PROVO, Utah — The No. 9 BYU men's volleyball team will travel to Illinois for its first road match of the 2024 season to face No. 10 Loyola University Chicago on Thursday evening in Gentile Arena at 7 p.m. CST, with live coverage on ESPN+.
THE COUGARS (2-0)
BYU is 2-0 through opening weekend as the Cougars defeated the Ball State Cardinals in back-to-back games. The Cougars have yet to drop a set this season, sweeping the Cardinals in both games.
Junior outside hitter Luke Benson was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation’s Offensive Player of the Week, the conference announced Monday evening.
Benson led the Cougars through two sweeps at home against No. 11 Ball State, totaling 23 kills on a .541 clip. On Friday, Benson boasted 17 kills on a career-high .762 clip. He also led the Cougars in digs with seven on the night. Benson recorded another career-best on Saturday night with four aces as BYU totaled six for the match.
THE RAMBLERS (1-3)
Loyola Chicago is 1-3 on the season, coming off a five-set loss to Stanford. Earlier in the season, the Ramblers defeated No. 3 Hawai’i in a five-set thriller(18-25, 25-22, 18-25, 25-23, 15-13) Friday, January 6 at SimpliFi Arena. The victory snapped Loyola Chicago’s six-match skid against the Rainbow Warriors and was its first over UH since 2007.
COUGARS VS. RAMBLERS
BYU and Loyola-Chicago will face for the first time since the 2020 season where BYU defeated LUC in four sets 3-1 (25-22, 22-25, 25-22, 25-16) in Chicago. The Cougars hold the overall series record, by just one game, 6-5 over the Ramblers.
BROADCAST
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ESPN+
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Thursday, Jan. 11, at 7 p.m. CST in Gentile Arena