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BYU's Brooke Hardy takes a swing against Baylor in a Big 12 women's volleyball match at the Smith Fieldhouse on Friday, Sept. 25, 2026.

Courtesy BYU Athletics

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BYU's Elli Mortensen (right) celebrates a point with teammate Brooke Hardy in a Big 12 women's volleyball match against Baylor at the Smith Fieldhouse on Friday, Sept. 25, 2026.

Courtesy BYU Athletics

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No. 22 BYU took down No. 17 Baylor in a five-set thriller (25-19, 25-23, 21-25, 22-25, 15-10) at a booming Smith Fieldhouse on Friday night.

The Cougars (9-1, 1-0 Big 12) went all out in their first Big 12 matchup of the season, with four Cougars (Claire Little Chambers, Elli Mortensen, Brooke Hardy and Sophia Callahan) earning 10+ kills each for the first time this season. Little Chambers led the team with 21 kills, while Mortensen, Hardy and Callahan followed with 17, 11 and 10, respectively.

Moretensen earned her first career double-double in the fourth set with 17 kills and a career-high 14 digs. Little Chambers and Lulu Po’uha each marked nine digs out of the team’s 46.

Hardy not only tallied a career-high of 11 kills, but also led the team in a career-high of six aces, the most by a freshman in the rally-scoring era at BYU. Little Chambers and Mortensen also contributed to the team’s season-high nine aces.

Kelli Jo Burgess led the Cougars in blocks with seven, and Little Chambers and Kate Prior followed close behind with three each. Kaylie Kofe and Alex Bower added to BYU’s successful night with 26 and 25 assists, respectively.

BYU won the first two sets but Baylor rallied to claim the next two to set up the fifth. Three kills by Mortensen, as well as kills from Little Chambers, Burgess and Hardy kept the score close at 8-8. An error and an unsuccessful challenge from the Bears put BYU in the lead at 10-8, forcing a timeout.

Baylor couldn’t return yet another short serve from Hardy, convincing the visitors to quickly call another timeout at 11-8. The Cougars continued to feed off the energy with back-to-back kills from Little Chambers and a thrilling block, increasing their score to 14-8. Two points from the Bears caused a BYU timeout at 14-10.

The timeout was all the Cougars needed to win the set and the match off a kill by Little Chambers at 15-10.

The Cougars and Bears traded points back and forth to start the match, highlighted by kills from Mortensen, Little Chambers and Hardy. Baylor had four blocks before Little Chambers and Burgess tallied BYU’s first block of the night, putting the Cougars in the lead at 9-8. Back and forth scoring continued until the media timeout at 15-14 with the visitors out front.

Out of the timeout, the Bears had a service error, followed by a back-to-back kill and ace from Hardy. After four unanswered points by the Cougars, Baylor called its first timeout at 18-15.

Another ace from Hardy followed the timeout, and Prior helped BYU maintain the momentum with a kill, bringing the score to 20-16. An overpass kill from Callahan forced yet another timeout from the Bears at 23-17. A fourth kill by Mortensen allowed the Cougars to take the first set with a score of 25-19.

The second set started out like the first, with the two teams battling back and forth for the lead. A kill by Callahan and an ace from Little Chambers gave the Cougars a bit of an edge at 5-3. BYU and Baylor made back-to-back errors on both the service and middle lines. The Cougars gained control and went on a 5-1 run, featuring another kill by Mortensen. Prior and Burgess created an unbreakable wall with a block, causing the Bears to call their first timeout of the set at 12-7.

Hardy stayed at the service line until the media timeout at 15-7, gaining her third ace of the night and forcing Baylor to play out of system. Out of the timeout, Callahan stopped a 4-1 run from the Bears with a tip over the BU block at 17-11. Continuing to trade points, and a kill down the line by Mortensen brought the score to 22-17.

The Cougars found themselves too close for comfort after a three-point run from the Bears, and head coach Rob Neilson called a timeout at 22-20. Despite back-and-forth points out of the timeout, BYU won the second set 25-23 after Baylor’s ninth service error of the set.

The Cougars began the third set trying to dig themselves out of a hole after a 4-1 run by Baylor. Mortensen attempted to give the momentum to the Cougars with her 12th kill of the night, but the Bears extended their lead to 6-2. The teams went through another period of trading points, with more kills from Little Chambers, Hardy and Prior. A Baylor block triggered a timeout from BYU at 13-8.

After the timeout, a monster swing from Little Chambers was unable to be dug by the Bears, starting BYU’s 3-1 run. A Baylor kill took the set into the media timeout at 15-11. Back and forth points followed the timeout, and after a long rally and many swings by Little Chambers, she finally earned a kill wth a hard shot cross court at 18-13.

The teams continued to take turns tallying points, until BYU gained some ground on a 4-1 run, forcing a timeout from Baylor and bringing the score to 21-18. The Cougars fought to maintain momentum with kills from Hardy, Anna Blamires and Little Chambers, but ultimately fell to the Bears 25-21.

BYU started the fourth set energetic, with two opening kills by Little Chambers. Neither team wanted to let up as they entered into another round of back-and-forth scoring. Hardy’s tip around the block and line-shot swing gave her a career-high nine kills and brought the score to 7-6 with Baylor in the lead. A 4-1 run by the Bears forced a Cougar timeout at 12-9.

Two kills by Mortensen and a solo block by Hardy kept BYU alive, bringing the score closer at 13-12. Bower dove into the team bench to save a touch off the block, and the Cougars later continued their 5-1 run with a powerful kill by Callahan. Another Callahan kill led into the media timeout at 15-14, BYU taking the lead.

BYU’s run was answered by a Baylor run of 3-1. A successful BYU challenge forced a replay, allowing Hardy to stop the Bears’ run and extend her kill streak at 17-17. Hardy then appeared at the service line and earned her career-high fourth ace of the night, convincing Baylor to call a timeout at 18-17.

Two unanswered points from the visitors caused a Cougar timeout at 19-18, the team’s second of the set. BYU found itself unable to answer another two Baylor points, and Neilson quickly called timeout, down 21-18. Three kills from Blamires and Callahan and a Baylor service error gave the momentum back to BYU with a 3-1 run. A block and successful challenge by the Bears led to their fourth set win at 25-22.

BYU will travel to Manhattan, Kansas to take on Kansas State in another Big 12 matchup on Oct. 1 at 5:30 p.m. MDT. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.