Benson tallies 17 kills in opening night sweep

Outside hitter Luke Benson's 17 kills fueled No. 9 BYU men's volleyball to a 3-0 sweep of No. 11 Ball State on Friday night.

Author Cameron Muh
Benson tallies 17 kills in opening night sweepBenson tallies 17 kills in opening night sweep
Box Score

PROVO, Utah  — Outside hitter Luke Benson fueled No. 9 BYU men's volleyball to a 3-0 sweep of No. 11 Ball State (25-19, 25-21, 25-20) in its season opener at the Smith Fieldhouse on Friday night.

The Cougars (1-0, 0-0 MPSF) finished with a .321 hitting percentage for the match, led by Benson's 17 kills on a career-high .762 clip. Fellow outside Miks Ramanis had eight kills, while middle blocker Ethan Gant posted a career-high two kills.

Setter Noa Haine dished out 30 assists to go along with three kills, with Benson tallying a team-high seven digs and middle blocker Teon Taylor leading the way recording three total blocks.

IMG_0810
IMG_0811
IMG_0812
IMG_0813

Set One
A pair of Benson kills paced BYU in the early going, with the sophomore's third kill of the night snapping a 3-0 Ball State run and tying the match at seven. Taylor landed a quick hitter that kickstarted a 3-0 Cougar run which featured a triple block and Ramanis ace, forcing a Cardinal timeout with BYU ahead 11-8.

Battling from there, the Cougars reeled off another three-straight that spanned Ball State's second timeout and was fueled by a Ramanis solo stuff and a Haine joust kill. After an ace by Haine, the Cougars were up 20-14. A trio of BSU errors gave BYU set point, and the Cougars closed it out on Benson's sixth kill of the frame, 25-19.

Set Two
With two kills each from Trent Moser and Benson, BYU led 7-3. Another Benson kill and one from Ramanis had the Cougars in front 9-5, and Ball State called timeout. A back row kills by Moser and two more from Ramanis, one off the block and another down the line, made it 12-8.

The Cardinals took seven of the next 11 points to draw within one, forcing a BYU timeout at 16-15. Haine swung away for a kill before the Cougars got a quick hitter for Taylor and another Benson kill to lead 21-19 and force Ball State's second timeout. Trading sets of errors, Ramanis downed his fifth kill of the contest to earn a 25-20 second set win.

Set Three
After six combined errors to open the final frame, BYU took four of the next five points on a pair of Gant kills and a Kupono Browne ace, forcing a Cardinal timeout ahead 8-3. Ball State went on two separate 3-0 runs to tie the set at nine.

Trading points from there, the Cougars went on a 3-0 run with Browne's second ace sandiwched by two more Benson kills for a 15-12 advantage. A pair of Ramanis kills put BYU in front 19-14, and Ball State called its second timeout.

A quick 3-0 run by the Cardinals had them within two, and the Cougars took a timeout. Benson scored out of the back row before dropping two crosscourt kills from the left side to give BYU match point, which Haine finished off with an overpass kill for a 25-21 victory. 

Up Next
BYU and Ball State will face off a second time on Saturday night, with first serve set for 7 p.m. MST. The match will be televised on BYUtv and byutv.org.