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PROVO — For BYU women's volleyball setter Whitney Bower, the fifth-year senior wants to wrap up her final year of eligibility with the Cougars with a bang.
What bigger "bang" to go out than one that starts the season?
No, this isn't another story about BYU, which is ranked No. 17 in the AVCA preseason coaches' poll, and its inaugural campaign in the Big 12 Conference (though, we'll get to that in a moment).
"I just want to finish my career here with a bang, and I know moving to the Big 12, we're moving in that direction," said Bower, the BYU legacy recruit who reclassified after her junior year at Skyview High in Nampa, Idaho, to start accumulating 3,603 career assists, 312 kills, 101 aces and 985 digs. "Our team is so stacked this year and they're so fun to play with already."
The Cougars' first season since leaving the West Coast Conference for life on the plains will start with an even bigger challenge, well before BYU travels to Norman, Oklahoma; Manhattan, Kansas; or Orlando.
The "bang" that Bower mentions? It can just as easily describe BYU's start to the year.
The Cougars will open their first season with a Big 12 patch on their jerseys Friday and Saturday at the Ellesyn Invitational in Missoula, Montana, and it doesn't get any bigger than Match No. 1 against No. 5 Pittsburgh.
It's a team BYU knows well, having faced the Panthers four times in the last three seasons, including a pair of losses a year ago in the regular season and the NCAA Tournament.
"We knew what we were doing when we scheduled Pitt, and our players are excited to once again play one of the best teams in the country," said BYU coach Heather Olmstead, now entering her ninth season leading the Cougars with a 213-29 overall record, an .880 win percentage that ranks highest among all active NCAA Division I head coaches. "I think it's going to be a great matchup for us. I'm not sure who thinks we are going to win that matchup but probably the Cougars. But we're excited to match up against a former Final Four team and a team that trains well and has good coaching. It's exciting for us, and it's something we've been able to get excited for over the summer."
The Cougars return nine players from last year's squad that went 22-7 en route to the NCAA's second round, including Bower and outside hitter Erin Livingston, who earned All-Big 12 preseason honors.
They also welcome eight newcomers to the squad with six freshmen and two Division I transfers in former Arizona libero Kamaile Hiapo and junior setter Kalia Thunstrom from Utah State before a weekend tournament that also Texas-Rio Grande Valley and host Montana.
"I think us seniors have had this standard for our team and we're trying to uphold it, to hold everyone accountable, and to motivate everyone to be the best they can be," said Livingston, a team captain. "It's fun to be together for this long, and to have a group of newcomers come in that connect right away, too."
That growth through a tough schedule doesn't stop after the opening weekend. The Cougars' nonconference schedule also features former WCC rival Loyola Marymount, a road trip to Washington State, and in-state rivalry matches with Utah, Utah Valley and Olmstead's alma mater Utah State — picked to win a share of the Mountain West title — in Logan.
That's even before they hit Big 12 play, where BYU was picked to finish second behind only defending conference and national champion Texas in the league.
The Cougars are honored by such a presumption, but also feel that they've earned it.
"It's really cool to see that honor from so many people. But, obviously, we have to prove it (this year)," Livingston said. "I think we're all really excited to prove it as we play these new teams and see what we got, after working so hard in the summer and through preseason."
They also know what that tough schedule, both in-conference and out of it, is to help prepare them.
"I just want to win," Bower said. "And I just want to go into the Big 12 having fun and winning. I believe in myself, but I believe more in my teammates, and I know that we can win a championship — a Big 12 championship or a national championship or whatever — if we just believe in each other. I just want to go out with a bang … end on a high note, fight and win."
