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Ben Lomond senior Emanii Jackson (7) spikes the ball during a non-region match with Bear River on Wednesday, March 5, 2025, in Ogden.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

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Ben Lomond juniors Spencer Sartor (10) and Freddy Martin (24) talk things over during a non-region match with Bear River on Wednesday, March 5, 2025, in Ogden.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

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Ben Lomond junior Spencer Sartor (10) jumps for a kill during a non-region match with Bear River on Wednesday, March 5, 2025, in Ogden.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

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Ben Lomond junior Spencer Sartor (10) and senior Alex Winter (16) are jubilant during a non-region match with Bear River on Wednesday, March 5, 2025, in Ogden.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

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Ben Lomond senior Emanii Jackson sets up his serve during a non-region match with Bear River on Wednesday, March 5, 2025, in Ogden.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

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Ben Lomond head boys volleyball coach Chelsye Saulsberry meets with her team between sets during a non-region match with Bear River on Wednesday, March 5, 2025, in Ogden.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

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OGDEN — Two matches into the regular season, Ben Lomond boys volleyball is miles ahead of its first effort when the school launched its program a year ago.

In the fourth set of Wednesday’s home opener, Scots senior Emanii Jackson and junior Spencer Sartor ignited a 16-7 run and claimed a win over Bear River. BL (2-0) opened the season Monday clearing Northridge in four sets on the road.

BL narrowly won the opening pair 27-25 and 25-23 before giving up the third set 25-22 to the Bears (0-1), mounting a swift comeback and forcing the Scots’ match-winning 25-18 final set.

Just eight names are featured on the BL roster but the offseason, as Jackson put it, made a sizeable difference on the court. In Year 1 of the program, the Scots finished 5-17 and dropped each of their six region contests.

“Coming from our first year, it wasn’t looking too great,” Jackson said. “None of us really knew how to play volleyball. We took the time over the summer to work in the gym and churches, and it’s become a team. Everyone’s put in, played their role and not tried to do too much.”

BL returns to the floor Friday afternoon in search of a 3-0 record — another step toward erasing the poor precedent set by last spring’s 0-5 start.

Her player’s voices, or the willingness to use them on the court, is where Ben Lomond coach Chelsye Saulsberry, back for her second season, pointed when asked about the Scots’ early success.

“They’ve learned when to listen and when to tune out,” Saulsberry said.

“They’ve put in the work to know what’s happening and understand what they’re supposed to do,” Saulsberry continued. “We’ve done much better with our hitting and playing together with chemistry. That was the biggest thing we were lacking last year.”

Jackson made himself heard during the third set with Bear River when the Bears dragged things into a fourth set on Joseph Bauer’s match-point kill, preventing the Scots from a sweep.

“I just kept telling them each time, ‘Keep it up, we’re not losing,'” Jackson said.

BL’s second road test of the season comes Friday against a Clearfield (0-1) team fresh off a five-set loss at Syracuse. It’ll be the first of four more nonregion matches for the Scots before hosting Grantsville on March 25.

Connect with sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net and X @ctbecker.