BYU Roundup: Men’s volleyball moves to 4-0 with victory against St. Thomas Aquinas
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- BYU’s Luke Benson (1) serves in a men’s college volleyball match against St. Thomas Aquinas College at the Smith Fieldhouse on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025.
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- BYU’s Teilon-Jonathan Tufuga (9) takes a swing in a men’s college volleyball match against St. Thomas Aquinas College at the Smith Fieldhouse on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025.
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- BYU’s Teon Taylor (21) greets teammate Keoni Thiim during a time out in a men’s college volleyball match against St. Thomas Aquinas at the Smith Fieldhouse on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025.
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- BYU’s Niko Hales (5) defends against St. Thomas Aquinas College in a men’s college volleyball match at the Smith Fieldhouse on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025.
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- BYU’s Niko Hales (left) and Luke Benson put up a block against St. Thomas Aquinas College in a men’s college volleyball match at the Smith Fieldhouse on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025.
No. 6 BYU men’s volleyball moved to 4-0 with a 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-16) sweep of St. Thomas Aquinas College on Saturday night at the Smith Fieldhouse.
The Cougars hit .597 on the night while holding the Spartans to .161. STAC took advantage of 13 BYU service errors to force a tight start to the second set but BYU’s 42-27 and 7-2 advantages in kills and blocks, respectively, paved the way for the win in three.
Keoni Thiim tallied 16 kills in the match while hitting at a clip of .652 with two aces, five digs and three blocks. Luke Benson added eight kills at .462 with two blocks. Jonathan-Teilon Tufuga hit .455 for six kills while pitching in three digs and a career-high four aces.
“I am trusting my team and my team is trusting me back,” said Thiim. “We are pretty calm out there. I am super happy to be here. The environment here is insane. I wanted to take a risk on my own capabilities coming here. They trust me to do what I do, so I have no regrets.”
The Cougars rattled off three consecutive kills, two of which came off the paw of Thiim. Tufuga, Thiim and Teon Taylor then turned back the Spartans with consecutive blocks to help BYU take a 17-8 lead in the first set. Three Cougar service errors confined their lead to single digits before Thiim tallied his sixth kill of the opening frame to draw set-point at 24-15. Thiim then closed the door on the set as he combined with Taylor for a block.
The Spartans found some rhythm in the second set and battled BYU to the tune of 11 ties over the frame’s opening half. Despite a flurry of STAC kills, Benson and Thiim kept the Cougars responsive to each with kills of their own on the way to a deadlock at 13.
Thiim gave BYU its first two-point lead of the set with a pair of kills before Tufuga stepped in to take over the set late. Tufuga torpedoed a kill into the Spartans to give the Cougars a 19-16 lead then followed it up with two more aces and another kill as he powered BYU to an 8-0 finish to the set.
The Cougars quickly closed a 4-1 deficit with kills from Taylor and Tufuga and pulled ahead for an 11-7 lead with a kill and ace consecutively, courtesy the hitting of Benson. STAC recorded its first block of the night to come within three at 11-8 but BYU allowed its opponent to draw no closer.
Kills from Thiim and Tufuga along with back-to-back Spartan errors gave the Cougars a 16-10 lead. Benson struck again with a kill before the BYU bench took the floor to finish the match.
Lucas Torres tallied two kills and a Tyler Herget ace helped the Cougars close the night with a 25-16 win. BYU held a 14-8 kill advantage in the third and hit at a clip of .478 while allowing just .050 from the Spartans.
BYU returns to the Midwest for another pair of matches, this time for a top 10 matchup in Muncie, Indiana with No. 5 Ball State. Catch the Cougars and Cardinals live from Worthen Arena on ESPN+ at 7 p.m. EST Jan. 16 and 17.
No. 12 Kansas State runs away from BYU women’s basketball
BYU trailed No. 12 Kansas State by just three, 23-20, after one quarter on Saturday at the Marriott Center.
Even with a good start, the Cougars couldn’t keep up with the Wildcats, who took off behind Temira Poindexter (24 points), Akoya Lee (19) and Serena Sundell (12 points, 12 assists) and claimed a 92-65 victory.
Kansas State outscored BYU 50-20 in the middle two quarters and moved to 17-1 overall, 5-0 in Big 12 play.
With 11 points, six rebounds and two blocks against the Wildcats, Heather Hamson recorded the first double-figure scoring game of her career and set a career-high in rebounds as one of the bright spots for the Cougars.
Hamson tied two career highs in minutes and blocks with 20 and two, respectively. Hamson was one of three BYU players to reach double digits, along with Delaney Gibb (18) and Emma Calvert (13).
“That was a rough one, I’ll just be honest,” Cougar head coach Amber Whiting said. “In the first and fourth quarters, I felt like we fought and looked more like ourselves, but they (Kansas State) are a very balanced team. They do what they do, and they do it well across the board. They’re great shooters. If you shut down one thing, something else pops up. Hats off to them. They did a really good job tonight.”
While BYU couldn’t secure a win against Kansas State, the team held the Wildcats below their average field-goal percentage in the first quarter and outscored them in the fourth.
The Cougars gained an early 6-2 lead in the first quarter after two layups by Gibb and a two-point jumper from Lauren Davenport. The Wildcats quickly bounced back with an 11-0 run, putting them up 13-6 and forcing BYU’s first timeout.
