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Provo • Sophomore setter Leo Durkin makes another perfect pass, and 6-foot-9 sophomore Ben Patch soars high above the net before crushing the volleyball ferociously at the feet of a hapless UC Irvine player, who never really had a chance at coming up with a return.
Then BYU's Patch gives the opposing libero a quick, almost-apologetic smile before joining his teammates in the middle of the court for the mini-celebration that occurs after every point. Later, after recording 14 kills in the straight-sets win that propelled the No. 1-ranked Cougars into Thursday's MPSF semifinals against UC Santa Barbara (7:30 p.m., BYUtv) at Smith Fieldhouse, Patch offers up the cellophane-wrapped candy necklace draped around his neck to a bystander who asks about it.
Seemingly, this guy is too nice to be playing such a high-pressure sport that requires a certain amount of machismo and bravado, seeing as how the combatants often stand face-to-face, separated only by a net. Confidence and brashness seemingly goes a long ways in men's volleyball.
"He's just a really good kid, plain and simple," says BYU coach Shawn Olmstead. "Just as nice as can be."
Those are just a few of the words folks who know Patch use to describe the Provo High product who has picked up right where he left off in 2013 when he left the team after a sensational freshman season to serve an LDS Church mission to Columbus, Ohio.
The most common description: future Olympian. That could happen as soon as this August in Rio de Janeiro if Patch, who is already a member of the U.S. Men's National Team, makes the Olympic team. Patch started for the national team last summer in the Pan Am Games in Toronto, but is relatively inexperienced and still considered a bit of a long shot.
Former BYU stars Russell Holmes and Taylor Sander and current Cougar junior Jake Langlois — who, like Patch and sophomore Brenden Sander made the all-MPSF first team last week — are also Team USA members who will be considered for the Olympic roster, which generally includes 14 or 15 players.
"He just loves playing volleyball," Olmstead said of the MPSF's kills-per-set leader (4.31). "He's got some dreams and goals for his future, but to be able to do that, he's got to go and learn from all these moments and get better and learn leadership and all those things that are going to help him get there."
How nice is Patch?
He said he's "not even a little bit" upset that Stanford setter James Shaw, a senior, won the MPSF's Player of the Year award over a trio of BYU candidates — himself, Langlois and Sander, although the Cougars won the regular-season title.
"Oh gosh, no, no, no," Patch said. "I am so proud of James Shaw for getting that. He is so amazing, and so well-deserving. I am more than OK with not getting that award."
Not only was Patch the league's kills leader, he was No. 2 in points per set (4.87) and hit at a .384 clip.
In 2013, he was MPSF Freshman of the Year, a first-team all-conference performer, and the AVCA's Newcomer of the Year. Then he departed on a church mission, stunning the national volleyball community, but not those who knew him best.
Equally surprising to some is how he's hardly skipped a beat after the 18 months away from the sport. Patch returned home six months early, and later told Volleyball magazine that he cut his mission short because "I wanted to work on some other things personally and I felt being home was the best place to do those things, and not on the mission."
At this time last year, Patch was in Anaheim working out with other national team members who weren't involved with a college or professional team. He had only played volleyball once in Ohio — with members of Ohio State's team at a sand court in Columbus — and the time in California helped him get some rust off and get back in shape.
Now, he's got one of the best volleyball teams in BYU history poised to make a national championship run. He has been everything coaches and teammates hoped he would be this season.
"I honestly try not to pay attention to the hype," he said. "I don't think it is a matter of living up to anything. I think it is a matter of living, in general. I didn't come back to be a celebrity, or try to be anything special. I just came back to get better at volleyball. So that's my only goal, is to live up to my own standard of getting better at volleyball."
As for making the Olympic team, Patch says he's not banking on it just yet. He's just 21, after all, with plenty of good years ahead of him.
"Long term, I have some Olympic aspirations," he said. "I am not sure about this summer. If it happens, that's awesome. If it doesn't, I am still optimistic that there is more to come. I think I have a lot to look forward to in this sport."
Twitter: @drewjay —
About Ben Patch
• Adopted by Mike and Linda Patch of Provo when he was just a few days old.
• Graduated from Provo High, served a church mission in Columbus, Ohio.
• Member of the 2012 U.S. Junior National Team, named MVP of the 2012 NORCECA Championships.
• AVCA Newcomer of the Year, MPSF Freshman of the Year and first-team All-American after freshman season in 2013.
• Finished the 2016 regular season ranked No. 1 in the MPSF in kills per set (4.31) and was named to the All-MPSF First Team.
• Currently has 333 kills for a BYU team that is ranked No. 1 in the country. —
MPSF Volleyball Championships
P At Smith Fieldhouse, Provo
Semifinals, Thursday
• No. 2 UCLA vs. No. 3 Long Beach St., 5 p.m.
• No. 1 BYU vs. No. 5 UC Santa Barbara, 7:30 p.m.
Championship, Saturday
• Semifinal winners, 7 p.m.