BYU men’s volleyball coach Shawn Olmstead’s pre-match speech on Friday touched on a hunting trip he took to Argentina this summer and the disposition of the hunting dogs who aided in the hunt.

“They didn’t feed the dogs for a couple of days, so they’d be so ready,” Cougar outside hitter Luke Benson said as he recounted the story. “He was kind of comparing them to us, so we would be ready and out for blood.”

It took No. 9 BYU a little longer to get into that state of intensity for Olmstead’s liking in the season opener against 11th-ranked Ball State but the Cougars did eventually find their inner dog, sweeping the Cardinals (25-19, 25-21, 25-20) in front of 3,242 fans at the Smith Fieldhouse.

BYU hadn’t played anyone other than themselves since last April — the Cougars had a couple of matches lined up this fall that were cancelled — so you could excuse Olmstead’s crew for needing to find their feet in the match before taking control.

“I told the guys they’d been chained up and here’s an opportunity,” Olmstead said. “What I learned is that we really need to do everything we can to play somebody (preseason). We never practice that slow kind of tempo we came out with, and they were just kind of feeling things out. We were lucky that Luke led the charge for us, even in that first set. He was aggressive and assertive.”

Benson took Olmstead’s story to heart right from the start and had a spectacular match, notching 17 kills and just one error on 21 swings (.762) to go along with a team-high seven digs.

“Our passing was amazing,” Benson said. “We held it down. I think we also did a really good job of being on the offensive attack. I was hitting high for corners. That’s what my coaches told me to do every time and that’s just kind of unstoppable.”

Olmstead: “Luke has the potential. He’s a machine.”

The Cougars rode Benson’s strong right arm in Set 1, getting six kills on seven swings with just one error (.714) from the 6-foot-7 junior.

BYU jumped on top after a Ball State net violation, getting a triple block from Trent Moser, Teon Taylor and Benson for a point then a service ace from Miks Ramanis for an 11-8 edge. The Cougars led the rest of the way, taking a six-point advantage, 20-14, when setter Noah Haine won a joust then served an ace.

Benson’s back row kill ended a short 2-0 Cardinals run for a 21-16 lead. At third set point, Benson fired a kill off the Ball State block for the 25-19 victory.

BYU opened Set 2 with a 9-5 lead, hitting .667. Ramanis smashed a ball for that early advantage but Ball State rallied behind the offense of Patrick Rogers and pulled to within 16-15 after he pounded a pair of kills. But the Cardinals never caught the Cougars, who took over at 20-19. Benson’s kill and several Ball State errors got BYU to set point, and Ramanis went off the block for the 25-21 victory and a 2-0 lead in the match. The Cougars hit .462 in Set 2 (16-4-26).

Sophomore middle blocker Ethan Gant came off the bench and gave BYU a boost early in Set 3 with two strong attacks for an 8-3 lead. Ball State came back to tie the set at 9-9 but a 6-2 Cougar run, keyed by two Benson kills and a Kupono Browne service ace, pushed the home team ahead 19-14. The Cardinals closed to within two at 22-20 but BYU finished strong. Benson’s swing was too hot to handle and got the Cougars to match point. The winner was pure poetry: Sophomore libero Bernardo Adam made a diving dig that sent the ball to setter Noah Haine, who slammed it past the surprised Ball State team for the 25-20 victory and the match.

“Our passing was really good,” Olmstead said. “They (Ball State) had no aces and from the stats that we kept, we passed at a pretty high percentage. We were pretty good and pretty consistent.”

Ramanis had eight kills for BYU (1-0), which hit .308 for the match. Haine dished out 30 assists and added three kills and three digs. Taylor notched three blocks, Brown posted a pair of aces and the Cougars out-dug the Cardinals 24-18.

Rogers was terrific for Ball State (3-1) with 16 kills and just one error on 21 swings (.714).

Saturday’s Match

No. 9 BYU sweeps No. 11 Ball State for second straight night

The Cougars scored a 25-19, 25-17, 25-16 victory on Saturday at the Smith Fieldhouse and hit a blistering .379 for the match while holding the Cardinals to a .067 clip, Ball State’s lowest percentage since 2018.

Opposite hitter Kupono Browne finished with nine kills, while outside hitter Miks Ramanis ended with eight kills, hitting .727.

“It’s nice to see a new dynamic this year,” Ramanis said. “Different players are starting and stepping up on the court. In preseason training, we had a dog mentality. This season just started, so it’s time to get really good.”

Fellow outside hitter Luke Benson tallied a career-high four aces as BYU totaled six for the match.

BYU (2-0 overall, 0-0 MPSF) takes a trip to the Midwest next week to play at Loyola-Chicago (on Thursday) and Lewis University (on Saturday).