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The University of Utah Athletics
Ute Volleyball Hosts Rebels in MWC Matchup
10/26/2009 12:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 26, 2009
The University of Utah volleyball team hosts UNLV in a Mountain West Conference match on Saturday. First serve from Crimson Court is set for 1 p.m.
A live webcast with Dan Clayton's play-by-play call can be viewed by clicking the `Watch' link on the right side of the volleyball schedule page at utahutes.com. Live stats can be accessed at utahutes.com by clicking the `Gametracker' under the event.
Utah has won eight of its last 10 matches and is 14-7 overall. The Utes stand in third place in the MWC with a 7-2 conference record, a half game behind TCU. UNLV enters the match 6-12 overall and has split its last four contests. The Rebels are in sixth place with a 4-6 record in MWC play. UNLV will play at BYU Thursday night at 7 p.m.
The Utes are 21-2 in their last 23 MWC matches. Last week, Utah picked up a 3-2 win at BYU on Friday to improve to 21-4 in league action since 2008.
Follow Utah Volleyball on Twitter at http://twitter.com/utahvolleyball and watch highlights from the Utes' historic five-set victory Sept. 25 over BYU at Crimson Court on the Utah Volleyball Blog at http://utahvolleyball.blogspot.com.
Last Time Out: Utah came back from a 2-0 deficit for a five-set Deseret First Duel victory (19-25, 26-28, 25-23, 25-15, 15-6) over BYU Friday at Smith Fieldhouse. Utah outhit the Cougars, .190 to .124, but were outblocked 9 to 6.5 in the match. The Utes have now won 12 of the last 15 matchups against BYU. The Utes have now won 12 of the last 15 matches against BYU, including back-to-back season sweeps. The 2009-10 Deseret First Duel, a season-long competition between Utah and BYU, is now tied at six points apiece.
Cardiac Utes: The Utes needed to stage one dramatic comeback to come up with another during Friday's win at BYU. Utah was down 2-0 in the match when the third set tied at 20 points apiece. BYU scored three of the next four points to assume a 23-21 advantage, but Utah responded with four unanswered points to seize a 25-23 win. After a 4-0 BYU run cut Utah's lead to 15-14 in the fourth set, the Utes warded off the Cougar rally and closed the set with a 10-1 stretch of their own that gave them a commanding 25-15 fourth-set victory. There were three ties in the first six points of the fifth set before the Utes grabbed a 6-5 lead and then went on a 9-1 run to clinch the match. Utah hit .273 and held BYU to a negative hitting mark for the second consecutive set, -.037. The Utes are now 5-0 in five-set matches this season. It was also the first time this season that they came back to win after dropping the first set.
Cozy Crimson Court: The Utes have won 17 of their last 18 MWC home matches. Their only loss in that stretch came against New Mexico on Oct. 10. The Utes are 9-2 overall at Crimson Court this season and are 4-1 against MWC opponents. Utah is 21-3 on its home floor since the 2008 season.
Scouting UNLV: The Rebels do not rank higher than fourth in any of the MWC's team statistics. Their highest ranking is fourth in assists with an 11.76 per-set mark. Cursty Jackson is UNLV's leading attacker and blocker, averaging 3.29 kills per set to rank fourth in the MWC and is eighth in the conference stats with 1.06 blocks per set. Erin Greenwood is tied for fourth in the league with a .333 hitting percentage, while two Rebel setters are among the league's top 10. Amanda Alles ranks eighth with 6.18 assists per set and Samantha Rogers is 10th with 5.54.
UNLV Series History: Utah has won the last three meetings with UNLV and 20 of 22 meetings since 2000. Overall, the Utes own a commanding 27-3 lead in the all-time series, including a perfect 11-0 mark in Salt Lake City.
Last Time Against The Rebels: Utah swept UNLV (25-20, 25-16, 25-23) in its MWC road opener Oct. 1 at Cox Pavilion for its 18th consecutive conference victory. The Utes ran their conference win streak to 19 matches to tie the school record.
`Barto' Explodes: Utah junior opposite hitter Karolina Bartkowiak (Aurora, Ill.) was instrumental in leading the fierce Utah comeback at BYU on Friday. After being held without a kill in the first set, she exploded for seven kills in the second set. Despite being the focal point of the Cougar defense, she added nine more kills over the final three sets of the match. Bartkowiak came up with double-figure kills for the 14th time this season and the 28th time in her career. The Aurora, Ill., native secured her eighth double-double of the season, and of her career, by adding 11 digs. She now has 11 double-figure-dig performances in her career, all coming this season, and has achieved the feat in each of the last four matches. Bartkowiak leads the team with 2.96 kills per set, which stands seventh in the MWC. She also ranks second on the squad in digs at 2.46 per set and third in both service aces (0.16 sa/s) and blocks (0.77 b/s).
Killpack Can Block: Danielle Killpack (Idaho Falls, Idaho) has led the Utes in blocks seven times this season and owns a team-high average of 1.16 blocks per set to rank third in the MWC statistical rankings. Killpack recently came up with a career-high 11 blocks at Wyoming on Oct. 15. She also chipped in five blocks in an Oct. 6 win over Weber State after coming up with what was then a career-high nine blocks to lead Utah against BYU on Sept. 25. Killpack has also made an impact for the Utes on the attack. She connected for a career-high 10 kills Oct. 8 against TCU. She also accumulated a match-high .716 hitting percentage, the highest mark of her career, by not committing an error on 14 attempts to go with a team-high five blocks.
