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Volleyball Preps for Idaho, Weber State
6/21/1999 12:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 8, 1998
Opponent: Idaho
Date:Sept. 9
Location: Crimson Court, Salt Lake City
Time:Location: 7:00 p.m.
Opponent: Weber State Invitational
Date: Sept. 11-12
Location: Dee Events Center, Ogden, Utah
WAC Record: 0-0
Overall Record: 3-1
Utah Probable Starters
No. Name Yr. Pos. 10 Stacie Greenwalt Jr. MB 16 Sara Shakula Sr. OH 12 Kalani Tonga So. OH 2 Graciela Torres Jr. S 4 Jen Snow So. OH 3 McKelle Stilson Fr. MB or 14 Brooke Barton So. DS
THIS WEEK: Utah (3-1) has four matches in four days. The Utes host Idaho on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. at Crimson Court, then play in the Weber State Invitational on Friday and Saturday at the Dee Events Center in Ogden, Utah. Friday, Utah faces Gonzaga at 10:00 a.m. and in-state rival Weber State at 7:30 p.m. Then on Saturday, Utah plays Cal Poly SLO at 12:00 p.m.
A QUICK LOOK AT UTAH: The Utes won three of their first four matches to open the season last week. Utah defeated Idaho State in four games last Tuesday at Crimson Court. Last weekend, Utah lost to No. 22 Washington State in five games and posted four-game wins over Louisville and Gonzaga at WSU's Les Schwab Cougar Challenge. Utah returns five starters and seven letterwinners from last year's team that went 22-9 and placed fourth in the Western Athletic Conference Mountain Division with a 9-5 mark. Headlining the five returning starters are three players who earned all-WAC recognition in 1997. Both 6-0 senior outside hitter Sara Shakula and 6-1 junior middle blocker Stacie Greenwalt were named second-team all-conference. Kalani Tonga, a 6-0 sophomore, was named the WAC Mountain Division Freshman of the Year and earned a spot on the national Volleyball Magazine/Asics All-Freshman Team. Tonga leads the Utes with an average of 4.00 kills and 3.35 digs per game. Greenwalt has a team-best .339 hitting percentage with 3.82 kills and 1.41 blocks per game. Freshman McKelle Stilson is averaging a team-best 1.53 blocks per game to go with 3.35 kills. Setter Graciela Torres is averaging 14.35 assists per game.
AFTER THIS: Utah plays in its third tournament in as many weekends, traveling to East Lansing, Mich., to compete in the Michigan State Invitational. The Utes play No. 17 Michigan State on Friday at 7:00 p.m. (EDT). Saturday, the Utes face No. 16 Notre Dame at 10:00 a.m. (EDT) and New Hampshire at 5:00 p.m. (EDT).
COUGAR CHALLENGE RECAP: Utah took second place at Washington State's Les Schwab Cougar Challenge last weekend in Pullman, Wash. Both Stacie Greenwalt and Graciela Torres were named to the all-tournament team. In the tournament opener, Utah came back from an 0-2 deficit only to fall to No. 22 Washington State in five games on Friday night. The Cougars took the first two games 15-12 and 15-13 before the Utes roared back to take the next two games in convincingfashion, 15-8 and 15-10. Wazzu won the decisive fifth game 15-9. Sophomore Kalani Tonga led Utah with 24 kills, a .208 hitting percentage, 18 digs, and three service aces. Sara Shakula had 13 kills, 10 digs and six blocks. McKelle Stilson had 12 kills and five blocks. Greenwalt posted seven blocks and 11 kills. Torres set a fine match with 50 assists and 17 digs. The Utes rebounded on Saturday to defeat both Louisville and Gonzaga in four games. The U. downed Louisville 15-13, 4-15, 15-7, 15-3, led by 19 kills from Greenwalt. The junior middle blocker hit .424 and also had six blocks. Freshman Lorraine Morrison had 13 kills, seven digs and hit .259. Brooke Barton had five service aces and 11 digs. Torres posted a season-high 68 assists. Despite being outhit .225 to .201 as a team, six Utes still had at least 10 kills. Utah wrapped up the tournament with a 15-7, 15-13, 13-15, 16-14 win over Gonzaga. Greenwalt, again, had a solid match with 17 kills and six blocks. However, the star of the match was Stilson. The redshirt freshman middle blocker had 18 kills, nine blocks and a .581 hitting percentage.
FROM THE TRAINING ROOM: Senior outside hitter Sara Shakula is still suffering pain from two herniated disks in her back, and played in just one game against Gonzaga on Saturday. Sophomore outside hitter Jen Snow suffered a sprained ankle over the weekend. Her status for this week is unknown. Senior middle blocker Erin Petersen suffered a reaction from what was believed to be a spider bite. She was held out of the Washington State tournament, but should be ready to go this week.
SCOUTING IDAHO: The Vandals are 1-0 following a 3-0 sweep of Montana on the road last Tuesday. Idaho returns three starters and seven letterwinners from a team that went 16-14 overall and 10-6 in Big West Conference play to place first in its division a year ago. Senior middle blocker Jessica Moore averaged 3.51 kills and 1.21 blocks per game in 1997. Senior outside hitter Beth Craig accounted for 2.25 kills and 1.67 digs per game last year. Head coach Carl Ferreira has a 16-14 record entering his second season at Idaho and a 116-27 career mark beginning his fifth year.
