How to Watch No. 11 BYU vs. No. 25 Colorado Volleyball

Colorado just walked into Iowa State, hit .375 and out-blocked the Cyclones 10-2. BYU has answered its last five opponents with five sweeps.

Something has to give Thursday night.

No. 11 BYU hosts No. 25 Colorado at 6:30 p.m. Mountain on Thursday, Oct. 22, inside Smith Fieldhouse. ESPN+ has the stream, StatBroadcast has the official live statistics, and BYU’s stable schedule ID is 25241.

The Cougars are 15-1 and alone atop the Big 12 at 7-0. Colorado is 13-4 and 4-3, but its latest result is the part worth carrying to Provo: a 26-24, 25-16, 25-23 road sweep of an Iowa State team that entered the night 5-1 in league play.

BYU-Colorado watch information

BYU’s event record lists 2026-10-23 at 00:30 UTC, which converts to 6:30 p.m. MDT on Thursday in Provo. BYU’s official preview, Colorado’s Iowa State recap and the BYU calendar all publish the same Mountain start. Both athletic departments list ESPN+ and live stats.

Neither school has published a radio option. The direct ESPN player may ask for a subscription or redirect by device. If that temporary route changes, use the permanent BYU schedule rather than an unofficial stream listing.

Colorado brings one hitter and several ways to protect her

Ana Burilovic is not a secret. Colorado’s official season totals list 276 kills in 64 sets, or 4.31 per set. She has taken 713 swings, far more than any other Buffalo, and she also leads the team with 30 service aces.

That sounds like a simple defensive assignment until the Iowa State match is unpacked. Burilovic had 17 kills and hit .517, but Colorado did not ask her to rescue every rotation. Ines Losada added 13 kills and four blocks. Maria Splawska finished with seven blocks. Cayla Payne had five kills without an error, and Jenna Ylivainio distributed 39 assists in three sets.

Colorado’s most dangerous version is not merely Burilovic getting a large workload. It is Burilovic taking that workload while the middle of the court remains credible. If BYU’s block leans toward the left pin before Ylivainio releases the ball, Payne or Splawska can attack the space that movement creates. If the Cougars sit home in the middle, Burilovic gets a cleaner look outside.

Kelli Jo Burgess is the hinge in that decision. BYU’s preview lists her at a national-best 1.87 blocks per set and 101 total blocks. Her job is larger than chasing a stuff. She has to read Ylivainio long enough to respect Colorado’s middle, then close without leaving a seam outside.

Watch Burgess’ first step. A calm lateral move after the set is information that BYU’s serve and back row have made Colorado predictable. An early guess followed by a late correction means the Buffaloes are holding the Cougar block in two places.

Five straight sweeps have come from more than one pin

BYU’s winning streak is 12 matches. The sharper current number is five consecutive sweeps.

The last two came on the road at Utah and Arizona. Across those six sets, BYU hit .303 and held its opponents to .182. Elli Mortensen led the Cougars with 30 kills at .338. Kate Prior, Burgess and Brooke Hardy each reached double-digit kills for the week while hitting at least .300.

That distribution is why BYU can survive a night when one lane closes. Mortensen tied career highs with 19 kills and 14 digs at Arizona. Claire Little Chambers added a double-double of her own. Alex Bower averaged 6.83 assists per set for the week, while Kaylie Kofe averaged 6.0. Colorado cannot build one block assignment and consider the problem solved.

The Buffaloes’ 10-2 blocking edge at Iowa State still matters. Splawska recorded seven, Losada and Lily Dwinell had four apiece, and Colorado held the Cyclones to .184 hitting. The block did more than end rallies. It narrowed Iowa State’s swings and let Colorado’s floor defense work behind a smaller picture.

BYU’s answer should not be a race to hit over every pair of hands. The Cougars have been at their best when a block touch becomes another possession rather than an emergency. A covered Mortensen swing can come back as a Hardy quick, a Prior right-side ball or another pin attempt against a block that has to rebuild.

The useful count Thursday is not just Colorado’s stuffs. Count how often BYU covers its own hitter and creates a second organized swing. That will show whether the Cougars’ balance is surviving contact at the net.

First contact decides whether this becomes a block contest

BYU enters Thursday ranked fourth nationally in hitting percentage at .310. It is also 11th in assists per set, 13th in kills per set and 16th in blocks per set. Those are connected numbers, not separate strengths.

A clean pass allows Bower or Kofe to hold Colorado’s middle blocker with Burgess or Hardy before sending the ball outside. A pass pulled off the net removes that delay. Colorado can release toward Mortensen or Little Chambers earlier and turn BYU’s varied offense into a predictable high ball.

Colorado faces the same problem. Burilovic can terminate a bad ball, but repeated out-of-system swings make even an elite pin easier to surround. BYU does not need an ace on every trip to the service line. It needs enough pressure to move Ylivainio away from the net and make the set obvious sooner.

