Upcoming Event: Volleyball at #13 TCU on November 7, 2025 at 5:30 PM
5:30 PM
Volleyball
at #13 TCU
.png&width=31&height=31&type=webp)
The University of Utah Athletics
Volleyball Hosts Two Conference Foes This Weekend
11/15/1999 12:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 15, 1999
Utah vs. Colorado State
Nov. 19 - Crimson Court - Salt Lake City - 7:00 p.m.
Utah vs. Wyoming
Nov. 20 - Crimson Court - Salt Lake City - 5:30 p.m.
COMING UP:
On Nov. 24-28, Utah will travel to Provo, Utah to compete in the first-ever Mountain West Conference women's volleyball tournament.
A QUICK LOOK AT UTAH:
Utah's overall record is currently 19-7, 9-3 in the MWC. Utah lost to 10th ranked BYU in three games, (7-15, 6-15, 3-15), Fri., Nov. 12 in Provo, Utah. Possible starters for the Utes in the match-ups against 11th ranked Colorado State and Wyoming are: Graciela Torres-Lopez (Sr., S), McKelle Stilson (So., MB), Jen Snow-Richards (Jr., OH), Alisa Geddes (So., OH), Brooke Barton (Jr., OH), Adrianne Bradley (So., OH), or Lucie Turkov? (Jr., DS). Utah's all-time assists leader Graciela Torres-Lopez has added 1147 assists thus far to her career total of 4,853. The Utes add four transfers and four true freshmen to this year's roster.
BYU MATCH RECAP:
Utah ended its win streak as they lost to 10th ranked BYU in three games, (7-15, 6-15, 3-15), Fri., Nov. 12 in Provo, Utah. Utah moves to 19-7 overall, 9-3 in the MWC. BYU improves to 22-3 overall, 11-1 in conference play.
Middle blocker McKelle Stilson led the Utes with nine kills for a .261 hitting percentage, despite the Cougar defense focusing on her. Jen Snow-Richards added nine kills and posted eight digs. Sophomore transfer Alisa Geddes posted eight kills and eight digs. Senior setter Graciela Torres-Lopez totaled 25 assists. As a team, the Utes hit .043 in the match.
"McKelle is unstoppable if they get a pass," BYU coach Elaine Michaelis said. "She's a great player. We tried to give them some tough serves and keep the ball away from her."
BYU was led by Nina Puikkonen who posted 17 kills for a .533 hitting percentage and five total blocks. Teammate Mari Carpenter added 10 kills for a .421 hitting percentage. Anna-Lenna Smith posted 40 assists and led the Cougars with 10 digs. BYU hit .374 in the match.
SCOUTING Colorado State:
The No. 11 Colorado State volleyball team continued on its winning ways Thurs., Nov. 11, defeating UNLV (earlier this season, UNLV gave the Rams their only loss of the year), in four games, 15-8, 15-8, 13-15, 15-13. On Sat., Nov. 13, the Rams put away the Aztecs of San Diego State in four games, 15-13, 15-5, 14-16, 15-6. The Rams improved to 24-1 on the season and 11-1 in Mountain West Conference play. Sophomore Angela Knopf leads Colorado State in digs, averaging 2.70 digs per game. Knopf posts 3.42 kills per game and 1.14 blocks per game. She is fifth in the MWC with a .338 hitting percentage. As a freshman, Knopf hit for .325 and totaled 327 kills. Catie Vagneur is second in the MWC in kills, averaging 4.05 kills per game. Vagneur also averages 2.66 digs per game. Teammate Courtney Cox is third in the MWC in kills, averaging 3.96 kills per game. Sophomore Allison Peckham currently averages 12.76 assists per game. Junior middle blocker, Summer Jennings leads CSU in blocks, averaging 1.29 blocks per game. In 1998-99, Jennings posted 279 kills for a .330 hitting percentage. The Rams return five starters from last year's team that posted a 24-8 overall record, 12-2 in the WAC. Head Coach Tom Hilbert enters his third year at CSU, posting a 225-86 career record, 51-14 record at Colorado State.
