Suli Davis' 26 kills lift No. 24 BYU women's volleyball to 5-set win over Utah

PROVO — BYU's freshman class is just getting started, but especially Big 12 preseason freshman of the year Suli Davis.

The first-year outside hitter from Euless, Texas, poured in 26 kills, nine digs and two assists as No. 24 BYU women's volleyball held off rival Utah — 25-23, 16-25, 25-23, 15-25, 15-10 — Wednesday night in the Cougars' regular-season home finale in front of an announced crowd of 4,592 fans at the Smith Fieldhouse.

Alex Bower dished out 49 assists with eight digs and two blocks for BYU (21-8, 9-8 Big 12).

Brielle Kemavor added 14 kills and three blocks, and Claire Little Chambers had nine kills, seen digs, three assists and a critical ace for the Cougars, who were reverse-swept by the Utes 12 days prior in Salt Lake City.

In fact, five-set matches had not been kind to BYU, with four of their eight Big 12 losses coming in a decisive fifth.

So there was no better time to exorcise some demons than against the Utes, who rode a three-match winning streak into the final regular-season match for BYU seniors Hannah Billeter, Elena Wallace and Macy Marshall.

Davis wasn't celebrating a similar scenario Wednesday night. But the five-time Big 12 rookie of the week set a program record for most kills by a freshman in a single season a week after going for a career-best 28 kills in a 3-1 win over Arizona (that preceded a 3-0 home victory over No. 13 Kansas).

"It's a great thing to have," Davis told ESPN+ of the attempt. "But I couldn't have done it without my team; I give all credit to them and the coaches, as well as this fanbase."

Kamryn Gibadlo led a balanced attack with 22 kills, nine digs and two blocks for Utah (14-14, 5-11 Big 12), and Emrie Moea'i added 11 kills and a career-high eight aces. Levani Key-Powell supplied 11 kills, four digs and three aces, and Joki Neea-Maria put down 10 kills for a Utah squad that out-hit BYU .283 to .263 with 13 aces to the Cougars' four.

Leah Wilton-Laboy distributed 41 assists for the Utes.

This one was anything but a lopsided blowout, though. Not hardly with two teams that know each other so well meeting for the second time in two weeks.

Utah rallied with five straight points in the third set to pull within one, 24-23. But the Cougars again relied on their fabulous freshman, and Davis tooled a kill off the block to take the 2-1 lead, 25-21 with her 18th kill.

But Moea'i, who is the older sister of BYU star safety Faletau Satuala, served four aces during a 6-0 run that helped Utah lead by as much as a 16-6 in the fourth set en route to a 25-15 win.

The Utes hit .346 and held their archrival to the south to .069 to force a decisive fifth set.

But BYU rallied to hit .375 to open the fifth, and Davis capped a 3-0 run to give the hosts a 13-10 advantage in the "race to 15." The freshman superstar's 26th kill of the match found the back corner, and Chambers' ace gave the Cougars a 15-10 win and the Cougars' first five-set win since Sept. 4 against Northern Colorado.

"It was so back-and-forth, such a fun game to play," Davis said. "But so intense. I'm just so happy; we did it for our seniors."

BYU wraps up the regular season Saturday at No. 23 Colorado (1 p.m. MST, ESPN+). Utah is at Texas Tech at noon MST.

The NCAA Tournament bracket will be unveiled Sunday afternoon.

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