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Provo • While two-sport star Jennifer Hamson was taking the 2013 women's volleyball season off to concentrate on basketball, a funny thing happened to coach Shawn Olmstead's Cougars.

They found another star. Her name is Alexa Gray.

After bursting on the scene in 2012 and earning WCC Freshman of the Year honors, Gray was sensational as a sophomore. She became the Cougars' go-to hitter last year, picking up AVCA Third-Team All-American accolades in the process.

So 2014 is here, and Hamson is back, making good on a promise to Olmstead to return for her final season of eligibility despite being picked in the second round of last April's WNBA Draft by the Los Angeles Sparks. The Cougars have two bonafide superstars, but women's volleyball rules haven't changed: they still use just one volleyball.

After the Cougars crushed previously unbeaten Utah 3-0 last Friday at the Smith Fieldhouse, Olmstead and Gray both acknowledged that BYU has had to adjust to having both stars on the court at the same time.

"There is for sure a different dynamic with Jen, and I think we just needed to figure it out," said Gray, after recording a match-high 17 kills against the Utes.

"And I think we have figured out how we can play together and how we can flow the game and not have big ups and downs. We're just trying to stay consistent."

Gray's numbers have slipped a bit from 2013 — her hitting percentage through 11 matches is .211, compared to .305 last year — and she's not the focal point of the offense. Hamson is hitting .359, just below the .362 she posted as a junior in 2012, and she is averaging 3.72 kills per set, after averaging 4.0 in 2012.

Olmstead said after the big win over Utah, BYU's fourth straight over its in-state rival, that the two stars are starting to rekindle the chemistry they had back in 2012 when they co-existed enough to help BYU reach the NCAA Regional Semifinals.

"Alexa hasn't had an Alexa Gray season, to be honest," Olmstead said. "She and I are open about that whole thing, and that's the kid that we know, and I told her that. Toward the end of that third set I got mad at our setter because she stopped setting [Gray].

"I got up and I yelled at her, 'Just keep setting that kid.' She killed the next three or four."

Olmstead said the 6-foot-7 Hamson has picked up right where she left off in 2012, but hasn't had to carry the load as much as she did back then.

"There are not many females in the world that can touch what that kid touches," Olmstead said. "I think it is [10 feet, 11½ inches]. On my best days as a volleyball player, I never touched that high, and I will admit it openly."

On a four-match winning streak, BYU (9-2) begins WCC play Thursday night at home (7 p.m., BYUtv) against surprising Gonzaga. The Bulldogs are also 9-2 and off to their best start in program history. Saturday, BYU entertains Portland (5-6).

The WCC boasts two other ranked teams: No. 21 Loyola Marymount (12-0) and No. 24 San Diego (7-5). The Cougars were picked to win the league in the preseason coaches' poll, followed by San Diego and Saint Mary's. —

A closer look at BYU

Nonconference highlights:

• Went 9-2, losing only to No. 5 Washington and No. 14 Colorado State.

• Swept all nine opponents that it defeated, including previously unbeaten Utah.

• Enters WCC play ranked No. 11 in the country by the AVCA. —

Gonzaga at BYU

O Thursday, 7 p.m.

TV • BYUtv