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The BYU men's volleyball gathers to celebrate a 3-1 victory against Mount Olive in the Smith Fieldhouse on Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022. (BYU Courtesy Photo)

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Jon Stanley (4) celebrates a point with teammates during a match against Mount Olive at the Smith Fieldhouse on Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022. (BYU Courtesy Photo)

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BYU libero Mitchel Worthington (in white) digs a ball while teammate Miks Ramanis looks on during a men's college volleyball match against Mount Olive at the Smith Fieldhouse on Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022. (BYU Courtesy Photo)

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No. 8 BYU men’s volleyball downed Mount Olive in four sets behind career nights from Gavin Julien, Jon Stanley and Bartosz Sławiński.

The Cougars hit .244 for the match with 52 kills, 44 assists, 42 digs, and 12 blocks in the 3-1 win over the Trojans.

Julien finished with a career-high 12 kills on a .450 hitting percentage, eight blocks and two digs. Stanley also notched a career high with six kills, while also registering five digs, three blocks and an assist. Sławiński nearly doubled his career high in assists with 42 on the night.

BYU freshman Miks Ramanis led the Cougars with 22 kills in the match. It was his second consecutive match with 20+ kills, after no Cougar has reached more than 20 this season or last season.

“I just think about doing my job and doing my part on the court,” Ramanis said. “Today I feel like I did a decent job, especially on offense. I still have so much to learn, but I was able to read the plays better tonight. We just keep going hard in practice. We didn’t serve great tonight, so we have things to work on for Ball State next week.”

BYU rolled out its fifth different starting lineup in six matches. Saturday that included Alex Ah Sue, Mitchell Worthington, Sławiński and first-time starters Jon Stanley and Teon Taylor.

The Cougars got off to a hot start, grabbing five of the first seven points to take an early lead. The Trojans countered with two straight kills and a block to even the score at seven. After a UMO service error, the Trojans scored three straight to take a 10-8 lead and force a BYU timeout.

Out of the timeout, the Cougars regained the lead, scoring three straight points with two kills from Ramanis and a UMO error to put them up 11-10. The teams traded points until BYU scored another three-straight points off a Trojan error, a block and a Julien kill to take a 15-12 lead.

The Cougars maintained the three-point advantage until it was 21-18. The Trojans tied the set at 23 with a BYU attack error and a roof block, forcing BYU to take its second timeout of the set.

The Cougars took three of the next four points, including a marathon rally on set point to take the first set 26-24.

UMO scored three points in a row to square the second set at eight before BYU rattled off four straight to take a 12-8 lead, the Trojans taking their first timeout of the set.

BYU scored three of four coming out of a timeout to take a 23-22 lead. Service errors were committed on six of the last eight points, before a kill from Julien gave the Cougars their third set point, which they converted on a UMO error to take Set 2 27-25.

The Cougars and Trojans were deadlocked at three in the third set when a lengthy review of a point commenced, and after some confusion from the officials, BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead was issued a red card. Following the sanction issued to BYU, UMO won seven of the next eight points to take a 9-4 lead.

After a UMO attack error that drew BYU within three, the Trojans won two-straight points to earn their first set point of the night. After another marathon set point, the Trojans got a stuff block to win the third set 25-19.

After trading points that kept the BYU lead at one, two Ramanis kills, a UMO error and a BYU block gave the Cougars a four-point lead at 12-8. The Cougars scored three straight to stretch the lead to seven, the Cougars’ largest lead of the match and forced the Trojans to take their second timeout of the set.

The Trojans did not go quietly, winning seven of the next 10 points, including the match’s first service ace, to draw within four, 23-19, and cause BYU to use its first timeout of the set.

Coming out of the timeout, Stanley recorded his sixth kill of the match to give the Cougars their first match point. After dropping the first match point, Julien capped off his career night with his 12th kill to give the Cougars the four set victory.

BYU (4-2) will put their four-game winning streak on the line next weekend when it will host the Ball State Cardinals at the Smith Fieldhouse.

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