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Volleyball
vs California Baptist
Thursday, November 9
Salt Lake City
7:00 PM
University of Utah
3
vs
1
Wyoming
No. 9 Volleyball Weathers Wyoming
11/9/2006 12:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 9, 2006
SALT LAKE CITY - The Wyoming Cowgirls came out on fire but the University of Utah volleyball team (23-2, 14-0 Mountain West) weathered the storm and put away a pesky Cowgirl squad in four games here tonight.
Game scores were 28-30, 30-24, 30-22 and 35-33. Wyoming falls to 11-13 overall, 5-8 in league action.
The win not only extended Utah's winning streak to an impressive 21 matches, but it also concluded the home portion of the regular-season schedule. Utah finished its home slate a perfect 12-0 on Crimson Court.
"I have a lot of respect for Wyoming and the job that its head coach has been doing there," said head coach Beth Launiere. "The Cowgirls have been playing good volleyball, especially in the second half of the conference season.
"Sometimes when you push an opponent, it just goes away. But, Wyoming did a good job tonight of putting up a sustained effort. It just didn't quit. I have a lot of respect for this team and the effort it put forth tonight."
The persistent Cowgirl squad came out on fire as they hit .362 (20-3-47) in game one and held the lead for all but a couple serves late in the game. However, Utah's defense came to life in the last three frames as the visitors finished the match hitting .134 (51-29-164) during that span. Wyoming finished the match hitting .185.
Utah came out hot in game one as well, hitting .340 (23-6-50) in the first frame. It settled on hitting .299 (79-19-201) for the match. The attack came from everywhere tonight as five Utes had double-digit kills. And, four of them had 15-plus kill outings.
Leading the attack tonight was the 17-kill outings of both Airial Salvo and Emillie Toone. Toone was the most efficient hitter of the pair, racking up kills at a .469 (17-2-32) clip for the night. Also helping out on offense were Whitney Webb and Kathryn Lovell with 15 kills apiece, and Lori Baird with 13.
Baird was the match's top hitter, collecting kills at a .478 (13-2-23) rate.
Sydney Anderson ran the offense and had a career night. She dished out 64 assists and tallied 19 digs. Both were career highs for the freshman setter.
Utah saw three of its players rack up double-doubles tonight. Sydney Anderson (64 assists, 19 digs), Salvo (17 kills, 20 digs) and Webb (15 kills, 14 digs) all did the deed tonight.
Utah's defense only had two team blocks after game one, but finished averaging nearly three blocks per game in the last three stanzas. It out-blocked the Cowgirls, 12-4, as it held yet another opponent to sub-.200 hitting. Leading the defense was Toone's eight total blocks. Other blocking efforts of note were Webb (five total) and Baird (four).
Salvo's 20 digs led from the back row as she was one five Utes with double-digit digs. Also chipping in from the back row were Anderson (19 digs), Connie Dangerfield (15) and Webb and Kate Robison (14 each).
Wyoming was led by Rachel Smith (19 kills), Tasha Weishahn (62 assists), Andrea Seele (two blocks) and Samantha Eley (24 digs).
Utah finishes the regular season on the road when it plays at Air Force and Colorado State later next week.
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