Double-Figure Utes: Bartkowiak, Cinthia Silva (San Paulo, Brazil), Stephanie Neeley (Saugus, Calif.), and Abby Simmons (Phoenix, Ariz.) have combined for 18 double-double performances this season and now own 34 career double-doubles. Friday at BYU, Bartkowiak had a double-double with 16 kills and 11 digs and Simmons distributed 24 assists and had 14 digs. Silva's last double-double came with 12 digs and 11 kills on Oct. 10 against New Mexico, while Neeley posted 28 assists and 12 digs against TCU on Oct. 8. Bartkowiak has eight career double-doubles, all coming this season. Silva has nine career double-doubles, five this season. Neeley has one this season and 12 for her career while Simmons owns five over her career and four this season. Sarah Hibbert (Anchorage, Alaska) has 11 double-digit-kill performances this season, including Friday's match at BYU with 10 kills to go along with six digs.
Back to the Basics: Utah is 13-0 when accumulating a higher hitting percentage, 11-0 when outblocking its opponents, and 7-0 when serving more aces than their opponents.
Aces in the Hole: The Utes served a season-high nine aces Friday at BYU. Their previous season high was three, a feat they matched three times, against Cincinnati, Cal Poly and SDSU.
Sizzling Sandberg: Senior Chelsey Sandberg (West Jordan, Utah) entered this season with one double-digit-kill performance in her career. She has five such performances this season alone. Sandberg hit a career-high with 14 kills in consecutive matches against Weber State (10/6) and TCU (10/8). Sandberg is now tied third in the MWC with 0.34 aces per set thanks to a total of 27 aces in 80 sets this season and also stands sixth in the league with a .333 hitting percentage. She also ranks second on the Ute squad with a 0.93-block-per-set average.
Sharing the Sets: As part of Utah's 6-2 system, Neeley and Simmons have shared opportunities at the setter position for the Utes this season. Simmons ranks ninth in the MWC with a 5.66 assist-per-set average, while Neeley is distributing 5.16 assists per set. Neeley now has 1,683 career assists and is 15 assists behind Cheryl Tye (1983-85) for ninth place on Utah's all-time career list.
Making the Most of Their Chances: The Utes have been efficient on the attack this season, ranking third in the league in hitting percentage with a .222 mark, just 15 percentage points behind first-place CSU. Utah ranks fourth in the conference with 12.60 kills per set, led by Bartkowiak's 2.96 kill-per-set mark that ranks seventh in the MWC. Hibbert is second the team with 2.64 kills per set.
Getting Defensive: After limiting BYU to a .124 hitting mark on Friday, Utah has limited its opponents to a hitting percentage below .200 11 times this season. Not coincidentally, the Utes have come away with victories in all 11 of those contests. Utah is currently ranked third in the MWC with 13.44 digs per set. Junior libero Keisha Fisher (Ririe, Idaho) leads the way for the Utes in the back row, coming up with 3.88 digs per set to rank fifth in the league. Fisher has reached double-figures in digs in 15 consecutive matches, 20 times this season, and 53 times in her career.
`C' For Versatility: Silva has put together double-doubles in two of the last five matches and is third on the team in kills (2.29 k/s) and digs (2.10 d/s) and ranks fifth in blocks (0.64 b/s). Silva led Utah in kills for the second straight match and third time this season, with 16 kills Oct. 15 at Wyoming. She turned in a team-high 12 digs Oct. 10 against New Mexico to become only the second Ute other than Fisher to lead the team in digs in 2009.
For Starters: Utah is 13-1 this season with a starting lineup of Killpack, Sandberg, Silva, Hibbert, Bartkowiak, Simmons, and Fisher.
Utes in the Polls: Utah's highest ranking in the AVCA Top-25 Coaches Poll this season was No. 17 on Aug. 18. Utah was last listed in the poll on Sept. 7, receiving 75 votes and also received votes in the Sept. 8 Volleyball Magazine poll. The Utes are 0-2 against ranked teams this season, suffering losses to then-No. 12 Oregon at Crimson Court on Sept. 15 and to then-No. 25 Arizona on Sept. 11 in Santa Clara, Calif.
Launiere Reaches 400 Victories: An intense 3-2 win Sept. 25 over BYU in the first Deseret First Duel match of the season gave Launiere her 400th career victory. Launiere currently owns a 405-219 (.649) mark in her 20th season at Utah, the only school at which she has been head coach. The three-time AVCA West Region and MWC Coach of the Year has 64 percent of Utah's all-time victories.
Utes Picked to Win MWC: Utah was selected to repeat as MWC champions in the 2009 Preseason Coaches Poll. In addition, Bartkowiak was named to the Preseason All-MWC Team.
Launiere for President: Launiere has served as President of the AVCA since Jan. 1. Since 2004, she has guided volleyball on the national stage as a member of the AVCA Board of Directors.
All-Tournament Team Utes: Bartkowiak was named the Utah Classic MVP while Sandberg and Fisher were named to the all-tournament team. Sandberg was named to the 2009 La Quinta Inn & Suites All-Tournament Team on Sept. 5. Bartkowiak represented the Utes on the Santa Clara Invitational All-Tournament team.
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