Her Y

Cougar Confab is a new podcast series that previews each BYU women's athletic team as they prepare for the upcoming season.

Lauren McClain chats with BYU Soccer midfielder Lucy Kesler about the opportunities and challenges awaiting the Cougars this season. From increased responsibilities on the field to the mindset of a team with championship aspirations, Lucy offers insight into what fans can expect from BYU Soccer this year.

Cougar Confab is a new series that previews each BYU women's athletic team as they prepare for the upcoming season.

In this episode, Lauren McClain sits down with BYU Soccer forward Ellie Walbruch as she prepares for her final season as a Cougar. Ellie shares her expectations for the year ahead, her goals on and off the field, and why this season holds special significance for both her and the team.

From Pitt to Paris to Provo, BYU women’s volleyball middle

blocker Rachel Jepsen’s path has taken her places she never

expected. She’s competed at the highest level of collegiate

volleyball, learned to find peace through some of life’s hardest

moments, and ultimately stepped away from the game she loves

to serve others. Now back on the court as a Cougar, Rachel

returns to volleyball and is ready for the next chapter of her story

here at BYU.

BYU women's soccer goalkeeper Paiton Collins didn't plan on being a Cougar. She didn't plan on being a starting goalkeeper in the Big 12. In fact, she didn’t plan on playing collegiate soccer at all. She had stepped away from soccer, moved on, and was starting to build a completely different life until one unexpected opportunity pulled her back to the game. Now, she’s showing up on South Field and talking about what it takes to walk through an open door you never saw coming.

Her Y is taking a summer break, but we'll be back soon with the start of Season 5. In the meantime, we're partnering with podcasts that share our mission of celebrating women in sport.

This week, we're sharing an episode from The Female Athlete Project podcast, founded and hosted by former Rugby 7's Olympic Gold Medalist Chloe Dalton. Chloe sits down with Australian Ironwoman Lizzie Wellborn, whose path to elite sport started far from a typical athletic upbringing. They dig into the pressure of early success, the mental and physical toll of competing in a grueling multi-discipline sport, and the personal battles Lizzie's faced along the way — plus the program she co-founded to help the next generation of female athletes navigate it all.

Her Y is taking a summer break, but the podcast will return soon with the start of season 5. In the meantime, we're partnering with podcasts that share our mission of celebrating women in sport.

This week, we're sharing an episode from the Hear Her Sports podcast, hosted by former professional cyclist Elizabeth Emery. Elizabeth talks to two-time Olympian and elite distance runner Molly Huddle in this episode. Huddle is the mother of two, but was pregnant when this podcast was recorded.

Molly opens up about training through pregnancy, navigating postpartum injuries, the lack of resources for athlete-mothers, and the quiet grief of watching your ambition get redirected.

BYU women's soccer midfielder Halle Dixon has faced obstacles most athletes never will — and she'll tell you every single one was worth it. In this episode of Her Y, Halle shares the story behind her journey to South Field, the mindset that has carried her through the hardest seasons of her life, and what it really means to play with gratitude and trust God through it all.

Podcast note: This episode was recorded before Halle tore her ACL during a soccer tournament in Spring 2026.

Cambria Hasler joined BYU's track and field team as a freshman sprinter with big goals and the determination to make an immediate impact. But the jump to collegiate competition brought more challenges than she expected, testing both her confidence and resilience along the way. Surrounded by teammates and coaches who saw her potential even when she struggled to see it herself, she eventually found her breakthrough. Yet just as everything seemed to be falling into place, her faith led her to put her athletic pursuits on hold and embrace an unexpected next chapter as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In this episode of Her Y, host Lauren McLain sits down with Mattyn Summers-Oviatt to talk about her remarkable journey: from a late-start recruitment during COVID, to her freshman year at St. Louis University, to a full-time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Puebla, Mexico. That one decision to serve God changed everything.

Mattyn opens up about the surprising spiritual prompting that led her to transfer to BYU, the faith it took to leave behind a team that believed in her, and what it felt like to finally find her footing as a Cougar. She also shares the story behind BYU's magical postseason run — including the header goal against UCLA that sent the Cougars to the Sweet 16.

But perhaps the most extraordinary chapter? Being invited — almost overnight — to represent the American Samoa Women's National Team in World Cup qualifying, competing in the Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, and New Zealand, and helping put a tiny island nation on the soccer map for the first time in history.

From delivering Diet Cokes as an unpaid student intern to her current position as a senior producer for BYU Athletics, Anna Brower has proven that the best seat in LaVell Edward’s Stadium is behind the camera. As the creative force behind “The Cut” and the social media content for BYU football and Cosmo, Anna has helped build one of college football’s most recognizable content brands. In this episode, Anna pulls back the curtain on “The Cut”, BYU Football’s fan-favorite video series – and the relationships, late nights, and creative strategy behind it all.