Plenty of stars rise up in BYU's run to women's volleyball Final Four


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PROVO — Shawn Olmstead faced a problem last year, though it's not necessarily a bad one to have.

With star opposite Jennifer Hamson using a redshirt year to focus on basketball, a move that would lead to a run to the Sweet 16 for the Cougar hoops squad, the women's volleyball coach looked for someone to fill the spot in the lineup.

And one just landed at the front door of his office — literally, in the form of Northern Colorado transfer Tambre Nobles.

"Her dad came to me and said, 'I'm moving to Provo, and my daughter is coming to BYU whether she plays volleyball or not,’ ” Olmstead said of his first encounter with Nobles.

During an open gym shortly before BYU's 2013 season, Athletic Director Tom Holmoe saw Nobles play. He knew the Cougars could use the Colorado native — and quickly went to the president’s office to admit the transfer one week before BYU’s add/drop scheduling deadline.

Nobles put down 416 kills as a junior, and BYU made a run to its second Sweet 16 in as many years — and returned nearly the entire roster for 2014.


There have been so many girls who have played such a huge part in this season. It's an entire team effort, and I'm so happy for these girls and for this team.

–BYU coach Shawn Olmstead


With Nobles and Hamson together for a season, BYU turned a Sweet 16-worthy squad into the second Final Four team in school history, and the first since 1993. The Cougars (29-4) will face Texas (27-2) on Thursday at 5 p.m. MST in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The winner of that match will face the winner of Stanford-Penn State in Saturday’s national championship. Both matches will be televised on ESPN2.

But this year’s run has been about more than Nobles and Hamson.

"There have been so many girls who have played such a huge part in this season,” Olmstead said. “It's an entire team effort, and I'm so happy for these girls and for this team.”

That isn’t saying the addition of Nobles, who has 211 kills with a .193 hitting percentage, turned BYU into a strong contender, especially a year ago when the thought to redshirt Hamson came up.

"She's one of the reasons we could afford to redshirt Jen, to be honest," Olmstead said. "It made me a lot less uneasy. We had good kids, but Tambre allowed a lot more options."

The Cougars have also been helped by junior outside hitter Alexa Gray, the 6-foot-2 Canadian star who was Olmstead’s first commit as a collegiate head coach.

Olmstead saw film of Gray when she starred for Canada at an international tournament in Guatemala. The new head coach booked an immediate flight to Alberta to see the then-16-year-old Gray play, and invited her to Provo for a volleyball camp.

Once she got to Utah, Gray caught the eye of legendary BYU volleyball coach Elaine Michaelis, who told Olmstead to do whatever it takes to sign the upstart teenager. Olmstead called Gray into his office, explained what he thought she could do at BYU and listened to her responses with a laid-back string of "OKs" that are customary of many teenagers.

“I said, ‘Kid, what does OK mean?’ 'Yeah, I'm going to come,’ ” Olmstead remembers of the conversation before adding, “It was the greatest day ever. She's done a lot for this school, representing her family. Her sister is here playing BYU rugby, and she's done a lot of things for their family and representing BYU well, too."

Gray leads the BYU attack with 296 kills on a .288 hitting percentage, but she’s hardly the only weapon on the Cougars’ offense. In some ways, the West Coast Conference Player of the Year has gone unnoticed behind standouts like Hamson, Nobles and middle blocker Whitney Young, who leads the nation with 1.92 blocks per set.

Alexa Gray puts down a kill for the BYU women's volleyball team in a match against the University of San Diego last year. (Mark Philbrick/BYU Photo)
Alexa Gray puts down a kill for the BYU women's volleyball team in a match against the University of San Diego last year. (Mark Philbrick/BYU Photo)

“Jen takes a lot of notice,” Olmstead said. “I believe Jen got us here, playing back-to-back and after the performance she had Friday night, Alexa had to play big-time volleyball, and she did. Alexa was all-world, put together an outstanding performance (against Nebraska), and we needed that. We explained to them we needed to do that in that match."

BYU’s offense isn’t the only group getting a lot of credit for its run. The improvement of the team’s back-row defense, led by libero Ciara Parker and her 464 digs on the year, has been a big factor.

“(The defense) helps us blockers to take more risk, knowing they are there in case we miss it,” Hamson said. “I think our defense has stepped up, and I'm so proud of everyone and how they've been playing."

Despite the historic run and stars-in-their-eyes moments in Oklahoma City, the Cougars are determined to stay focused on the next step — the Longhorns.

"They're going to be physical, but I believe we can match with them physically,” Olmstead said. “The important thing is for us to be even through the ups and downs of that match. They will be there for both teams. It'll be important to stay composed, and when we've got a run, just run with it.”

BYU’s offense is rolling behind myriad stars, and the Cougars have yet to play a postseason match into the fifth set — with sweeps in the tourney opener against Seton Hall and No. 14 Nebraska in the Seattle regional final.

"We're playing really well right now, and I think the best thing is that we aren't just a one-hit wonder,” Hamson said. “Everyone's been contributing. Nebraska tried to plan for me, and then Alexa and Tambre went off. I think it makes it hard to play against."

Even though BYU appears to be the odd-man out on paper, competing against traditional powers Texas, Penn State and top-ranked Stanford, the Cougars don’t feel like outsiders to the tournament.

"They've won the matches, and at times, they beat these teams convincingly,” Olmstead said. "The girls know they deserve to be here, and that's really helped us."

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