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5:00 PM
Volleyball
at Nebraska
Friday, October 17
Provo, Utah
7:00 PM
University of Utah
3
at
0
BYU
Utah Volleyball Sweeps BYU, 3-0
10/17/2008 12:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 17, 2008
PROVO, Utah - Utah senior Lori Baird registered a school record 16 block assists as well as a team-high 11 kills to lead the University of Utah volleyball team to a 3-0 win (25-23, 25-21, 25-17) over BYU Friday at Smith Fieldhouse.
Utah (14-4, 6-2 MWC) has now won seven consecutive matches, which marks its longest streak of the season and improved to 6-2 on the road.
"It was a great effort by our team tonight," head coach Beth Launiere said. "Especially by our block. I can't remember ever seeing that many blocks in a match. Our middles did a great job the entire match. [Baird] and [Sandberg] defended well, and our outside hitters converted kills when they got the chance."
The Utes outblocked the Cougars 19.5 to 6 in the match, and also set a new school record with 37 block assists in a three-set match. Baird also set the school record for total blocks in a three-set match by an individual, a mark previously held by Kim Turner ( who had 13 total blocks against San Jose State on Sept. 7, 2002).
"[Baird] was exceptional tonight," Launiere said. "[Baird], along with our two other senior leaders Emillie Toone and Kathryn Haynie, has been an example for our entire team and they have followed. I'm happy to see [Baird] have such a great night."
Baird needed 23 attempts and only committed four errors to attain 11 kills for a .304 conversion rate on the attack. The Ute defense helped the squad outhit the Cougars .287 to .108 for the match.
Middle blocker Chelsey Sandberg tied her career high with 11 timely blocks to go along with six kills. Haynie and Toone recorded six kills apiece, while Toone needed only 10 attempts and did not commit an error on the attack for a match-high .600 hitting percentage (minimum five attack attempts).
"[Sandberg] had a great match," Launiere said. " Every time we needed a big block or a big kill, it seemed that we could move [Sandberg] around the floor to any position along the front and she would come up with the big play."
Freshman hitter Sarah Hibbert made her second consecutive start, the first two of her career, and was successful with five kills and only one attack error at .222 clip to go along with a career-high 10 digs.
"[Hibbert] has been doing a great job for us," Launiere said. "I'm happy that she has been able to take full advantage of the time she has had on the floor."
The Utes scored four of the first five points of the match in set one, then scored four unanswered points to take a 15-8 edge, its largest lead of the opening set. BYU went on a 7-1 run to reduce their deficit to 16-15. After a timeout, the Utes went on a 3-0 run to take 19-16 lead, when BYU scored the next four points to tie the first set at 20. Utah held on for a 25-21 win in the opening set.
Utah outblocked BYU 7.5 to 1 in the opening set, led by six blocks by Baird and four from Sandberg. Hibbert and Haynie came up with two blocks apiece. Baird led the way for the Ute attack as well, with four kills on 10 attempts and two errors. Three other Utes totaled two kills in the set, including Sandberg, Haynie and Karolina Bartkowiak.
In set two, the Utes gained a 12-7 edge at the start of the second set before BYU battled back to close the deficit to one point at 19-18. The Utes then started a 3-0 run to take command of a 22-18 lead, and would maintain the four-point margin in a 25-21 second-set victory.
Utah sprinted out to an 8-3 lead in set three and maintained its five-point edge to cruise to a 25-17 match-clinching win.
The Utes have now won 12 of 14 matches this season after coming up with a first-set victory, and improved to 8-0 when taking the first two sets of a match. Utah gained its first three points in the Deseret First Duel with BYU. Three more points in the rivalry series will be on the line in the next competition, a Nov. 14 volleyball match at Crimson Court.
Utah has the remainder of the weekend off until taking on the Air Force Academy at 7 p.m., Oct. 25 in Colorado Springs, Colo.
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