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2:30 PM
Volleyball
vs California Baptist
Saturday, November 21
Colorado Springs, Colo.
1:00 PM
University of Utah
3
at
0
Air Force
Ute Volleyball Sweeps Air Force, 3-0
11/21/2009 12:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 21, 2009
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Three Utes hit double-figures in kills and the University of Utah volleyball team clinched a third-place tie in the Mountain West Conference with a 3-0 sweep at Air Force (25-18, 25-16, 27-25) Saturday at Clune Arena.
Utah (17-11, 10-6 MWC) ended the conference slate tied for third place with New Mexico in the MWC standings. The Utes managed to outhit the Falcons, .276 to .131, and also held a 7-4 edge in team blocks.
Chelsey Sandberg had 12 kills on 24 swings with four errors for a .333 hitting percentage. Sandberg also came up with a match-high four blocks. Sandberg has topped the double-digit mark in kills seven times and eight times in her career.
Danielle Killpack tied her career high with 11 kills on just 16 swings and two errors for a .562 hitting mark. Killpack also registered three blocks.
Karolina Bartkowiak did not commit a single attack error in the match with 10 kills on 14 swings for a match-high .714 hitting percentage. The Aurora, Ill., native also had five digs.
Setter Stephanie Neeley had 19 assists and three digs while Abby Simmons totaled 15 assists and was second on the squad with eight digs.
Defensively, junior libero Keisha Fisher posted a match-high 11 digs. The Ririe, Idaho native now has 59 such performances in her career and 26 this season.
The first set was tied eight times, the last being 12-12, before Utah scored eight of the next 11 points to assume a 20-15 edge. The Utes extended their lead to seven points as the set reached 24-17 before they took a 25-18 first-set win. Utah improved to 9-2 when taking the first set of a match. Killpack came up with five kills on six swings for a .833 mark to help the Utes outhit the Falcons for the set, .333 to. 152.
The teams split the first 16 points of the second set before inching out to a two-point advantage, 10-8, before Air Force came back to force the seventh tie of the set at 10 points apiece. The Utes built their largest lead of the set, a five-point margin at 23-13, after putting together a 9-0 run en route to a 25-16 second-set victory. Sandberg, Bartkowiak and Killpack each had four kills apiece in the set as Utah hit. .565, compared to just a .286 mark for Air Force.
Utah took the first three points of the third set, but Air Force managed to tie the set at seven points apiece. The set went back and forth the rest of the way as there were 10 more ties. But with the teams knotted at 25 points apiece, two Cadet attack errors gave the Utes a 27-25 match-clinching victory.
Air Force (8-21, 0-16 MWC) was led by eight kills apiece from Michelle Harrington and Nichole Stilwell.
The Utes conclude their regular season next Saturday at Long Beach State. First serve is set for 7:30 p.m. PT.
Players Mentioned
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