Six Cougars earn All-WCC honors

SAN MATEO, Calif. — BYU women’s volleyball had six student-athletes named to All-West Coast Conference teams, the league announced Monday.

Setter Whitney Bower, middle blocker Heather Gneiting, outside hitter Erin Livingston and middle blocker Whitney Llarenas received First Team honors, with libero Kelsey Knudsen and middle blocker Kate Prior named Honorable Mentions. Prior was also awarded All-Freshman Team honors. 

The Cougars (21-6, 15-3 WCC) tied with San Diego and Loyola Marymount as the three schools to have four student-athletes named to the All-WCC First Team. For a full list of this season’s conference honors and awards, visit the WCC website.

Bower, now a four-time All-WCC First Team honoree, averaged 10.22 assists per set for BYU, the third-most in conference, dishing out 705 total assists on the year. The Nampa, Idaho native also recorded 71 kills, 32 total blocks and 13 service aces. 

Also named to the All-WCC First Team for a fourth time, Gneiting led the team with 112 total blocks. Her 1.22 blocks per set ranks No. 53 in the nation and third in the WCC. Hailing from Pleasant Grove, Utah, Gneiting led the team in service aces (30) and finished second on the team in kills (229).

This is the first time Livingston has been named to the All-WCC First Team. She was a Second-Team honoree last season and both an Honorable Mention and All-Freshman Team honoree during the spring 2020-21 season. The Corona, California native paced the Cougars with 404 kills, ranking No. 16 nationwide in kills per set (4.39) and No. 24 in points per set (4.88). Livingston led the conference in both metrics, as well as attacks per set. 

Receiving the first All-WCC honor of her career, Llarenas finished the regular season with the 16th-highest hitting percentage in the country. Her blistering .401 clip led both the team and the WCC this year. Out of Bountiful, Utah, Llarenas is second on the team with 88 total blocks and third with 207 kills.

Knudsen received her second WCC honor this season after also being named an Honorable Mention at Saint Mary’s last year. The Valencia, California native is second on the team in digs, with 224, and first on the team amongst non-setters with 77 assists, also adding 14 service aces. 

Hailing from Henderson, Nevada, Prior provided a spark off the bench during the second half of the season. Tallying 55 kills on a .319 clip, she also contributed 22 total blocks for the year. Prior is the first BYU player to be named to the All-Freshman Team since Livingston in 2020-21.

BYU will travel to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania this week to face James Madison at the Petersen Events Center in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, Dec. 2 at 4 p.m. EST.