BYU Roundup: No. 24 women’s volleyball sweeps third straight opponent
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- BYU players celebrate a point in a women’s college volleyball match against Utah State on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026.
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- BYU’s Lulu Po’uha passes the ball against Utah State in women’s college volleyball match on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026.
Claire Little Chambers and Sophia Callahan helped No. 24 BYU women’s volleyball to a sweep of Utah State (25-19, 25-18, 25-17) in a packed Smith Fieldhouse to close non-conference play on Saturday afternoon.
Head coach Rob Neilson got a win in his first match against his former program. Neilson was hired at BYU in December of 2025, having previously served as the head coach of the Utah State program since 2020.
The Cougars (8-1) bested the Aggies in kills (43-35), digs (34-33) and blocks (12-4). Offensively, Little Chambers led the team with 14 kills, hitting .429. Callahan followed suit with 11 of her own on a match-high .647 clip, logging her third double-digit kill match of the season.
Kelli Jo Burgess led the way with seven blocks, while Callahan tied her career high with six blocks of her own. Setters Alex Bower and Kaylie Kofe tied for a team-high eight digs apiece, with Kofe adding 20 assists and Bower tallying 18.
The Cougars started the match on top, with a block from BYU middle blocker Brooke Hardy on Utah State’s very first attempt of the match.
The Aggies went on a six-point run to take an 8-5 lead, but a Little Chambers kill stopped the momentum and put the Cougars back in it. The two teams traded kills and the Aggies retained an 11-8 lead.
Kills from Elli Mortensen and Callahan kept the set within reach for BYU, but the Cougars went into the technical timeout down 15-10.
Kills by Mortensen and Little Chambers out of the break helped the Cougars bring it back within three. Another Little Chambers kill brought her up to five in the set and the score to 17-16, forcing a quick Aggie timeout.
BYU came out of the second timeout firing on all cylinders, scoring three quick points to bring the score to 19-17 and force another Utah State timeout. With that run, BYU regained the lead for the first time since its 5-4 advantage early in the match.
The Cougars kept their run going, getting the score to 21-17 and putting up nine unanswered points before Utah State got back on the board. The Cougars never looked back, as another Little Chambers kill and a block by Hardy and Mortensen put the cap on a 25-19 win.
The Aggies came out to a quick 4-1 lead in Set 2, but back-to-back kills from Callahan and Kate Prior brought BYU back within one. The ball kept making it around the court, as just one play later the Cougars got a kill from Mortensen to make it only a 5-4 Utah State lead.
After a trio of Aggie errors gave BYU the lead back, Bower set up Burgess and Callahan for back-to-back kills, bringing the Cougar lead to 12-9. Another pair of kills from Hardy forced a Utah State timeout with the lead up to 15-10.
BYU registered its first ace of the match right out of the timeout, as the Aggies were unable to return a serve from Kofe. That ace fueled the Cougars into two more quick points, extending the lead to 18-10 and the BYU run to six unanswered.
Neilson’s squad held on to the lead the rest of the way, scoring five of their last seven points by way of the kill. They finished the set with a .556 kill percentage to Utah State’s .310.
The Aggies jumped out to a 7-4 lead in the third set, giving them a three-point lead early for the third set in a row. Just as it had done in the previous two sets, BYU rallied right back. An ace from Mortensen and a kill from Little Chambers brought the set back even at eight.
The front line defense stood tall for the Cougars, as back-to-back blocks from Callahan and Burgess gave the Cougars an 11-9 lead and forced another Utah State timeout.
Callahan kept her run going, immediately adding three more kills and another block to extend the lead to 15-10.
Mortensen and Hardy added a block, and then Little Chambers registered a kill after a rally to extend the BYU lead to 19-14. A service error and Anna Blimares kill extended the BYU lead to 21-14.
After three more kills put the Cougars up 24-17, a kill from Jo Burgess ended the set and finished the match, securing the sweep.
BYU opens conference play as No. 18 Baylor comes to town on Friday, Sept. 25. The match will be broadcast on FS1 at 8 p.m. MDT.
Men’s cross country claims McNichols Invite title
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — Sophomore Tayvon Kitchen took third place and the No. 9 BYU Cougars placed all five scorers in the Top 20 to win the John McNichols Invitational Saturday morning.
It was a statement win in the first 8,000-meter race of the season for BYU, taking first in a field that included 13 of the top 25 schools in the USTFCCCA Coaches’ Poll.
