IRVINE, Calif. — The No. 7 BYU men’s volleyball team defeated Concordia University Irvine 3-1 (25-16, 25-23, 17-25, 25-17) on Thursday evening in the CU Arena in its first conference matchup of the 2025 season.
"It was nice to have Miks back out there on the court from start to finish," said BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead. "He did a great job for the team tonight. It's exciting to get conference play rolling. We’ve been happy with our nonconference matches and all that we’ve learned about this group."
The Cougars (9-4) were led by senior outside hitter Miks Ramanis with a match-high 16 kills on a .577 hitting percentage, including a team-high of two aces. Teon Taylor led BYU's defense with another match-high of five blocks.
BYU outhit the Golden Eagles with a .340 hitting percentage compared to CUI's team clip of .174. The Cougars also collected more blocks in the match, with 11 blocks over CUI's eight.
Set One
BYU led the entire way into the first media timeout at 15-9, with Teilon-Jonathan Tufuga leading with two kills. The Cougars improved to an eight-point lead after going on a 4-0 run to force a CUI timeout at 19-11, featuring a block by Ethan Gant.
A stuff block by Taylor took the score to 23-14 for BYU’s third block of the night. The Golden Eagles were able to fight through one BYU set-point until a kill by Taylor would conclude the first set 25-16, with BYU delivering a wire-to-wire win.
Set Two
CUI began the second set by going on a 3-0 run until the Cougars answered with a run of their own to gain an early advantage at 4-3. Neither team could gain anything larger than a one-point lead, and later Benson would earn his fifth kill to tie it at 14.
After a media timeout at 15-14, BYU was forced to call its first timeout when trailing by two 19-17 following a Golden Eagle ace. BYU generated a 3-0 run courtesy of a Tufuga kill, Benson block and Ramanis kill to take back a 21-20 lead for a CUI timeout.
The Cougars would clinch a set two win off an ace by Ramanis for a 25-23 victory, gaining a 2-0 lead.
Set Three
CUI found a spark in the third set with a 6-2 lead highlighted by back-to-back aces, forcing an early BYU timeout. A 3-0 run by the Golden Eagles upped their lead to 14-7, forcing another BYU timeout. Keoni Thiim entered the match off the bench and gave the Cougars some momentum, recording a kill immediately following the timeout.
Mutiple service errors by BYU gave the Golden Eagles an eight-point lead at 19-11. Another momentum-changing run by the Golden Eagles took the score to 23-12. Kills by Tufuga and Herget kept BYU alive, but a Cougar service error would close the third set 25-17, with CUI extending the match into a fourth set.
Set Four
Ian Little entered in set four off BYU’s bench to give the Cougars a boost, immediately recording two kills for a 5-4 score, with BYU trailing by one. Two kills and an ace by Ramanis would later even the score at six. The teams would battle back-and-forth, heading 15-14 into the media timeout and the Cougars pulling ahead by just one.
A 4-1 run by BYU would aid a 20-16 score in favor of the Cougars, forcing a CUI timeout. Back-to-back kills by Ramanis and Little would give BYU the 25-17 win, securing a 3-1 victory.
Up Next
The Cougars will face CUI once more tomorrow evening on Friday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. PT, with live coverage on Big10+. A subscription is required to stream the match.