Lulu Po’uha’s work will be easy to miss if fans watch only the final swing. She had 19 digs across the Utah-Arizona week. A controlled first contact from Po’uha keeps all of BYU’s options alive; a spectacular dig sent into the seats may save one point but does not build the next attack.

Colorado has its own back-row counter. Tinons Munar Galmes has played all 64 sets and anchors a defense that has held opponents to .179 hitting for the season. BYU may win plenty of clean-looking swings without ending the rally. The Cougars have to expect the ball back and keep their transition spacing.

The end of the first set will tell us more than the beginning

Colorado trailed Iowa State 8-4 in the first set and still won 26-24. The Buffaloes also watched a 3-2 third-set lead become an 8-3 deficit before recovering for a 25-23 close.

Those turns make the match harder to judge from an early Smith Fieldhouse run. BYU can serve Colorado out of system, win a few blocks and create noise quickly. Colorado’s latest road win says it can absorb that kind of opening without abandoning its plan.

The sharper checkpoint arrives after 20. Burilovic scored repeatedly late against Iowa State, but Colorado’s winning points did not all come through her. Losada combined with Splawska to close the first set on a block. Splawska put Colorado at match point with another block in the third, and Dwinell ended the match with a kill.

BYU has built its own late-set evidence. At Arizona, the Cougars erased a 21-19 first-set deficit, fought off set point and let Little Chambers finish a 3-0 closing run of kills. They then scored the final five points of the second set.

Thursday puts two steady closing teams into the same gym. If the score reaches 20-20, watch which setter can still sell the middle. The team forced into an obvious outside ball will be asking its best pin to beat a formed block at the exact moment every touch feels heavier.

The ranking jump needs a home receipt

BYU rose from No. 17 to No. 14 and then No. 11 in consecutive AVCA polls. The NCAA committee also placed the Cougars No. 9 in its Top 16 reveal. That recognition follows a 15-1 start, but it does not finish the argument.

Colorado is the first half of a ranked home weekend. No. 8 Arizona State follows Saturday. The temptation is to treat Thursday as the setup and Saturday as the main event. That would be a tidy way to lose control of the week.

Colorado’s three Big 12 losses came against Utah, TCU and Arizona State. The Buffaloes then beat Kansas State in five and swept Iowa State on the road. They are not arriving as a ranking decoration. They are arriving with a pin who scores 4.31 kills per set and a front row that just won the block count by eight.

BYU also knows this matchup does not respect home court automatically. The teams split their 2025 meetings, and the road team won each in four sets. BYU leads the series 9-2, but last season is the better warning: Smith Fieldhouse alone will not solve Colorado’s offense.

Four things to watch Thursday

1. Where Burgess moves first. If she can honor Colorado’s middle and still close toward Burilovic, BYU’s serve and read block are working together.
2. BYU’s second swing. Colorado will touch attacks. The Cougars need to cover those balls and rebuild a full offense instead of sending a free ball back.
3. Burilovic after 20 points. She is Colorado’s volume scorer, but the Buffaloes closed Iowa State through blocks and a Dwinell kill too. BYU cannot stare at one hitter and lose the next action.
4. The first pass after a timeout. Both teams can make runs. The cleaner response will show which side can restore its offense before the run becomes a set.

What comes next

BYU stays home to face No. 8 Arizona State at 6:30 p.m. Mountain on Saturday, Oct. 24. Colorado visits Utah on Sunday. The Cougars and Buffaloes meet again in Boulder on Nov. 5, so Thursday also creates the first scouting file for a quick return match.

For the lead-up, read our recap of BYU’s sweep at Arizona and the Arizona watch guide that framed the first-contact and block contest. The volleyball hub keeps the roster and season links together, while the results archive will carry the final set scores after BYU publishes them.

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Sources and further reading

• BYU Athletics event 25241 for the stable schedule ID, UTC start, Smith Fieldhouse venue, conference and home designations, ranking label and scheduled status.
• BYU Athletics: No. 11 BYU hosts Colorado and Arizona State for the ESPN+ and StatBroadcast routes, current records, rankings, national and Big 12 statistical context, player production and series history.
• BYU Athletics: sweep at Arizona and the official box score for BYU’s latest set sequence and individual lines.
• Colorado Athletics: 3-0 win at Iowa State for independent confirmation of Thursday’s logistics, Colorado’s latest set scores, .375 attack, 10 blocks and player lines.
• Colorado’s official 2026 cumulative statistics for Burilovic’s season workload, Ylivainio’s assists and Colorado’s team attack, defense and service totals.
• BYU’s official color guide and CU Boulder’s official visual identity guide for the palettes used in the original matchup art.
• BYU Sport Nuts: Arizona recap, volleyball schedule, results and roster.