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5:00 PM
Volleyball
at Nebraska
Sunday, August 31
Salt Lake City, Utah
4:00 PM
University of Utah
3
vs
2
Santa Clara
Utah Volleyball Wins 3-2 Thriller Over Santa Clara
8/31/2008 12:00 AM | Volleyball
Aug. 31, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
SALT LAKE CITY - Senior outside hitter Kathryn Haynie and junior outside hitter Cinthia Silva led the way with the Utes' first double-double performances of the season and the University of Utah volleyball team outlasted Santa Clara for a 3-2 (25-23, 24-26, 20-25, 25-19, 15-13) victory in the final match of the Ute Invitational Sunday at Crimson Court.
Haynie registered a match-high-tying 21 kills and 10 digs for Utah (2-0). Haynie also recorded a career-high with five service aces. Haynie's kill total fell just one short of tying her career-best performance, 22 against the Aztecs on Sept. 13 last season.
Silva came through with 11 digs and 10 kills, while Baird just missed a double-double with 13 kills and eight digs.
Haynie saved her best for last by slamming down four kills in the fifth and decisive set. With the Utes trailing 12-10, the senior from North Salt Lake City served three consecutive aces down the stretch to give Utah a 13-12 edge. After Santa Clara bounced back to tie the score at 13, Silva came up with a block and Baird came through with the match-clinching kill.
Haynie got things going early, opening with the match's first three kills as the Utes raced out to a 3-1 lead. After an attack error and service error by the Broncos, the Utes got one kill each from Silva and Haynie to bring the score to 9-5 after their 4-0 run. After a 4-1 SCU run, Shardlow earned her second kill of the season with a quick shot over the net to break a 19-19 tie in set one then a diving attack attempt by Silva hit the floor to clinch the set for Utah at 25-23. During the set, Haynie totaled seven kills on 13 attempts with only three errors for a .308 hitting percentage, but both teams ran efficient offenses with Santa Clara hitting .207 (10-4-29) compared to Utah's .216 mark (16-8-37).
The Utes were behind 13-11 midway through the second set when an Emillie Toone kill sparked a 4-0 run that would give them a 15-13 lead. SCU battled back to take six of the next nine points to take a short-lived 19-18 advantage. Utah responded with a 3-0 run to take a 21-19 edge, but the Broncos came back to score seven of the next 10 points, including four in a row, to come back for a 26-24 win and hand Utah its first set loss of the season. The Utes outhit the Broncos .400 to .282, but could not pull out the victory. Haynie and Baird came up with four kills apiece in the set and Karolina Bartkowiak chipped in three.
Santa Clara jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the third set and built a lead as large as nine points, 15-6. The Utes put together another 4-0 run to reduce the deficit to five points at 19-14 thanks to a block by Silva and Toone and a pair of SCU attack errors followed by another Silva kill. But the Broncos sustained their lead and held on for a 25-20 win. Utah was outhit .278 to .139 for the set, but Haynie still managed to pound down three more kills.
In the fourth set, Utah found itself down 6-3 but rallied to score the next six points and force a Santa Clara timeout. The Utes would never lose their lead from that point as they outhit the Broncos .345 to .121 en route to a 25-19 win.
Chelsey Sandberg also impressed by slamming down six kills on only seven attempts for a .857 hitting percentage.
Stephanie Shardlow started at setter for the second consecutive match and set up 30 total kills. Freshman Abby Simmons shared setting duties for the Utes and was credited with 22 assists. Defensively, Baird and Toone tied for the team high with five blocks.
In its second consecutive five-set match to start the season, Santa Clara (1-1) was led by a match-high-tying 21 kills from Anna Cmaylo, who also had a match-high six blocks. SCU also got 13 kills from Brittany Lowe and 10 from Nina Sevastopoulos. Lindsy Davigeadono ran the Bronco attack with 55 assists.
Utah took a 4-3 edge in the all-time series and has won the previous four meetings.
The Utes travel to Las Cruces, N.M., for the New Mexico State Tournament next weekend. Utah will start the tournament at 4:30 p.m., on Friday against Texas, which was ranked third in the 2008 CBS College Sports/AVCA Division I Coaches Preseason Top 25 Poll.
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