SCOUTING WYOMING:
Wyoming split matches over the weekend with Mountain West Conference opponents San Diego State and UNLV. On Fri., Nov. 12, Wyoming defeated San Diego State in four games, (10-15, 15-8, 15-8, 15-7). On Sat., Nov. 13, the Cowgirls lost to UNLV, 3-1 (8-15, 15-10, 11-15, 6-15). Overall, Wyoming is 9-18 and 3-9 in conference play. Junior middle blocker Melody Friehauf leads Wyoming, posting 3.88 kills per game and 1.39 blocks per game. Friehauf is second in the MWC with a .371 hitting percentage. Friehauf was a second-team All-WAC selection last season. She was also a two-time Academic All-WAC and WAC-Scholar Athlete selection in 1998-99. Jamie Burke, a 5-10 junior, leads Wyoming in digs, totaling 2.49 digs per game. She also averages 2.85 kills per game. Freshman Brooke Lowry leads the team, posting 10.58 assists per game. Last season, the Cowgirls finished with a 16-14 overall record, 10-4 in the WAC. Wyoming returns three starters and eight letterwinners. Head Coach Susan Judge is in her fourth year at Wyoming. Judge posts a 86-75 career record, 49-43 record at Wyoming.
SERIES SHORTS:
Colorado State leads the all-time series with Utah, 29-15. In Utah's last meeting with Colorado State on Oct. 23, 1999 the Utes battled in five games and lost (15-12, 16-14, 7-15, 12-15, 14-16) in Fort Collins, Colo. Wyoming leads the all-time series with Utah, 22-20. In their last meeting on Oct. 22, 1999, Utah defeated Wyoming in three games, (15-12, 15-7, 15-12).
THE NEW MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE:
Utah and seven other schools broke away from the WAC to form the new Mountain West Conference. Joining the Utes in the nation's newest conference are: Air Force, Brigham Young, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV and Wyoming. The Utes opened their conference schedule on October 1st 1999.
HEAD COACH BETH LAUNIERE:
In her tenth season, Beth Launiere has not only resurrected the Ute volleyball program and turned it into a consistent winner, she has also guided Utah to unprecedented success on the national level.
Under Launiere's leadership, Utah made its first-ever appearance in 1999 and advanced to the second round. It is the crowning achievement of Launiere's tenure at Utah, in which she has posted a 177-135 (.567) career record.
The winningest coach in school history, Launiere has overseen a significant transformation since her arrival in 1990. In the last five years alone, Launiere has guided the Utes to four 20-win seasons and five upper division finishes in the Western Athletic Conference.
QUOTING LAUNIERE:
On the BYU match-"We didn't play well enough to beat BYU either time this year. We needed to serve and pass better in order to win the match and that didn't happen. I think we played good defense and we got some good digs, but we just couldn't get the points. BYU seems to play some of their best matches against us."
On the upcoming Colorado State and Wyoming matches-"The biggest thing about this weekend, is that it gives us the opportunity to get 20 wins. That is a plateau that we definitely want to get to, minimally. We're excited to have these two teams come play on our court, and we're going to be ready to play Colorado State on Friday. We're looking forward to a good competitive match again with them. There are certain players on Wyoming's roster that we'll have to contain in order to beat them, so we'll have a game plan put together for that. We're down to our last weekend of regular season play and we've got some goals in front of us that should be real motivational and help get us ready for the MWC Tournament."
MWC PRE-SEASON POLL:
In a survey of the Mountain West Conference coaches before the season, Utah, which received votes in the preseason national poll, was picked to finish third. Brigham Young was the unanimous favorite in the poll, with Colorado State projected to be the MWC runner-up. BYU entered the season ranked No. 7 in the nation, while Colorado State climbed into the preseason national poll at No. 24.
STILSON LEADS UTAH:
Sophomore middle blocker McKelle Stilson leads Utah's offense and plays a key role in the defense as well. In 21 out of 26 matches, Stilson has posted double figures in kills. Stilson currently leads Utah with 351 total kills. She averages 3.66 kills per game and currently posts a .309 hitting percentage. Stilson is also a threat to any opponent's offense. She has racked up 16 block solos and 108 blocks assists, for 124 total blocks to date. Stilson leads the team, averaging 1.29 blocks per game. Earlier this season, Stilson posted a career-high 25 kills for a .435 hitting percentage and eight total blocks vs. California. Stilson has posted 20-plus kills in four matches this season. On Oct. 5, she was named the Mountain West Conference's Volleyball Athlete of the Week.
