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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.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Kaylie Kofe, right, celebrates with teammates during the Blue-White Scrimmage at the Smith Fieldhouse on Saturday, August 15, 2026.

Courtesy BYU Athletics

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When Rob Neilson left Utah State in January to take the BYU women’s volleyball head coaching job he inherited great talent, including two-year starter and All-American Alex Bower at setter.

In May, Neilson announced he had snagged MWC Player of the Year and All-American setter Kaylie Kofe, who played for him with the Aggies.

Much like in football with quarterbacks, coaches usually like to settle on one setter in volleyball.

What’s the old saying? “If you have two starting quarterbacks, you have none.”

But in volleyball you can turn that adage on its ear by playing a 6-2 offense, where both setters are in play and rotate out when they get to the front row.

That’s what Neilson has chosen to do, which meant he had to have a difficult conversation with both Bower and Kofe that essentially went something like this: “In order for us to have a great year, you’re each going to have to play a little bit less.”

Typically, Bower starts the game in the back row and opens the serving, running into the setter spot when the ball is transitioned to offense. When the rotation has Bower moving into the front row, subs are made and a hitter takes her place, with Kofe coming into the back row.

“You just have three attackers every time in the front row,” Neilson said, “and so you have the ability to spread the offense that takes away pressure from your outside in three rotations. It allows us to do a little bit more medium pass situations where it gets tough with a front row setter. It hides our setters as blockers, right? We need to play with a little speed. We need to give them space and system-wise we can do some things to open it up for our players.”

Nielson’s said both players were understanding of the sacrifice they are making for the team.

“It’s both sides of the coin, right?” Neilson said. “Kofe was an All-American at Utah State running a 5-1 and so was Alex at BYU. It’s hard because they want to be on the court. They trust themselves and we trust them. But they also know the makeup of our team right now. This is the best deal for us. I think if you asked them they both would want to say, ‘Leave me out there the whole time.’ But they are both doing a great job. They’re supportive of each other and I’ve been really impressed by them.”

Bower said she’s never played in a 6-2 offense during her high school or college career.

“I think it was a hard conversation at first,” she admitted. “But I know that this is what’s best for the team. We’re mixing it up and it’s best for the skill set that our team has. The 6-2, I’m all for it. My goals are still the same. I want to be the Big 12 Setter of the Year and all our team goals are the same. I want to be the best teammate, the best setter out there in the nation. When I’m off the court, it’s a new world to see volleyball that way. I can see what’s happening, see what the defense is doing and then go in and utilize that. So there are a lot of pros to the 6-2 that I’m happy about.”

Kofe said she ran the 6-2 as a freshman at Utah State for a short time.

“Alex is an amazing setter,” Kofe said. “I like for us to work like this together. We have so many weapons on our team, so to get more people on the court, I think the 6-2 is perfect for our team. It’s definitely different, but I obviously came here to play for Rob and I trust that he knows best. Both of us know this is what’s best for the team and we’ll do whatever it takes.

“It’s important to be able to stay engaged even when you’re off the court. It’s nice to have eyes on the court because I can turn to Alex and our other setter, Grace (Fredrick), and ask them what they are seeing. We can piggyback off each other and give each other advice.”

So how is the 6-2 offense working out?

The 25th-ranked Cougars are 4-1 with their only loss to No. 2 Pitt heading into Friday’s home match against UCLA. BYU is hitting .283 as a team (after hitting .263 in 2025). The two setters statistics are remarkably similar: Kofe is averaging 5.37 assists per set (102 total) and Bower is at 5.16 assists per set (98 total). Bower has 26 digs (1.37 per set) and Kofe is at 23 (1.21).

BYU hung with Pitt for the first two sets, winning one, before falling 3-1 last Friday. And that was without 6-5 senior middle blocker Brielle Kemavor, who is recovering from off-season surgery. She’s expected to be available soon.