BYU Women’s Volleyball Claims WCC Championship In Historic Spring Season

PROVO, Utah – BYU women’s volleyball is your outright West Coast Conference champions in an unprecedented spring season. The 2021 edition of Heather Olmstead’s dominant program claimed the outright regular-season title with a sweep over Santa Clara.

Been preparing for this moment since last year 🥳 pic.twitter.com/QDd7VkOdHK

— BYU Women’s Volleyball (@BYUwvolleyball) March 31, 2021

The title is BYU’s seventh since joining the West Coast Conference in 2011.

The Cougars held a one-game lead in the conference standings over second-place Pepperdine coming into Wednesday’s match. BYU was 14-1 in the conference, and Pepperdine was 12-2 with two matches remaining this weekend. A loss would have left BYU with the possibility of having to share the 2021 WCC crown. Instead, they took care of business and claimed the outright title.

BYU had a hit percentage at 45 percent during the match. Senior Taylen Ballard-Nixon had 12 kills to lead the way for the Cougars. The win closes BYU’s regular season at 15-1 in the WCC and 16-1 overall in a historic spring season.

.@BYUwvolleyball has captured the #WCCsports 🏆

The Cougs are 7️⃣-time WCC Champs!#WCCsports pic.twitter.com/ODUrq2PDka

— West Coast Conference (@WCCsports) March 31, 2021

Typically, women’s volleyball is played in the fall semester. Still, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the WCC delayed all of its fall sports, forcing student-athletes to wait longer than expected to compete. BYU made the most of their opportunities blowing through a West Coast Conference race led by seniors Ballard-Nixon and Kennedy Eschenberg.

BYU will now prepare for a bid in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. The Selection Show takes place on Sunday at 2 p.m. on ESPNU. BYU has gone to eight consecutive NCAA Tournaments, advancing to at least the Second Round during this impressive run. In 2014, BYU made a run all the way to the NCAA Tournament Final before falling to Penn State.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m., KSL Newsradio). Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper and the KSL Sports app.