Upcoming Event: Volleyball versus #13 Kansas on November 19, 2025 at 7:00 PM
7:00 PM
.png&width=31&height=31&type=webp)
Volleyball
vs #13 Kansas
The University of Utah Athletics
Utah Volleyball Notes
11/29/2004 12:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 29, 2004
Complete Release, Postseason Updates and Statistics in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
What's on Tap?
The No. 20-ranked (USA Today/CSTV coaches poll) University of Utah women's volleyball team (24-6 overall) venture into the NCAA Tournament this week. Utah's first-round match versus Long Beach State will be on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles, Calif., on Friday, Dec. 3. Match time in the venerable Pauley Pavilion is set for 5:30 p.m. (PST). The winner of the Utah-LBSU match will play the winner of the UCLA-Loyola Marymount match on Saturday, Dec. 4. That match will start at 7 p.m. (PST). The winner from the subregional in L.A. advances to the regional in Seattle, Wash., on Dec. 10-11.
Scouting the Opposition:
Long Beach State (23-6 overall) finished tied for second in the Big West Conference with a 13-5 slate. The 49ers were on a five-match winning streak but saw it end with a five-game loss to Notre Dame in the regular season finale last Saturday. Top-25 wins for LBSU this season include victories over Utah (3-1) and San Diego (3-1). The 49ers are led by freshman middle blocker Alexis Crimes. She paces the squad in kills, 3.91, hitting, .384, and in blocking, 1.31. Jillian Mazzarella dishes out a team-best 12.90 assists per match while Heather Laudato's 4.88 digs also leads the team.
UCLA (18-10 overall) finished fourth in the PAC 10, going 11-7 in league matches. It has won three of its last four matches but enters the tournament on the heels of a 3-1 loss to the No. 3-ranked Washington Huskies. The Bruins began the season ranked third in the country but have slipped to No. 15. UCLA's top-25 wins this season include Texas A&M(3-0), Santa Clara (3-0), Arizona (3-1), and two over California (3-0, 3-2). Brynn Murphy's 3.15 kills per game is tops on the Bruins while Nana Meriwether leads with a .311 hitting percentage. The attack centers around Krystal McFarland and her 12.16 assists while the defense is led by Meriwether (1.56 blocks) and Chrissie Zartman (5.67 digs).
Loyola Marymount (17-11 overall) went 8-6 in West Coast Conference action, finishing fourth. It started out the season ranked 18th. The Lions' results include top-25 wins over Santa Clara (3-1) and UC Santa Barbara (3-1). They have won three of their last five matches but lost to Cal State Northridge in their last regular season match, 3-2. The Lions' attack feature Kelli Nerison with 3.05 kills on .352 hitting. She also is the team leader in blocks with 1.72. Nicole Oehlman hands out 12.27 assists per game while Michelle Cook scoops up 3.80 digs.
Series Records:
While Utah has met all three teams in regular season play, this marks the first time that the Utes will meet these teams in the NCAA tournament.
Utah is 2-8 all-time against Long Beach State. The two last met earlier this season in Long Beach with the 49ers taking the 3-1 (31-29, 21-30, 24-30, 27-30) win. The difference was defense as LBSU held the edge in blocks, 13-7, and digs, 62-53. Heather Hetzer and Alexis Crimes each led LBSU with seven blocks each. Shelly Sommerfeldt and Lyndsey Henderson led the attack for Utah with 16 and 13 kills, respectively. Kelsie Kartchner's 31 assists led the way for Utah as did Connie Dangerfield's 15 digs.
UCLA and Utah would meet for the ninth time, with UCLA owning the all-time series lead, 7-1. The lone Utah win came this year when the Utes upset then-No. 6 UCLA in Salt Lake City, 3-2. Utah scooped up 100 digs in the win and held UCLA to a .162 hitting percentage, including a -.091 average in game five. Henderson had a career-high 22 kills and Dangerfield a conference-record 33 digs in the victory. Tracy Neumeier dished out 34 assists and Henderson led the way with 10 blocks.
