they host No. 8 Arizona State (16-3, 7-1). KJ Burgess will face off against younger sister Zoey, a middle for the Sun Devils, for the first time, thought they did play high school ball together for a minute at Lone Peak.

The Big 12 is awesome, I love it,” Nielson said. “Their coach (JJ Van Niel) is a good friend and he does a phenomenal job. It’s going to be a battle. And that’s what we we want is to be tested in battles, right? We want to be battled tested.”

Arizona State opened their swing through the Beehive State on Thursday by beating Utah 3-1 in Salt Lake.

Chris Burgess, an assistant coach for BYU men’s basketball, was at the Smith Fieldhouse on Thursday to watch KJ but followed the Arizona State-Utah match on his tablet, while the girls’ mother, Lesa, was at the Huntsman Center to support Zoey.

All of the Burgesses will be in the Fieldhouse on Saturday.