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BYU's Luke Benson (1) celebrates a point during a men's college volleyball match against Stanford at the Smith Fieldhouse on Saturday, April 15, 2023.

Donovan Kelly, BYU Photo

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BYU's Luke Benson takes a swing against Princeton in a men's college volleyball match at the Smith Fieldhouse on Monday, Jan. 22, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Luke Benson (1) celebrates a point during a men's college volleyball match at Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio, on Friday, Jan. 3, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Athletics

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LEXINGTON, Ky. — While BYU men’s volleyball fans have chorused “Luuuuuke!” for the final time at the Smith Fieldhouse, Cougar senior Luke Benson has earned one last accolade.

Benson, a senior outside hitter, has been awarded a 2025 AVCA All-America Honorable Mention, the association announced Monday afternoon.

Benson led the Cougars in kills with 342 this season, averaging 3.35 kills per set. He also collected 104 digs, 67 blocks and 28 aces. The senior led BYU in kills in 13 different matches this season, featuring a season-high 23 kills against No. 6 Ball State on January 17.

The native of Newbury Park, Calif., finished his career at BYU with 894 kills, 287 digs, 151 blocks and 73 aces, tied for the 11th most career aces in the BYU men’s volleyball rally scoring era. Benson was also among one of eight players named to the 2025 All-MPSF First Team on April 22.

This is Benson’s second recognition from the AVCA, as he was named an Honorable Mention All-American in 2024 as well.

Benson, who is married to BYU gymnast Mina Margraf, majored in Molecular Biology at BYU and is seeking a career in pediatric medicine.

Since 1991, BYU men’s volleyball has had 39 student-athletes receive a total of 84 All-America honors.

The 2025 lists include 24 players — 12 each on the first and second teams — from 11 schools. UCLA leads the way with three players on the first team, and four total All-Americans. Long Beach State University, Loyola University Chicago, the University of Hawai’i, and Pepperdine University all have three players on the first or second teams.

Hilir Henno of UC Irvine, Andrew Rowan of UCLA, and Parker Van Buren of Loyola Chicago all become three-time All-Americans.

The 2025 Newcomer of the Year is Moni Nikolov of Long Beach State. The remarkable freshman averages 9.99 assists per set and has helped The Beach post a nation-leading .396 hitting percentage heading into the 2025 NCAA Championship quarterfinals. Additionally, his 94 aces established both school and Big West single-season records.

Player of the Year and Coach of the Year will be announced later this week.

NCAA Tournament

BYU (19-10 overall, 7-5 MPSF) was the No. 3 seed in the MPSF Tournament but was upset by No. 6 seed Stanford in the quarterfinals, losing 3-2 (23-25, 25-19, 25-27, 25-19, 10-15). Since finishing as NCAA runner-up in 2021, the Cougars have lost in the MPSF Tournament in five sets four straight seasons.

Meanwhile, the NCAA Tournament began last Thursday as Penn State advanced with a sweep of Daemen University. The remainder of the tournament takes place at the Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio, with the quarterfinal round beginning Thursday.

All quarterfinal and semifinal matches will be streamed on ESPN+ and the championship match can be seen on ESPN2 on Saturday at 5 p.m. MT.

2025 NCAA Men’s Volleyball Tournament

First Round

Thursday, May 1

Penn State def. Daemen University 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-22)

Quarterfinals at Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio

Thursday, May 8

No. 3 UCLA (20-6) vs. No. 6 Belmont Abbey (17-8), 9 a.m. MT (ESPN+)

No. 2 Hawaii (26-5) vs. No. 7 Penn State (15-15), 11:30 a.m. MT (ESPN+)

No. 1 Long Beach State (27-3) vs. No. 8 Fort Valley State (16-9), 3 p.m. MT (ESPN+)

No. 4 Loyola Chicago (25-3) vs. No. 5 Pepperdine (20-9), 5:30 p.m. MT (ESPN+)

Semifinals at Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio

Saturday, May 10

Long Beach State-Fort Valley State winner vs. Loyola Chicago-Pepperdine winner, 3 p.m. (ESPN+)

UCLA-Belmont Abbey winner vs. Hawaii-Penn State winner, 6 p.m. MT (ESPN+)

Finals at Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio

Monday, May 12

5 p.m. MT (ESPN)