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Volleyball Prepare to Play Host to Wyoming
6/21/1999 12:00 AM | Volleyball
September 23, 1998
Utah vs. Wyoming
Sept. 25
Crimson Court Salt Lake City
7:00 p.m.
THIS WEEK:
Utah (8-3) hosts Wyoming on Friday at 7:00 p.m. at Crimson Court. Since the Cowgirls are in the Mountain Division of the Western Athletic Conference and Utah is in the Pacific Division this season, the match will not count toward the teams conference records.
A QUICK LOOK AT UTAH:
The Utes placed second at the Michigan State Invitational, defeating No. 23 Notre Dame (3-0) and New Hampshire (3-0), and losing to No. 18 Michigan State (3-0) last weekend.
Stacie Greenwalt leads the team in blocks (1.23) and hitting percentage (.349), and is second in kills (3.59). Tonga is the team leader in kills (3.97) and digs (3.15). Setter Graciela Torres is averaging 13.44 assists per game and Brooke Barton is averaging a team-best 0.66 service aces.
SCOUTING WYOMING:
The Cowgirls are 4-5 after dropping three matches in the University of Nebraskas tournament last weekend. Wyoming lost to No. 3 Nebraska (15-4, 15-3, 15-11), No. 10 Florida (15-3, 15-1, 15-6) and No. 15 Loyola Marymount (15-4, 10-15, 15-7, 15-9). Sophomore 6-2 middle blocker Melody Friehauf leads the team in kills (3.15) and blocks (1.37). Senior 5-10 outside hitter Jami Laya is first in digs (2.97) and hitting percentage (.318) and second in kills (3.03). Head coach Susan Judge is 37-34 in her second season at UW and has a 74-66 career record in four seasons.
SERIES SHORTS: Utah trails Wyoming 18-22 in the all-time series. The two teams split two matches last year, with the Utes winning in three games on Oct. 2 in Salt Lake City and losing in five games on Nov. 1 in Laramie, Wyo.
NEXT WEEK: Utah plays one more non-conference match before getting into its Western Athletic Conference schedule for the rest of the season. The Utes face Utah State in Logan, Utah, on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. and then host No. 6 Brigham Young in the league opener on Friday at 7:00 p.m. at Crimson Court.
MICHIGAN STATE TOURNAMENT REVIEW: Utah defeated No. 23 Notre Dame and New Hampshire on Saturday to win two of three matches and place second at the Michigan State Invitational. The Utes fell to No. 18 Michigan State in Friday nights opener. Sophomore outside hitter and Kalani Tonga and senior outside hitter Sara Shakula were named the all-tournament team.
The Utes swept their way past Notre Dame 15-10, 15-4, 15-10. It was Utah's first win over a ranked team since beating No. 16 BYU at Crimson Court in 1995. Tonga came up big with 18 kills, a .371 hitting percentage and 11 digs. Shakula had 13 kills, a .375 hitting percentage and nine digs. Brooke Barton was also into double-figures in kills with 11. Stacie Greenwalt had five blocks, including two solos. Graciela Torres had 43 assists. Utah outhit the Fighting Irish .214 to .077.
Utah concluded the tournament with a 15-4, 17-15, 15-10 sweep of New Hampshire. Greenwalt had 10 kills and hit .833 to break the school single-match hitting percentage record. McKelle Stilson had 12 kills and a .706 hitting percentage. Shakula also posted 12 kills with a .450 hitting percentage. Torres had 40 assists, four aces and 10 digs. The Utes outhit the Wildcats .274 to .142 for the match.
Utah opened the tournament with a 15-12, 15-9, 16-14 loss to No. 18 Michigan State. Tonga led Utah with 13 kills and eight digs. Barton had 10 kills and eight digs. Shakula posted eight kills and five blocks.
HEAD COACH BETH LAUNIERE:
In her ninth season, Beth Launiere is the winningest coach in Utah volleyball history. Launiere has a 145-121 (.545) record overall and a 46-62 mark in Western Athletic Conference play.
Launiere was named the Utes head coach in 1990, and has since overseen a significant transformation in the Ute volleyball program. The season prior to Launieres appointment, the Utes compiled a meager 1-32 record. Four years later, Launiere guided Utah to a 25-win season, its most successful campaign ever.
The Grand Rapids, Mich., native has led the Utes to three 20-win seasons and four upper-division finishes in the Western Athletic Conference during the last five years. Last year, Launieres Utes posted its all-time best overall winning percentage in school history (.710) by going 22-9, as well as the best winning percentage in WAC play (.643) with a 9-5 mark to place fourth in the WAC Mountain Division. It was Utahs second-consecutive 20-win season and third-consecutive upper division conference finish.
QUOTING LAUNIERE:
On last weekend - "For the third weekend in a row, we went 2-1 in a tournament, and Im very happy with that. Along with the wins, we identified some things that will help us out the rest of the year. We were a little tight against Michigan State, and weve done that twice now against a Top 25 team this year. I told the team that each of them individually needs to find a level of competitiveness that's positive. We did some things well, but just couldnt put games away. I was really happy with the win over Notre Dame and the way we came back after the loss to Michigan State. I thought that our serving was the key because we took away their strength at the net. Well probably see better teams than Notre Dame in the WAC that may not be ranked, but that was a good win for us."
