Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- Rob Neilson is named BYU women's volleyball head coach replacing Heather Olmstead.
- Neilson returns after a successful six-year tenure at Utah State with 112-59 record.
- BYU All-American setter Alex Bower returns, bolstering the team after portal departures.
PROVO — BYU women's volleyball is turning to a familiar name as the seventh head coach in program history.
The Cougars hired former BYU men's volleyball assistant and one-time interim head coach Rob Neilson on Tuesday, returning to Provo after a historic six-year career at Utah State.
Neilson replaces Heather Olmstead, who led the Cougars through one of the best stretches in program history before stepping down two weeks ago.
The former BYU starting setter who went 91-31 as a player, including the 2004 national championship, Neilson ranked fifth in the Cougars' rally-scoring era with 2,790 career assists to go with a top-10 finish in solo blocks with 28.
"Coaching at BYU is a dream come true," Neilson said in a statement. "This is a distinguished university with storied volleyball programs, built by amazing student-athletes, incredible coaches and a community that's all in. I'm honored to continue that legacy with our women's team."
Neilson returns to his alma mater after a legendary six-season run at Utah State, leading the Aggies to a 112-59 record that included a program-best 24-8 mark and an 18-0 finish in Mountain West play in 2025.
The Aggies also won the Mountain West Tournament title to secure their second NCAA Tournament appearance in four years, and upset seventh-seeded Tennessee in the tournament opener to snap a losing skid on that national stage that dated back to 2001.
Under Neilson's tutelage, Utah State also captured three Mountain West regular-season championships, two tournament titles, 12 all-conference honorees, three all-region selections and one All-American status. He was named the Mountain West coach of the year in 2021, 2023 and 2025 and earned AVCA Pacific North Region coach of the year honors in 2023.
"I'm grateful for Rob's leadership in our volleyball program, including multiple conference championships and NCAA Tournament appearances," Utah State athletic director Cam Walker said in a statement. "The profile of Utah State volleyball has been elevated, and we expected that standard to continue under new leadership. We will be efficient and aggressive in our pursuit of the next leader of Utah State volleyball and will begin an immediate national search."
Grateful to Rob for raising the standard of Utah State volleyball. Our search for the program's next head coach will begin immediately. pic.twitter.com/4ZQlUmXeY6
— Cam Walker (@CamWalker_USU) December 23, 2025
Neilson, who also earned an MBA from BYU while coaching in 2014 prior to spending time with the U.S. men's national team, replaces Olmstead, who went 279-55 in 11 seasons as head coach after taking over for her brother Shawn.
A graduate of Utah State, Olmstead became the fastest coach to reach 200 Division I wins, doing so in just 225 matches, and was the third-fastest to 100 wins just 111 matches while transitioning the Cougars from the West Coast Conference to the Big 12.
The former AVCA national coach of the year in 2018 helped develop 14 All-Americans, 23 all-region honorees, and 22 all-conference awards in the two leagues.
With Neilson's hire, each of Utah's three largest Division I universities will have a first-year head coach in 2026. In addition to Neilson and Olmstead's departures, Beth Launiere retired after 31 seasons at the University of Utah and was immediately replaced by associate head coach Alyssa D'Errico.
With the changes, the Cougars already lost a pair of departures to the NCAA transfer portal: star outside hitter Suli Davis committed to SMU, while reserve opposite Blaykli Bobik committed to TCU.
But Neilson's hire brought good news from another portal departure: BYU All-American setter Alex Bower, who announced Tuesday evening that she was returning to the program where her mother Caroline and sisters Whitney and Morgan both graduated.
The rising junior dished out 1,265 assists last year as a sophomore, helping the Cougars to a 22-9 campaign that included a 14th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
"I'm so excited to play and learn from coach Neilson, a BYU legendary setter," she wrote on Instagram. "I'm grateful for my teammates' support. I know this has been a difficult couple of weeks for them. I love them and can't wait to be with them soon."
