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Keoni Thiim walking off the court towards the locker room following a season-opening win was approached by two BYU fans.
Both children had BYU shirts and asked the new Cougar for an autograph. Thiim with a wide smile visible underneath his mustache walked to the Ohio State stands, interacted with the young fans and autographed the shirts.
There’s a reason why one match into his time at BYU that Thiim has already become a fan favorite.
Thiim finished with both a match-high five aces and 14 kills on a .379 attack percentage as No. 6 BYU defeated No. 11 Ohio State 19-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-18 on Friday in Columbus, Ohio.
Thiim, who transferred to BYU after three seasons at Hawai’i, capped off the debut match with three aces in the final game. The outside attacker also had a combined seven kills and did not commit an attack error in the final two games of the comeback win.
Thiim was one of two BYU players to have double-digit kills against the defending MIVA champions.
Outside attacker Luke Benson added 13 kills on a .571 attack percentage in the opener of the two-match series. Benson did not start the match, but the All-MPSF selection was inserted into the lineup after the team’s opening-game loss.
BYU with Benson in the lineup hit more than .400 in each of the final three games and for the match out-hit Ohio State .308 to .252.
Opposite Shane Wetzel in the loss had a team-high 12 kills.Freshman outside attacker Stanislaw Chacinski added 11 kills, while outside attacker Daniel Hurley had 10 kills on a .389 attack percentage against BYU.
BYU finished with 10 aces – six more aces than Ohio State.
The Cougars had four aces in the final game highlighted by Thiim having three aces during a four-play span. Thiim’s service run also was a part of a 9-3 BYU run to close out the match.
Thiim midway through the third-game victory delivered an ace to cap off a 6-3 run and give the Cougars a four-point lead. The outside attacker also added four kills as BYU had a match-best .500 attack percentage and at one point went 29 consecutive plays without an attack error.
Benson came off the bench at the start of the second game and finished with a game-high four kills and zero attack errors to help BYU tie the match.
The Cougars hit .458 in the second game and committed two attack errors – five fewer errors than in the opening game.
BYU was limited to a negative-.080 attack percentage in the first game.
Ohio State and BYU were tied 13-13 in the opening set before the Buckeyes went on a 5-0 run that featured back-to-back attack errors from the Cougars and an ace from Wetzel. The Buckeyes also secured the six-point win on BYU’s seventh attack error of the game.
BYU with this victory extended its winning streak against Ohio State to five matches. The last time Ohio State beat BYU was in the 2017 NCAA Tournament finals.