Following the timeout, BYU outscored Kansas State 14-4 with four-straight 3-pointers from four different Cougars, leading to a timeout from the Wildcats. Kansas State scored three-consecutive layups to end the first quarter 23-20.
Hamson gave the Cougars their first six points of the second quarter off two layups and two free throws. The Wildcats extended their lead to 33-26 before the media timeout. Hamson, Kambree Barber and Gibb added points to the board, but that didn’t stop Kansas State from outscoring BYU 17-6 following the timeout. The Wildcats ended the half up 50-32.
BYU and K-State traded shots to start the third quarter, but the Wildcats held a 20-point lead at the media timeout. With four 3-pointers and three layups following the timeout, K-State ended the third quarter with a 10-0 run, recording their largest lead of the game at 73-40.
The Cougars started the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run from Cannon and Gibb, holding the Wildcats to one layup before K-State called a timeout. Whiting and Calvert made a layup each before the Wildcats called their second timeout of the quarter at 80-52.
Calvert scored the Cougars’ next six points, followed by another seven from Barber, Naia Tanuvasa and Hamson. BYU outscored Kansas State 25-19 in the fourth, but the Wildcats sealed their victory, 92-65.
The Cougars will face Texas Tech on Saturday, Jan. 18 in Lubbock, Texas. Watch on ESPN+ or listen to live play-by-play with Jason Shepherd via BYU Radio.
Women’s gymnastics competes at Oregon State
CORVALLIS, Ore. — The BYU gymnastics team earned a 194.200 in its first dual meet of the season, coming in second to Oregon State’s 196.400.
BYU’s Kylie Eaquinto and Mya Kirkham competed in the All Around for the first time of their careers in today’s competition. This was the first time the Cougars had a gymnast compete in the All Around since 2022.
Eaquinto finished with an all around score of 39.050 and Kirkham finished with a 38.400. Eaquinto led the Cougars in three out of the four events, notching two 9.800’s.
The Cougars opened their competition on the uneven bars. After two falls in the bars rotation, BYU responded with four hit routines for an overall score of 48.400. Sophomore Alilah Alvarado and junior Eaquinto led the Cougars with a pair of 9.800’s on the apparatus.
Oregon State’s Jade Carey led on vault in the first rotation with a 9.900 as the Beavers scored an overall score of 48.875 to take the early lead.
BYU moved to the vault in the second rotation. Freshman Deb Silva had her career debut on vault with a score of 9.700. Eaquinto and Kirkham led the Cougars on the apparatus with a pair of 9.775’s.
With a vault score of 48.550, the Cougars had a 96.950 to Oregon State’s 97.950 heading into the third rotation.
Kirkham competed on floor for the first time of her career, scoring a 9.650. Eaquinto had the highest score on floor for the Cougars with a 9.800. Sophie Dudley and Heidi Schooley-Meyers each tallied 9.750’s as the Cougars finished with an event score of 48.650.
Heading into the final rotation, Oregon State was in the lead 147.150-145.600.
Eaquinto made her career debut on beam in today’s competition, scoring a 9.675. Sophomore Brynlee Andersen scored a team-high 9.825 on beam, bouncing back from a low score in week one. BYU earned a total beam score of 48.600 to close out the competition.
BYU looks ahead to its first home meet of the season on Friday, Jan. 17 when the SUU Thunderbirds come to the Marriott Center for a dual meet at 7 p.m. MT. The competition will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Garnett sets school record in pole vault
Senior Maren Garnett claimed the No. 1 all-time spot in the pole vault at the Cougar Invitational on Saturday afternoon.
I was just really excited to vault,” said Garnett. “I’d put it together in my mind, so I knew I could do it. It was just a matter of doing it physically and putting it in practice. Every meet is a confidence builder and about proving to myself that I can jump higher. Competing with my group is the best part. It’s our team that makes it such a fun experience. We cheer each other on and push each other to be more competitive. I know whatever the outcome, I’m happy for them and they’re going be happy for me.”
After claiming No. 5 on the program all-time pole vault list in December, Garnett was able to clear 4.45m/14-7.25 to jump to No. 1 in program history, surpassing Cailee Faulker’s previous record (4.40m/14-5.25). Teammate Rebekah Erickson finished in second place with her 4.33m/14-1.25.
“Maren’s got higher bars to jump, but there’s no one I’ve coached that’s ever worked harder than she does,” said pole vault coach Rick McWhorter. “She spends time before and after practice analyzing every part of her jump. She’s truly a student of the vault. As a coaching staff, we chose her to be one of our captains because she’s the ultimate team leader. She wants everybody to do well and takes the time to watch and help everybody. She is the ultimate teammate.”
In the women’s 200m, BYU women represented four of the top five finishes. Sami Oblad was first after crossing in 24.42, Paje Rasmussen notched second place after running 24.78 and Kaitlyn Hutchings crossed in 25.55. Cate Phipps Louis finished in fifth after running a 25.79.
Both Rasmussen and Louis also proved successful in the 60m, where Rasmussen took first after crossing in 7.58 and Louis’ personal best (7.64), giving her a third-place finish.
