College Roundup: Utah Valley women’s soccer upsets No. 17 Kansas
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- The Utah Valley women’s soccer team celebrates scoring a goal against Kansas in a women’s college soccer match at UCCU Stadium on Thursday, August 27, 2026. (Courtesy UVU Marketing)
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- BYU’s Elli Mortensen (2) reaches for the ball in a women’s college volleyball match against Florida State in Fort Myers, Fla., on Friday, August 28, 2026. (Courtesy BYU Photo)
Utah Valley scored two goals in a span of just 1:24 late in the first half to rally from an early deficit and knock off No. 17/14 Kansas, 2-1, on Thursday night at UCCU Stadium.
The win is Utah Valley’s first of the season as the Wolverines improve to 1-2-1 overall. Kansas falls to 3-2-0.
“I’m super proud of the players’ performance and their commitment level,” Utah Valley head coach Chris Lemay said. “We were challenged in a number of different ways tonight, and I feel like we stepped up and met every challenge.”
Kansas struck first in the 15th minute. Livvy Moore sent a corner kick into the box, where Jillian Gregorski headed the ball into the net to give the Jayhawks a 1-0 advantage.
The Wolverines found the equalizer in the 36th minute. Nixan Jackson received the ball outside the right side of the box, dribbled into the area and made a move around a Kansas defender before sending a left-footed cross toward goal. Malia Jessop got her head on the service and put it into the back of the net to even the match at 1-1.
Just 1:24 later, Sadie Beardall gave Utah Valley the lead. Beardall pressured the Kansas back line and blocked a pass in front of the box before racing the Jayhawk goalkeeper to the loose ball. Beardall got her foot on it as the two collided, sending the ball into the net for a 2-1 UVU advantage in the 38th minute.
“Malia came in off the bench and put her head on a big ball, and then Sadie Beardall was super brave,” Lemay said. “Unbelievable pressure put her in the fortunate situation that she found herself in to tuck that one away.”
The Utah Valley defense made the lead stand over the final 52 minutes despite sustained pressure from the nationally ranked Jayhawks. Kansas finished with a 16-7 advantage in shots and a 5-4 edge in shots on goal. The Jayhawks also held a 5-1 advantage in corner kicks.
Kate Shirts led the Wolverines with two shots, while five other UVU players recorded one apiece.
Madeleine Boucher made four saves in goal to secure the victory, while Tess Livingston played all 90 minutes on the back line.
“I thought Madeleine did unbelievable as a freshman in goal,” Lemay said. “I thought Tess stepped up, played 90 minutes and was solid in the back. Overall, I’m just so pleased for the players.”
Utah Valley now travels to Hawaii for the OUTRIGGER No Ka Oi, where the Wolverines will take on Washington State on Sept. 3 and New Mexico State on Sept. 6. UVU then returns home to host San Diego State on Sept. 12.
No. 24 Cougars rally to top Florida State in five sets
FORT MYERS, Fla. — After trailing 2-0 on opening day, No. 24 BYU women’s volleyball made a remarkable comeback to beat Florida State in five sets (8-25, 19-25, 25-12, 25-20, 15-20) at Alico Arena on Friday afternoon.
The Cougars hit just .042 in the first two sets, but found their offense and posted hitting percentages of .600, .219 and .478 in the final three sets.
A solo 3-0 run by Claire Little Chambers to start the fifth paved way for a Sophia Callahan-Dimitra Nanou 3-0 run of kills, forcing a Florida State timeout with BYU leading 6-2. The Cougars forced the Seminoles’ second timeout after another Nanou kill, at 9-5.
Nanou, Little Chambers and Brooke Hardy pushed the Cougars to the finish from there, earning the reverse sweep with a final Little Chambers-KJ Burgess double block, 15-11.
BYU (1-0, 0-0 Big 12) had seven different players with a kill, led by Little Chambers, who finished a dig shy of a double-double (12 kills and nine digs) to go along with a career-high six blocks.
Nanou (nine kills), Callahan (nine kills), Kate Prior (eight kills), Hardy (eight kills) and Burgess (four kills) supplemented Little Chambers offensively.
Setters Kaylie Kofe and Alex Bower finished with 21 and 20 assists, respectively, while libero Lulu Po’uha recorded a match-high 11 digs. Burgess joined Po’uha with a match high of her own, tallying eight blocks.
BYU was scheduled to wrap up the FGCU Invitational on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET against host Florida Gulf Coast on ESPN+.
Utah Valley women’s volleyball falls short in opener
UVU women’s volleyball dropped its season opener to Utah Tech 3-1 (21-25, 25-21, 22-25, 11-25) on Friday morning inside Lockhart Arena.
Madi Standifird recorded a career-high 17 kills for UVU (0-1), but the Wolverines were unable to slow down a balanced Trailblazer attack as Utah Tech (1-0) earned a 3-1 victory behind 16 kills from Nana Asiata.
Lani Toutai finished with 18 digs and six assists for Utah Valley as she passed 1,200 career digs in the match. She needs seven digs to pass Camie Manwill for fourth all-time.
In her UVU debut, Brielle Rueckert played a key role with eight kills and six blocks. Olivia Gloeckner, Chloe Hansen and Alyvia Watkins each added two kills in the second-set win.
The Wolverines (were scheduled to play the University of Utah Friday evening at 7 p.m.