SCOUTING GONZAGA: The Bulldogs are 1-3 after the first week of the season. Gonzaga opened with a 3-0 win over Whitworth College last Tuesday night. The Bulldogs also competed in the Les Schwab Cougar Challenge last weekend, losing to Utah, Louisville and Washington State in four games. Diane Pascua leads the team with an average of 3.53 kills and 2.93 digs through the first four matches. Britten Kimbell is averaging 2.71 kills and 2.64 digs per game. Head coach Eva Windlin-Jansen has a 14-27 record in her third season at GU.
SCOUTING WEBER STATE: The Wildcats are 4-1 after winning three of its four matches the in University of San Francisco/St. Mary's College Tournament last weekend. Weber State defeated Sam Houston State in five games and swept St. Mary's and San Francisco. It lost to Fordham University in three games. Senior outside hitter Melissa Leonard leads WSU with averages of 2.75 kills and 2.94 digs per game. Junior middle blocker Liz Covill-Weston is averaging 1.38 blocks per game. Head coach Al Givens has a 59-92 record in his sixth season at Weber State.
SCOUTING CAL POLY SLO: The Mustangs are 4-1 after winning three of its four matches in a tournament at the University of Oregon last weekend. They defeated Oregon (3-0), Northern Arizona (3-2) and Denver (3-1), while losing to Fresno State (3-1). Junior middle blocker Kari DeSoto leads the team with an average of 3.86 kills and 1.16 blocks per game. Sophomore outside hitter Melanie Hathaway is averaging 3.74 kills and 2.53 digs per game. Head coach Steve Schlick has a 36-28 record in his third season with the Mustangs.
SERIES SHORTS: Utah has a 4-1 all-time record against Idaho and won in four games last year on Sept. 3 in Moscow, Idaho. The Utes lead the series with Gonzaga 4-1 after defeating the Bulldogs in four games last Saturday at the Washington State tournament. The Utes also have a 35-18 edge all-time over Weber State. The Wildcats pushed the Utes to five games before Utah posted a win last season on Sept. 12 in Salt Lake City. Cal Poly SLO has won all 10 meetings with the Utes. The two teams have not met since the 1992 season, when the Mustangs won in four games on Oct. 2 in Salt Lake City.
TOP 25 POLL WATCH: Utah received 34 votes to tie for 36th in the USA Today/AVCA preseason Top 25 poll, which was released on Aug. 11. Two Western Athletic Conference teams are ranked in the Top 25. Brigham Young starts out the season at No. 8 and Hawai'i is 14th. Both teams are in the Pacific Division with the Utes. In addition to Utah, three other WAC teams are in the "receiving votes" category. Colorado State is ranked 26th, Fresno State is tied for 42nd and San Diego State is tied for 46th. Two teams on Utah's non-conference schedule are ranked in the Top 25, with Notre Dame coming in at 16th and Michigan State 17th.
HEAD COACH BETH LAUNIERE: In her ninth season, Beth Launiere is the winningest coach in Utah volleyball history. Launiere has a 140-119 (.541) 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 Launiere's 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, Launiere's 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 Utah's second-consecutive 20-win season and third-consecutive upper division conference finish.
QUOTING LAUNIERE: On the Washington State tournament - "We had some long, grueling matches, but I felt that we learned a lot from the experience. I thought it was a good effort against Washington State, and I was happy that we came back from being down 0-2. We're due to beat a Top 25 team sometime soon, but that night just wasn't it. We played a great match against a very good Louisville team, which went on to sweep Washington State in the final match of the tournament. It was a tough turnaround for us to play a grueling match against Washington State late the night before, and then come back for another match (Saturday) morning. It was a good win for us, and I think Louisville will be in the hunt for an NCAA bid at the end of the year. Stacie (Greenwalt) just took over the match against Louisville and was solid in the Gonzaga match, as well." On this week - "We need to recoup from the tough week that we had because we have four tough matches ahead of us this week. None of them are going to be easy. Idaho comes in to play us on Wednesday, and it is a program that has a lot of tradition. We'll also fave three very good teams at Weber State's tournament."
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 sixth in career kills (1,049) and seventh in service aces (102) at the U. She needs seven more kills to take over fifth place, with the top mark owned by Brenda Barton-Whicker (1,565). Barton-Whicker also owns the top aces mark with 161. Shakula needs just six more aces to take over third place. 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.
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.
TORRES THIRD IN CAREER ASSISTS: Setter Graciela Torres is in third place in career assists at Utah with 2,541. 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 870 assists to take over second place, 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.
WAC STATISTICAL RANKINGS:
Team
Hitting Efficiency 9th (.211)
Kills 4th
(17.93)
Assists 4th (16.59)
Blocking 3rd (3.12)
Aces 2nd (2.00)
Digs 3rd (17.66)
Individuals
Hitting Efficiency
McKelle Stilson 14th (.339)
Stacie Greenwalt 15th (.339)
Kills Kalani Tonga 15th
(4.00) Stacie Greenwalt 19th (3.82)
Assists Graciela Torres 4th
(14.35)
Blocking McKelle Stilson 8th (1.53)
Stacie Greenwalt 9th (1.41)
Aces Brooke Barton 1st (0.92)
Digs Kalani Tonga 11th
(3.35) Brooke Barton 15th (3.15)
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE: Once again, Utah faces challenging opposition in 1998. Five teams on its schedule_two if 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 will face two more NCAA participants at the Michigan State Invitational, Sept. 18-19. The host Spartans made advanced to the second round, while Notre Dame made it to regional semifinals. Utah faces two more NCAA Tournament teams, twice each, during the Western Athletic Conference season. Hawai'i 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.
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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