Utah downs TCU, 3-0, in MWC Tournament Opener

Thursday, November 22

Las Vegas, Nev.

4:00 PM

University of Utah

TCU

11/22/2007 12:00 AM | Volleyball

Nov. 22, 2007

Final Stats

LAS VEGAS - The Utah women's volleyball team opened the Mountain West Conference Tournament with a 3-0 win over No. 4 seed TCU.

The fifth-seeded Utes had lost to the Horned Frogs twice during the regular season.

Kate Robison led Utah (14-14) with 14 kills on .464 hitting and Lori Baird had 12 kills on .417 hitting with six blocks. Kathryn Haynie was also in double digit kills with 10.

"We played extremely well," head coach Beth Launiere said. "The way we came back at the end of game two shows how far we've come. We came out and made plays and kept our composure through the end."

Utah moves on to play the winner of No. 1 seed Colorado State and No. 8 seed San Diego State at 6 p.m. PT. The match will be televised on the mtn. by tape delay at 7 p.m. PT.

The Utes took control quickly in game one, pulling out to a 16-4 lead before going on to win the first game, 30-15. Robison had seven kills to lead Utah in the first game, as the team hit .444. Connie Dangerfield had three aces.

In game two, Utah took a 23-14 lead before TCU (22-12) rallied back to tie the match, 26-26. Haynie helped the Utes take the upper hand at the end, tallying three kills for the final four points to lead Utah to a 30-28 win. Karolina Bartkowiak had four blocks while Stephanie Shardlow tallied 10 assists in the second game.

TCU used the momentum it closed out game two with to keep up with the Utes early in the third game. With Utah holding a 14-13 lead, the Utes pulled ahead to a 22-16 lead. Baird recorded three kills and a block assist in the drive to take control of the game. Utah cruised from there to win 30-23.

Dangerfield led Utah with 12 digs and four aces on the night while Keisha Fisher had 23 assists. Bartkowiak came away with six blocks. Shardlow tallied 19 assists.

For TCU, LeMeita Smith was the only Frog in double digit kills, with 14. Utah held TCU to just .100 hitting for the match. Cali Corley had 16 digs while Nirelle Hampton picked up 28 assists. Devon Kirk had a team-best seven blocks.