Upcoming Event: Volleyball at Nebraska on September 12, 2025 at 5:00 PM
5:00 PM
Volleyball
at Nebraska
Saturday, November 29
Stockton, Calif.
8:00 PM
University of Utah
3
at
1
Pacific
No. 21 Ute Volleyball Claims Pacific Bankers Classic Title
11/29/2008 12:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 29, 2008
STOCKTON, Calif. - No. 21 Utah volleyball won a four-set match against Pacific (15-25, 25-14, 25-19, 25-20) to take the 30th annual Pacific Bankers Classic title Saturday at the Alex G. Spanos Center.
The Utes ended their regular season with a 24-5 overall mark and are now 9-3 on the road this season.
"This was a good tournament for us to play in prior to NCAA's," Utah head coach Beth Launiere said. "This weekend was a nice tune-up for us and it was good for our team to get into a tough matchup with Pacific."
Lori Baird won the tournament's most valuable player award and finished Saturday's match with 10 kills and nine blocks. Baird hit for a .320 hitting percentage with two errors on 25 attempts.
"[Baird] is a premier athlete," Launiere said. "She plays high above the net so this was a pretty typical performance for her."
Two other Utes were selected to the all-tournament squad. Emillie Toone had seven kills on 18 swings for a .278 hitting percentage against Pacific. Cinthia Silva totaled eight kills to go along with a match-high 12 digs, six blocks, and two service aces against the Tigers.
Setter Stephanie Shardlow set up the Utes with 23 assists to go along with eight digs. Freshman Abby Simmons was credited with 16 assists to go along with four digs. Libero Keisha Fisher patrolled the back row with a team-high 14 digs.
Pacific sprinted out to a 14-4 advantage thanks to a 12-1 run when Utah had a 3-2 lead. The Utes came up with a 3-0 run to close the margin to eight points at 22-14, but could not prevent the Tigers from taking a 25-15 second-set victory. Utah was outhit .296 to -.034 and outblocked 4-2 in the opening set.
"I was mostly pleased with our desire to battle back and go for every point," Launiere said. "Pacific was ready out of the gate and we had to step up and match their intensity."
Utah is now 5-5 this season when dropping the first set, but have now pulled out victories in four of the last five situations.
The Utes were the team who came up with a critical run in the second set, scoring seven of the next eight points to take a 12-5 edge early in the second set. Utah extended its lead to as many as 11 points on three occasions, including the final 25-14 score. The Utes hit .538, compared to just .069 for the Tigers and also gained a 4-0 edge in blocking. Baird totaled four kills on five swings without an attack error in the set with Toone leading the way, turning in three blocks in the second set alone.
With the third set tied at three points apiece, Utah scored three unanswered points to get out to a 6-3 advantage. Pacific trimmed its deficit to a single point at 7-6, before Utah went on an 8-2 run to secure a 15-8 lead. The Tigers would not get within four points of the Utes for the rest of the set as Utah claimed a 25-19 third-set win. Utah turned in a .190 to .105 edge in hitting and had a 3-2 advantage in team blocks.
The fourth set was filled with runs. The Utes scored five of the first seven points of the fourth set to gain the upper hand before Pacific fought back with a 5-1 run to take its first lead of the set, 8-7. Utah responded by piecing together a 10-2 to take command of the set with a 17-10 advantage. The Tigers scored four consecutive points to bring themselves within three points at 18-15, but the Utes managed to virtually trade points with the Tigers for the remainder of the set and earned a 25-20 win.
Pacific (12-16) was led by a match-high 16 kills, nine blocks and three digs from Mallori Gibson. Alexa Anderson had 11 kills, four digs and four blocks.
Utah will learn its NCAA Tournament destination during the NCAA Tournament Selection Show tomorrow at 8 p.m. MT. The show will be televised live on ESPNU. ESPNews will provide additional coverage beginning tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. MT.
2008 Community Bankers Classic All-Tournament Team
Most Valuable Player - Lori Baird, Utah
Cinthia Silva, Utah
Emillie Toone, Utah
Alexa Anderson, Pacific
Shannon Krug, Pacific
K.C. Fox, Portland
Kylie Harrington, Nevada
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Volleyball
L/S
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
OH/MB
/ VolleyballCrimson Corner with Bill Riley - Keith Kelley, voice of the Wyoming Cowboys
Tuesday, September 09
Utah Volleyball's Kamryn Gibadlo - ESPN+ Feature
Tuesday, September 09
Crimson Corner with Bill Riley - Ron McBride
Wednesday, September 03
Utah Volleyball's Head Coach Beth Launiere begins her 36th season at the helm! - ESPN+ Feature
Saturday, August 30