Torres-Lopez Approaching 5,000 Career Assists:
Utah's all-time assists leader Graciela Torres-Lopez is quickly approaching 5,000 career assists. Torres-Lopez needs just 147 assists and with two matches left and the Mountain West Conference Tournament to follow, she could very well hit the mark. The way Utah is playing this season posting a 19-7 overall record, 9-3 in the MWC, a second consecutive trip to the NCAAs could be within reach and that means more assists added to Torres-Lopez's career totals. Torres-Lopez totaled 1206 assists her freshman year in 1996. In 1997, she posted 1091 and in 1998 she racked up 1409. Torres-Lopez has added 1147 assists so far in 1999 making her career total 4,853.
MWC STATISTICAL LEADERS:
Utah as a team leads the conference in digs, averaging 15.84 DPG. The Utes are currently third in blocks (2.77 BPG), in kills (16.18 KPG) and in assists (14.24 APG). Utah is third with a .210 team hitting percentage and eighth in service aces (1.40 SAPG). Individually, Utah ranks among some of the best in the conference. Senior co-captain, Graciela Torres-Lopez is currently third in the MWC in assists, averaging 12.33 assists per game. Torres-Lopez ranks tenth in the conference with a .248 hitting percentage. Sophomore transfer, Alisa Geddes currently ranks third in the MWC in digs, averaging 3.20 digs per game. McKelle Stilson currently ranks fifth in the conference in blocks, averaging 1.29 blocks per game and eighth in kills, averaging 3.66 kills per game. Stilson is sixth in the conference with a .309 hitting percentage. Adrianne Bradley is fifth in digs, averaging 2.80 digs per game, while teammate Brooke Barton is tenth in digs, averaging 2.51 digs per game. Freshman Katrena Ellett is tenth in blocks, averaging 1.06 blocks per game.
Player Notes:
In 16 out of 24 matches, sophomore transfer Alisa Geddes has recorded double figures in digs. She has posted 20-plus digs in two matches this season. In 18 out of 24 matches, Geddes has posted double figures in kills. Geddes posted a career-high 23 kills Oct. 20, 1999 vs. Notre Dame. Geddes posted a career-high 26 digs Oct. 23 at Colorado State. In 13 out of 25 matches, outside hitter Adrianne Bradley has totaled double figures in kills. In 11 out of 25 matches, Bradley has posted double figures in digs. Bradley recorded a career-high 19 kills and 19 digs Sept. 10 vs. Georgia. Freshman Brenda Beal posted a career-high 19 kills vs. California on Sept. 25. Beal posted a career-high .778 hitting percentage (7-0-9) on Sept. 11 vs. George Mason. Beal recorded a career-high eight total blocks Nov. 6 at San Diego State. Junior Brooke Barton recorded a career-high 14 kills and a career-high .478 hitting percentage, Oct. 8 vs. San Diego State. Senior setter Graciela Torres-Lopez has recorded three triple-doubles so far this season. On Sept. 7 vs. Weber State, Torres-Lopez posted 10 kills, 60 assists and 11 digs. On Sept. 17 vs. Pepperdine, Torres-Lopez totaled 12 kills, 60 assists and 16 digs. Torres-Lopez recorded 12 kills, 62 assists, and 10 digs on Oct., 20 vs. Notre Dame. In 10 out of 23 matches, Torres-Lopez has posted double figures in digs.
Tidbits:
All but one loss this season has been to top 25 teams beginning with No. 18 Northern Iowa on Sept. 1, No. 9 Pepperdine on Sept. 17, No. 2 Stanford on Sept. 24, No. 10 BYU on Oct. 15, No. 11 Colorado State on Oct. 23 and No. 10 BYU on Nov. 12. Utah's only other loss so far this season came from Georgia, a non-ranked team, on Sept. 10 in five games (16-14, 11-15, 12-15, 15-7, 13-15). Utah ranks 30th in the nation in home match attendance. In 10 matches at home, the Utes have brought in 7,525 fans, an average of 752 fans per match. Seven of Utah's wins have come in three games. Ten of Utah's wins have come in four games, while two wins have come in five games. Four of Utah's losses have come in three games, while the remaining three losses have come in five games. Utah is 7-3 overall, 4-1 in the MWC at home games and 6-3 overall, 5-2 at away games. Utah is 10-4 in non-conference competition this season and is 6-1 overall at a neutral site.
Utah Volleyball's Ultimate Ute, Briar Rose - ESPN+ Feature
Monday, October 20
Utah Volleyball's Neea-Maria Joki - ESPN+ Feature
Friday, October 10
Utah Volleyball's Emrie Moea'i - ESPN+ Feature
Thursday, September 25
Hear It From Harlan featuring Utah Volleyball's Kamryn Gibadlo
Thursday, September 25