“It was a lot of fun. I think it was a good start; not perfect, but we’re just building,” Kitchen said after the race. “I learned a lot about the course. I have some thoughts and strategies that I think will help me be prepared and ready for whatever happens at nationals in Noevember.”
Kitchen was the team’s low stick, followed by teammates Noah Jenkins in 14th, James Corrigan in 16th, Dalton Mortensen in 18th and Isaac Hedengren in 20th. It was the season debut for both Corrigan and Hedengren, giving BYU’s harriers a crucial opportunity to get a look at the course that will host this year’s NCAA Championship race in November.
Full race results can be found here.
“Our number one goal was to get out here and take a look at the national course, and our number two goal was to have good, solid races. I think we accomplished both those goals and I’m really pleased with how we ran,” head coach Ed Eyestone said. “To have five guys finish in the top 20 in a meet of this caliber is a good sign. I think the guys will have confidence in our training as we move forward and prepare for our next race.”
The Cougars also won the 8,000m open race, led by a first-place finish for freshman Malachi Schoenherr. He was followed by teammates Ethan Peterson and Jackson Henstromas the Cougars swept the top three spots and showcased their team depth.
Jenkins made his surge late, coming up from the 25th spot at the 5,000m mark to finish second for the Cougars and fourth overall at 24:01.5. Jenkins, who finished just three spots away from All-American honors in 2025, continues to score near the top of the BYU lineup.
Corrigan (24:03.5), Mortensen (24:06.2) and Hedengren (24:06.7) all finished within 3.2 seconds of each other to round out the scoring for BYU and close out the top 20. Jenkins and Hedengren, the Cougars’ 2-5 scorers, were only separated by 5.2 seconds.
Similar to the Championship race, the Cougars came out bunched up as a pack early in the Open race, but they remained a few lines back. Schoenherr and teammates Carter Cutting and Jackson Henstrom were at the head of the BYU group through the first 3,000m, all around 15th place.
Schoenherr was part of a group of four runners who began to separate themselves around the 5,000m mark. Schoenherr made his move over the next 1,000 meters and never looked back, running a 25:31.8 and winning the race by six seconds in his first time covering that distance.
“I felt really really good at 5k,” Schoenherr said. “I just decided, ‘Hey, I’m going to go to the front and push this. So that whole last lap I kind of just turned up the tempo slowly, and those hills felt really easy going up. I’m really proud of my race and really proud of my team.”
It was an impressive late surge for Peterson, the Utah State transfer, who moved from 14th at the 5,000m mark to a second-place finish. A strong kick in the home stretch brought him across the line at 25:37.9. Henstrom followed close behind, finishing with a 25:39.8 to complete the Cougar podium sweep.
The Cougars will take two weeks off before heading to Madison, Wisconsin, to participate in the Nuttycombe Invitational on Oct. 9.
Women’s soccer forced into tie with Arizona
TUCSON, Ariz. – No. 23 BYU women’s soccer (4-2-2, 0-0-1 Big 12) tied Arizona 1-1 at Murphey Field at Mulcahy Stadium Friday night.
Sophomore forward Mia Goettsche scored her first goal of the season, sixth of her career in tonight’s match. Mika Krommenhoek and Camryn Jorgensen each tallied assists on the night.
The Cougars outshot the Wildcats 18-6, holding Arizona to just three shots in the second half. BYU had three corner kicks while Arizona had two.
Despite being held off the scoreboard in a 0-0 first half, the Cougars outshot Arizona 9-3, including three shots on frame.
In the 51st minute, Krommenhoek received a pass from Jorgensen near midfield and sent a through ball over the Arizona backline for Goettsche to run onto. She chipped the ball over the Wildcat goalkeeper and into the back of the net to give BYU the first goal of the match and a 1-0 lead.
The Cougars continued to apply offensive pressure, sending several balls into the box and creating dangerous opportunities across the face of goal as they kept Arizona’s backline under pressure.
In the 82nd minute, Arizona recorded its first shot attempt of the half from the top of the box, forcing a diving save attempt from Peterson, but the shot sailed wide right. Just two minutes later, the Cougars cleared an Arizona shot attempt off a corner kick.
With just five minutes remaining, Arizona took a shot from outside the box that deflected off a BYU defender and found the back of the net, leveling the match at 1-1.
BYU battled through the final minutes, looking for another opportunity to regain the lead, but time expired with the teams deadlocked at 1-1 as the Cougars opened conference play with a draw.
The Cougars return to Provo next week to take on UCF at South Field on Thursday, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. MT. The match will be streamed on ESPN+.
