No. 8 BYU sweeps CUI, Worthington earns 500 career digs

Irvine, CALIF. — No. 8 BYU men’s volleyball swept Concordia University Irvine (25-18, 25-19, 25-18) at CU Arena on Friday evening in CUI’s conference opener.

Senior libero Mitchel Worthington achieved a career milestone of 500 digs, pushing him to seventh place on the all-time dig list for BYU. With five digs tonight, Worthington also surpassed Davide Gardini’s record of 498 digs.

“Mitch has been a solid foundation for so many great teams here at BYU,” said BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead. “Any time your name is on a list like this it means something. He’s amongst some of the best volleyball players this program has ever seen. Most importantly, this is a special thing for all the guys Mitch has played with. I hope his name continues to climb the ranks as the season progresses.”

Miks Ramanis led all players with 14 kills on a .700 clip, a career-high. Sophomore setter Noa Haine started in his third consecutive match for the Cougars and garnered 28 assists, leading BYU in digs with seven. 

The Cougars (9-4) held CUI (5-8) to a .097 clip, the lowest team hitting percentage by a BYU opponent this season.

Set One

After a bit of a slow start, the Cougars dominated in the first set. Anthony Cherfan recorded BYU’s first kill, followed by a CUI attack error. Cherfan would go on to have 10 kills and four blocks. Three attack errors by BYU gave the Golden Eagles a lead at 5-2. A block from Trent Moser took the score to 8-6, back in favor of BYU. After three service errors in a row, Ramanis got a kill for the score to reach 11-8.

The Golden Eagles tied the game at 13, 14 and 15, but after two errors from setter Nathan Biteau, the score got up to 17-15 for the Cougars. Cherfan got an ace at 19-15 for BYU’s biggest lead of the set so far, forcing a CUI timeout. BYU went on a 3-0 run for another timeout, Cougars up 23-16. A kill from Ramanis would end the set at 25-18.

Cherfan and Ramanis recorded five kills in set one, compared to CUI's team total of six.

Set Two

BYU took control of set two by never dropping its lead at any point. The Cougars led with a 4-0 run, including back-to-back kills by Ramanis. BYU's offense forced the first timeout of the set when up by five points at 7-2. Ramanis contributed more to BYU's stat line with an ace for a score of 11-8. A kill by Moser secured the set point at 25-19.

The Cougars hit .300 as a team in the second set, with Ramanis recording six kills. 

Set Three

In set three, BYU started by going on a 3-0 run. A kill by Gavin Julien took the score to 5-3. The Golden Eagles took a glimpse of a lead at 6-5 after a BYU attack error. The Cougars bounced back on a 5-0 run, taking the the score to 15-11, including kills by Moser and Cherfan. An ace by Cherfan concluded the match at 25-18.

The Cougars will face CUI once more tomorrow at 7 p.m. PST, with live coverage from CUI Athletics on Stretch Live.