In front of a crowd of 4,021 at the Smith Field House, No. 8 BYU Cougars men’s volleyball bested No. 15 Ohio State in four sets (25-23, 25-23, 23-25, 25-21) Friday night.

“It is seriously the coolest experience for these guys, and it is so exciting to see it pretty filled up,” said Shawn Olmstead, BYU head coach, about the crowd that was on hand to watch the match. “That means a lot to our team and our program. It means the world to have the support we have here at BYU.”

Despite the Buckeyes out-hitting the Cougars .268 to .244, Ohio State’s 23 service errors proved too much to overcome. BYU was led offensively by Luke Benson and Trent Moser, each recording 14 kills on the night, the most for Moser since Feb. 11, and the fourth straight match with 14 kills or more for Benson. The Cougars as a team recorded 49 kills in the match, along with six aces from the service line.

“I think we could have done better putting them away in the third set,” Benson said. “That’s what the coaches talked to us about, and tomorrow we’re going to try and make that change, have a better sense of urgency, and push to win, even if we’re up.”

Miks Ramanis also helped carry the load offensively for BYU, recording 13 kills on 39 attempts, his most attempts of the season. Defensively, it was Teon Taylor who led the Cougars, blocking the Buckeyes seven times, his fourth game this season with seven or more blocks in a match.

Saturday night, the Cougars and Buckeyes will remain in Provo, with BYU looking to take the season series against Ohio State. Saturday’s match will begin at 7 p.m. MST in the Smith Fieldhouse, with live coverage on the BYUtv app.

Clinger finishes second in 5,000 meters at nationals

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Casey Clinger blazed to a second-place finish in the 5,000-meter final to lead No. 23 BYU men’s track and field at Friday’s NCAA Indoor National Championship. With five events complete, BYU sits in third-place with 12 points.

At his first indoor nationals appearance, Clinger’s runner-up time of 13:38.12 was good for First Team All-American honors. He used a strong final 200 meters to pass NCAA record holder Drew Bosley of Northern Arizona to finish runner-up to Tennessee’s Dylan Jacobs.

“Casey ran a very smart, patient race,” BYU Director of Track & Field Ed Eyestone said. “I was very impressed with his composure late in the race and his ability to move over that last 600 meters and come within a spot of winning the whole thing. I don’t think I’ve been as happy with a second place before. Now we’re just trying to get him recovered and coming back for the 3,000-meters tomorrow.”

Clinger is now the second-highest BYU finisher ever in the 5000m at indoor nationals, behind only Luis Hernandez’s national championship run in 1977.

Joey Nokes placed 10th in the 5,000m, crossing the line at 14:01.43 to become a Second Team All-American in the sophomore’s first indoor nationals appearance. Clinger and Nokes posted the 13th and 14th All-American finishes in school history for the event.

Caleb Witsken became a three-time indoor nationals All-American, earning First Team honors with a clearance of 5.61m/18-4.75 to finish sixth overall for his second time at indoor nationals. The senior now has two First Team All-American honors under his belt (2021, 2023), with today’s clearance marking his highest-ever in his three championship appearances.

The distance medley relay finished eighth at 9:39.45 to rack up First Team All-American honors. The squad included Kenneth Rooks, Trey Jackson, Sebastian Fernandez and Lucas Bons. Aside from Bons, each were competing for the first time at the highest NCAA indoor level. Fernandez led all runners in the third 800m split, registering a 1:46.89 time.

“Sebastian’s performance was no surprise,” Eyestone said. “He’s been running like that for us all season. The DMR can get very crowded too. Kenneth did a great job of getting out early on.”

The Cougars will have one more competitor in Albuquerque tomorrow night as Clinger will run in the 3,000-meters at 8 p.m. MST.

Cougar women earn seventh in distance medley relay at nationals

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — No. 17 BYU women’s track and field collected six more All-American honors in its opening day of competition at the 2023 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Albuquerque Convention Center.

Taylor Rohatinsky, Annalise Hart, Alena Ellsworth and Sadie Sargent combined to clock 11:03.55 and finish seventh in the distance medley relay. With a seventh-place finish the Cougars garnered First Team All-American honors for the fifth time in seven seasons. At 11:03.55, BYU finished ahead of NC State, Kentucky, Duke, Oregon and Washington. The Cougars finished just behind Georgetown (11:02.41) and Oklahoma State (11:02.57).

Aubrey Frentheway ran 16:38.77 to take 12th in the 5,000-meters and record her first-career indoor All-American honor, this a Second Team citation.

Claire Seymour took care of business in the 800-meter semifinal with a fourth-place qualifying finish at 2:02.92. Seymour, the top returning 800 runner from 2022 indoor nationals, will compete for a national title in tomorrow’s final at 4:30 p.m. MST. The senior from Modesto, California finished national runner-up a season ago.

Cailee Faulkner and Riley Chamberlain competed in the pole vault and mile, respectively, on Friday. Faulkner took home Honorable Mention All-American status while Chamberlain’s honors will be determined following Saturday’s mile final.

The BYU women compete in three events on Saturday beginning with Cierra Tidwell Allphin in the high jump at 1 p.m. MST on ESPN+.

Women’s gymnastics drops finale at Arizona

TUCSON, Ariz. — The BYU women’s gymnastics team scored a 196.050 in the final regular-season meet of the season against Arizona at the McKale Memorial Center on Friday evening. The Wildcats took home the win with a 197.275.

Despite a difficult first rotation on bars, the Cougars bounced back to earn their highest team vault score of the 2023 season, notching a 49.375. The performance was also BYU’s highest posted score across all four events this season.

The Cougars started their meet on the uneven bars in the McKale Memorial Center. Senior Allix Mason had a strong start, tying her career-high score of 9.875 on the apparatus. Senior Anyssa Alvarado scored a 9.800, and Jayda Lealaogata ended the rotation with a career-high 9.825.

BYU scored a 48.450, behind Arizona’s 49.225, as they switched over to the vault for rotation two. All six Cougars scored above a 9.825 on vault in the second rotation. Sophie Dudley started off strong for BYU with a 9.825, followed by a career-high score of 9.875 by freshman Madison Raesly-Patton. Sydney Benson kept the momentum going, tying her career-high vault score of a 9.900. Senior Rebekah Ripley also tied her career-high 9.850 on vault, followed by another 9.850 by freshman Kylie Eaquinto. Mason closed out the rotation with a new career-best score of 9.900 for BYU.

Although the Cougars put up a new season-high vault score of 49.375, the Wildcats kept their lead heading into the third rotation, 98.450-47.825.

BYU maintained the momentum on floor, starting off with a 9.850 by Eliza Millar and a 9.875 by Benson. Dudley posted a 9.900, which is her second-highest score on the floor exercise. Sophomore Heidi Schooley earned a 9.850, and Benson posted the team’s highest score on the apparatus with a 9.900.

Despite another solid team score of 49.250 for the Cougars, the Wildcats continued posting solid scores of their own, keeping them ahead of BYU, 147.775-147.075.

Lauren Ono had a strong beam routine to start things off for BYU in the final rotation, scoring a 9.875. Dudley notched a 9.800, and senior beam captain Elease Rollins posted a 9.900 for the Cougars. Millar rounded out the competition with a 9.725.

The Cougars ended the meet behind the Wildcats, 197.275-196.050.

BYU will next compete at the Mountain Rim Gymnastics Championship for the last time before moving to the Big 12 Conference. The competition will take place on Friday, Mar. 18 at 6 p.m. MDT at the America First Event Center in Cedar City, Utah.

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