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12:00 PM
Volleyball
vs Saint Mary's
Tuesday, September 1
Salt Lake City, Utah
7:00 PM
University of Utah
3
vs
0
Cal Poly
No. 17 Utah Volleyball Beats Cal Poly in Three Sets
9/1/2009 12:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 1, 2009
SALT LAKE CITY - Sophomore outside hitter Sarah Hibbert connected for a career-high 13 kills as the No. 17 University of Utah volleyball team defeated Cal Poly in three sets (25-12, 25-14, 25-21) Tuesday at Crimson Court.
Utah (4-0) outhit Cal Poly .330 to .086 in the match and held an 8-3 edge over the Mustangs in service aces. The Utes now own a 13-match regular-season win streak and have now won 13 consecutive matches at Crimson Court since Sept. 15, 2008.
"We executed at a high level, especially in the first set," Utah 20th-year head coach Beth Launiere said. "For the most part, we kept playing consistently the entire match. Sarah had over four kills per set and we're doing really good things offensively.
Hibbert has now had three consecutive double-figure-kill performances in the Utes' previous three matches. The Anchorage, Alaska native took only 19 swings and committed a total of three attack errors during the match for a career-high .526 hitting percentage.
"Sarah had by far the best match of her career here," Launiere said. "When she got hot, we just kept setting her up and she took advantage."
Sophomore setter Abby Simmons distributed a team-high 20 assists and junior Stephanie Neeley.
"Our setters have been doing a good job all season of getting the ball to our hitters," Launiere said. "And they've been putting up good numbers."
Senior Chelsey Sandberg served a career-high six aces, while Simmons chipped in a pair of aces as well. In addition to her serving, Sandberg was also Utah's biggest presence at the net, posting a match-high four blocks.
"We served well throughout the match," Launiere said. "We served better than we did last weekend [at the Utah Classic]."
Karolina Bartkowiak came up with a career-high 15 digs to take team-high honors for the first time this season. Bartkowiak also was second on the team with nine kills. Libero Keisha Fisher pitched in 12 digs for her fourth double-digit-dig performance in four matches this season.
Senior outside hitter Cinthia Silva had eight kills, six digs and two blocks.
Utah scored the first three points of the first set and saw its lead grow to eights points at 14-6 thanks to an 8-2 run. The Utes' lead grew to as many as 13 points at 21-8. Hibbert pounded down a team-high four kills on five attempts for a .600 hitting percentage while Bartkowiak came up with six digs in the set. Utah outhit Cal Poly .462 to .000 and outblocked the Mustangs 3-0 in the 25-12 first-set victory.
The Utes fell behind 4-2 early in the second set before using a 4-0 run, that included a pair of kills by Bartkowiak, to take a 6-5 lead. The Mustangs came back to take a 10-9 advantage but Utah scored 14 of the next 15 points to command a 20-12 advantage on the way to a 25-14 win in the second set. Hibbert tacked on six more kills on just seven swings for a .714 hitting percentage in the set to help Utah gain a .285-.038 advantage in hitting percentage over Cal Poly in the set.
Utah got off to another quick start in the fourth set, scoring the first four points, including a block and kill by Hibbert. The Utes stretched their lead to eight points at 12-4 and maintained that spread until the set came to a 20-12 score. The Mustangs managed to cut the deficit to two points at 22-20 with an 8-2 run before the Utes promptly took three of the last four points to clinch the match with a 25-21 win in the third set.
Silva finished strong with a team-high four kills in the third set while Bartkowiak, Hibbert, and Sandberg each had three kills apiece.
Cal Poly (0-4) was led by Molly Pon, who registered seven kills on 19 attempts with just one attack error for a .316 hitting efficiency. Alison Mort tied Bartkowiak for match-high honors with 13 digs.
Utah hits the road for the first time with three matches at the Utah Valley Invitational. The Utes take on host UVU Friday at 7 p.m., and face Washington State Saturday at 10 a.m., then Missouri at 4:30 p.m.
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