IRVINE, Calif. — The No. 7 BYU men’s volleyball team registered a season-high 10 aces in its five-set victory (25-21, 25-15, 18-25, 20-25, 15-8) against Concordia University Irvine in the CU Arena on Friday evening.
"It's nice to start conference play with a couple good wins on the road," said BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead. "It can be tough to rebound in the fifth set when your opponent's have some momentum, but our guys did just that led by Keoni from the service line. He was steady all night as were our middles."
Keoni Thiim led the Cougars by tying his season-high of five aces, including a match-high of 17 kills. Thiim's five aces are tied for eighth-most all-time in a single match in BYU men's volleyball history. Miks Ramanis also recorded a season-high 16 kills for the Cougars.
Middle blocker Teon Taylor nearly recorded a perfect game totaling nine kills off 10 swings, with zero errors. Taylor also finished with two blocks and an ace. Junior middle blocker Ethan Gant started in his third match of the season and collected a career-high of eight kills.
BYU totaled 62 kills compared to CUI's 48. The Cougars applied pressure from the service line, earning 10 aces and leaving the Golden Eagles with 17 service errors.
Set One
A 4-0 run consisting of three Thiim kills and a Taylor ace gave BYU a 9-7 lead, forcing CUI to take an early timeout. BYU’s offense continued to excel, with three kills from three different Cougars to gain a four-point lead at 13-9.
CUI inched its way towards a one-point lead at 15-14 off a couple BYU attacking errors, leading to a BYU timeout. Thiim soared over the Golden Eagles blockers to earn two more kills, taking the score to 21-18 for CUI to burn its second timeout.
"KEONI THIIM, WILL YOU BE MY VALENTINE?"
— BYU Men’s Volleyball (@BYUmvolleyball) February 15, 2025
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A kill by Ramanis would conclude the first set 25-21 for a 1-0 BYU lead. Thiim earned seven kills through the first frame while Ramanis gathered six.
Set Two
BYU coasted with a continuous lead in the second set, with the Cougars gaining a 10-7 lead after back-to-back aces by Thiim. CUI called a timeout when trailing four points, but it didn’t cause the Cougars to lose any steam as a kill by Thiim and CUI error boosted the score to 13-7.
BYU dropped three points in a row to the Golden Eagles, all due to attacking errors, forcing the Cougars to call a timeout at 14-11, with BYU still in the lead. Immediately following the timeout, BYU went on a 6-0 run to take a 20-11 lead, with the Cougars fighting through multiple long rallies.
Junior outside hitter Jack Sutton entered off the bench for BYU and recorded his first collegiate career kill, taking the score to 23-12. A kill by Benson finished the set 25-15 for a 2-0 BYU advantage.
FIRST CAREER KILL BY SUTTON!!!
— BYU Men’s Volleyball (@BYUmvolleyball) February 15, 2025
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Set Three
The Golden Eagles came out swinging by going on a 6-2 run to kick off the third set, forcing BYU to take a timeout. The Cougars struggled with attacking errors, leading CUI to earn a seven-point lead at 12-5.
BYU entered setter Noa Haine and outside hitter Teilon-Jonathan Tufuga off the bench, looking for some new energy to generate the Cougar offense. The Cougars earned a 4-0 run off the back of Thiim’s three kills to lessen the gap to four points at 16-12, leading to a CUI timeout.
CUI continued to capitalize off its lead and would secure a 25-18 win, pushing the game into a fourth set.
Set Four
Thiim’s fourth ace of the evening gave BYU an early 3-1 lead. Kills from Gant and Tufuga later took the score to 10-7. Both teams battled to tie the set at points 12, 13 and 15.
BYU called a timeout when trailing two 18-16 after a Cougar attacking error, and called another timeout when down four 21-17. CUI continued to apply pressure, taking the fourth set 25-20 and extending the game into a fateful fifth set.
Set Five
BYU set the tone in set five by going on a 4-0 run, with a BYU chant by Cougar fans echoing from the stands in CU Arena. Back-to-back kills from Taylor and Thiim gave BYU a 7-1 advantage. Ramanis then earned back-to-back kills for a 9-3 score.
COUGS ARE ON FIRE🔥
— BYU Men’s Volleyball (@BYUmvolleyball) February 15, 2025
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An ace by Herget gave BYU match-point, and CUI would fight through the next point until a service error closed the match 15-8, securing a 3-2 win for the Cougars.
Up Next
BYU returns to Provo next week for a two-match home series against Barry University from Feb. 21-22, with both games streaming live on Big10+ and a rebroadcast on the BYUtv app following each match at 10 p.m. MT.