Utah and Loyola Marymount have battled on the volleyball court three times. The Utes are undefeated against the Lions, 3-0. The last time these two met was in the 2001 regular season. Utah nabbed the 3-1 win in Los Angeles. Kartchner, Neumeier and Katrena Ellett are the only current Utes who saw action in that match.
Quoting Head Coach Beth Launiere:
On the NCAA tournament: "Our first and second-round matches are not an easy draw. But, it's a balanced field. I think the team that comes out playing its best volleyball and plays two complete matches will advance to the regional.
"But, I don't think there's a team that we can't beat. As competitors, we want to go down there and play the best match we can and come away with a couple wins."
On Hawaii and Eastern Washington: "It was good to play a quality opponent like Hawaii and for us to get a win under our belts in the Eastern Washington match. The last two or three weeks we've played some of the top teams in the country. While we didn't win all of them, playing at that level of competition helps prepare our team.
"Against Eastern Washington, we played with desire and confidence and I felt that we were in control. That match felt a lot like our other 24 wins this season."
Last Week:
Utah wrapped up the regular season with a loss to Hawaii (3-1) and a win over Eastern Washington (3-0).
The Rainbow Wahine hit better than .400 in two games and saw three of its players hit better than .375 in topping the Utes in four games (28-30, 30-18, 16-30, 26-30). Hawaii forced Utah into 34 hitting errors and also held the edge in blocks, 14.5-11. Utah hit .213 to Hawaii's .270. Liana Bortoto led the way for Utah with 16 kills while Kelsie Kartchner had a triple-double of 11 kills, 28 assists and 11 digs. Connie Dangerfield tied for match-high honors with 17 digs.
Utah returned to the win column with a 3-0 (30-25, 30-21, 30-25) win over the Eagles. The Utes erased deficits in each game as it hit .203 to Eastern Washington's .096. Utah chalked up eight aces to EWU's two and also held the edge at the net, outblocking EWU, 10-8. Lyndsey Henderson's 12 kills and six blocks led the way as did Dangerfield's 12 digs.
Weekly Stats:
National Rankings: through 11/21, Lyndsey Henderson is seventh in blocks per game (1.71) while the team ranks 11th (3.24). Note: NCAA stats are updated every Tuesday.
Mountain West Individual Stats: Lyndsey Henderson is first in points (4.92), second in blocks per game (1.67), third in kills (3.65), fourth in hitting percentage (.333), and seventh in aces (0.29); Connie Dangerfield is second in digs (4.20); Tracy Neumeier is third in aces (0.32), eighth in assists (6.56) and 15th in digs (2.20); Amie Toone is sixth in blocks (1.24); Danielle Leichliter is 14th in service aces per game (0.24); Kelsie Kartchner is ninth in assists (6.21), 11th in aces (0.26) and 14th in digs (2.27); Shelly Sommerfeldt is 14th in kills (3.02).
Mountain West Team Stats: Utah is tops in opponent hitting percentage (.141) and service aces (1.70); second in blocks (3.22) and digs (15.06); fourth in hitting (.231); fourth in kills (15.24) and assists (13.82).
Dancin' Days:
The University of Utah is going to make its seventh straight appearance in the NCAA tournament this weekend. The Utes are 6-6 all-time in the big dance, enjoying the most success when it went to the "Sweet 16" in 2001. Last year, the Utes went to Seattle, Wash., where it beat Santa Clara in the first round, 3-2, but fell to the Washington Huskies in the second, 3-0.
It's Lonely At The Top:
Connie Dangerfield is now the single-season record holder for digs at Utah. She scooped up 12 digs in the win over Eastern Washington to tally her 458th dig for the season. The total surpasses the former record-holder, Julie Kirby, who had 457 in 1993.