On this week - "It will be nice to get a little bit of a break for our team and only have one match this week. Weve spent a lot of time on the road and played a lot of matches in the first three weeks of the season. We need to beat Wyoming. They are a good team that has already played some tough matches this year. They will also be one of the top teams in the (WAC) Mountain Division, so its important for us to beat them."
SHAKULA MOVING UP THE CAREER CHARTS:
With what figures to be her biggest season in front of her, senior outside hitter Sara Shakula has an excellent chance to finish high in several career statistical categories. The Draper, Utah, native already ranks third in career kills (1,111) and third in service aces (110) at the U. She needs 142 more kills to move ahead of Sharman Grant (1,252) and into second place. The top mark is owned by Brenda Barton-Whicker (1,565). Barton-Whicker also owns the top aces mark with 161. Shakula needs just 38 more aces to take over second place, currently held by Grants 147.
Shakula is also moving up the Western Athletic Conference statistical career charts. She needs just 10 more aces to take over 10th place from Alicia Bergmann (119), who played for New Mexico from 1990-93.
Last season, Shakula ranked 19th in the conference in kills with an average of 3.26 per game. She also ranked 20th in the nation and led the WAC with 0.54 aces a game.
TORRES THIRD IN CAREER ASSISTS:
Setter Graciela Torres is in third place in career assists at Utah with 2,821. Torres moved ahead of Katie Gesto, who recorded 2,309 assists from 1984-86, on Sept. 1 with 67 assists against Idaho State. She now needs 535 assists to take over second place, currently held by Katie Tagges 3,355, which is still within reach this season. In just her first season at the U., Torres recorded 1,206 assists to place her fifth on both the the single-season and career charts. She recorded 1,091 assists in 1997, the sixth-most in a single-season at Utah.
TONGA MAKES HER MARK:
Sophomore Kalani Tonga, the 1997 Western Athletic Conference Mountain Division Freshman of the Year and a member of the Volleyball Magazine/Asics All-Freshman Team, splashed onto the scene last season. Tonga ranked seventh in the WAC in blocks (1.22) and sixth in hitting percentage (.327) as a middle blocker. She also set the Utah single-season record for hitting percentage.
This season, Tonga ranks ninth in the WAC in kills (3.97), fourth in digs (3.15) and 20th in aces (0.38).
WAC STATISTICAL RANKINGS: Team Hitting Efficiency 10th (.207) Kills 6th (17.36) Assists 5th (15.31) Blocking 6th (2.62) Aces 2nd (2.26) Digs 4th (16.56)Individuals Hitting Efficiency Stacie Greenwalt 8th (.349) McKelle Stilson 20th (.302) Kills Kalani Tonga 9th (3.97) Stacie Greenwalt 17th (3.59) Assists Graciela Torres 4th (13.44) Blocking Stacie Greenwalt 8th (1.23) McKelle Stilson 12th (1.14) Aces Brooke Barton 2nd (0.66) Graciela Torres 5th (0.49) Kalani Tonga 20th (0.38) Digs Kalani Tonga 4th (3.15)
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE:
Once again, Utah faces challenging opposition in 1998. Five teams on its schedule-two of which it will play twice-were invited to play in the 1997 NCAA Tournament. Washington State, which defeated Utah in four games on Sept. 4, made it to the regional semifinals. The Utes faced two more NCAA participants at the Michigan State Invitational, Sept. 18-19. The host Spartans, which defeated Utah in four games, advanced to the second round. Notre Dame, defeated by the Utes in three games, made it to the regional semifinals.
Utah faces two NCAA Tournament teams, twice each, during the Western Athletic Conference season. Hawaii received and NCAA bid in 97, but lost in the first round. Brigham Young made it to the regional finals before losing to eventual national runner-up Penn State.
UTAH AGAINST TOP 25 TEAMS:
Utah is 1-2 against ranked teams this season. The Utes lost to No. 22 Washington State in five games on Sept. 4 in WSUs Les Schwab Cougar Challenge. The U. lost to No. 18 Michigan State in three games on Sept. 18 in the Spartans MSU Invitational, then came back the next day in the tournament to defeat No. 23 Notre Dame in three games.
WAC PRE-SEASON POLL:
In a survey of the Western Athletic Conference coaches before the season, Utah was picked to place third in the Pacific Division. Utah, competing in the WAC's Pacific Division for the first time in its final season as a league member, garnered 88 points. Brigham Young was picked first, tallying 118 points and 13 first-place votes. Hawai'i claimed the remaining three first-place votes and 105 points to finish second. The Utes were followed by Fresno State in fourth place with 73 points, San Diego State (72), New Mexico (49), San Jose State (37) and UTEP (26).
In the Mountain Division, Colorado State earned 13 first-place votes and totaled 117 points to lead the way. Brigham Young was picked to win the WAC championship over Hawai'i, 13 votes to three.
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