BYU Women's Volleyball End Season with Second Place

This last weekend, the BYU Women's Volleyball team led by great athletes like Jennifer Hamson and Alexa Gray played in the final four of the national tournament and went on to play in the National Championship against the defending champion, Penn State. This would be only the second time BYU has gone to the final four.

On December 18, BYU played the semifinal game against No. 2-seeded Texas. They won the first two sets, lost the third, and then finished the game with a kill to cap the set 26-24 and to win the game 3-1. Jennifer Hamson had a great game with 22 kills, 25.5 points, 10 digs, and 7 block assists. Alexa Gray also had a great game with 19 kills and 20.5 points. The third best player in my opinion was Alohi Robins-Hardy, a dual-threat athlete like Jennifer Hamson in basketball and women's volleyball. She had a good game with 54 assists. and 8 digs.

After winning against Texas, BYU went on to the National Championship to play No. 5-seeded Penn State (defending champion). The first two sets were close in points (25-21, 26-24), but BYU wasn't able to pull the win in either one of them. Then Penn State won the game with a third win to make the final score 3-0. Jennifer Hamson again had a good game with 14 kills, 8 digs, and 16 points. Alexa Gray had 9 kills and 10 points, and Amy Boswell had 7 kills and 9.5 points. Alohi Robins-Hardy had 31 assists and 8 digs. The women had a tough time trying to beat them, but just couldn't pull the win. 

Finishing in second place, BYU went farther than some people thought. They excelled and made an excellent run with 3-0 and 3-1 wins throughout the whole tournament until the national championship. With players like Alexa Gray, Amy Boswell, and hopefully Alohi Robins-Hardy returning next year, they should have another great season. They ended this season with a great 30-5 overall record.

Jennifer Hamson has now finished at BYU and has a big decision to make in whether she wants to pursue volleyball or basketball. The Los Angeles Sparks drafted her earlier this year, so if she wants to go that route she has an open door for her in basketball, or she can go pursue professional volleyball.