The Air Up There:
Connie Dangerfield isn't only the single-season dig leader at Utah, but in the Mountain West Conference. Her 458 digs is also the MWC season record. The mark formerly belonged to Ulia Crabbe of BYU. She had 435 digs in 2003. Moreover, she also holds the conference standard for digs by a sophomore. She bested Colorado State's Lindsey Kerr's 433 digs in 2002 to take over the mark.
Doing A Little Bit Of Everything:
Kelsie Kartchner tallied her second triple-double for the season. Against No. 1-ranked Hawaii, the 5-10 setter/hitter tallied 11 kills, 28 assists and 11 digs. Kartchner also had a triple-double against Wyoming on Nov. 12. She had 12 kills, 17 assists and 13 digs in that outing. It was the fourth triple-double of Kartchner's career. She also had two in 2003. Kartchner has turned in 10 double-doubles this season as well.
Team Toone:
The Toone sisters (Amie and Emillie) had strong outings against Eastern Washington. The two combined to tally 12 kills, hit .733 and had four blocks for the match. Amie hit .636 with eight kills and one error on 11 swings. That was the fifth time this season that Amie has hit .600 or better in a match. She also had three blocks. The younger sister, Emillie, was a perfect 1.000 with four kills on four attempts in one game's worth of action. She had one block on the evening.
A One-Woman Show:
Lyndsey Henderson cracked into the record book again, this time in the single-season annals for block solos. Henderson has amassed 29 solo blocks this season, the most by a Ute player since 1993. Mikki Kane-Barton and Teresa McCabe were the most recent to etch their name in the Ute record book. Kane-Barton's 75 block solos are the most in a season while McCabe's 35 is eighth. They both did it in 1993.
Double Down:
Liana Bortoto posted the fifth double-double of her career in the loss to No. 1-ranked Hawaii. Bortoto led the Utes with 16 kills and was the most efficient in hitting a team-best .414 for the match. She had 11 digs against Hawaii and followed that up with 10 digs in the regular season finale against Eastern Washington.
One More Time:
Beth Launiere needs only one more win to hit the next milestone - 300 wins. With the 3-0 win over Eastern Washington, Launiere chalked up her 299th career win. She is 299-177 (.628) all-time and is the winningest coach in Utah history.
Potent Notables:
The Utes check in at No. 20 in the coaches poll, slipping one spot from last week's 19th ranking. The Utes have been in the poll 11 straight weeks. No. 14 is the highest ranking yet this season ... Utah is 3-4 against teams mentioned in the AVCA coaches poll. It beat St. Mary's, UCLA and Colorado State. The Utes fell to Long Beach State, Hawaii, and CSU twice ... the Utes are 5-2 in extra-point games ... Utah is 9-5 in games settled by two points ... Utah is 12-3 in three-game matches (only Notre Dame and CSU have swept the Utes), 9-2 in four-gamers and 3-1 in five-game affairs.
At The Helm:
Beth Launiere is in her 15th season as head coach of the Utah women's volleyball program. She owns a 299-177 all-time record. She has led her squad to NCAA Tournament appearances the last six seasons, including a "Sweet 16" showing in 2001. Following the "Sweet 16" showing, Launiere was named the 2001 Tachikara/AVCA Division I West Region Coach of the Year. Launiere's Utes have recorded nine 20-win seasons, and last year, Utah posted a then-school-record 12 conference victories. A native of Grand Rapids, Mich., Launiere graduated from Aquinas College and was an assistant at Ferris State and Illinois before taking over the Ute program in 1990.
On the Air:
Live radio broadcasts of the NCAA tournament will be available on the Utah Web site, www.UtahUtes.com.
Up Next:
Should the Utes win the NCAA tournament first-round match, they would play the winner of the UCLA-Loyola Marymount match on Saturday, Dec. 4, at 7 p.m. (PST). The winner of the subregion in L.A. will advance to the regional in Seattle, Wash. The tournament then moves to the championship site in Long Beach, Calif., on Dec. 16-18.
Players Mentioned
L
/ VolleyballESPN+ Feature | Utah Volleyball's Devyn Weist
Thursday, November 06
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