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12:00 PM
Volleyball
vs Saint Mary's
Tuesday, September 15
Salt Lake City, Utah
7:00 PM
University of Utah
1
vs
3
Oregon
Utah Volleyball Drops Four-set Match to No. 12 Oregon
9/15/2009 12:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 15, 2009
SALT LAKE CITY - Junior opposite hitter Karolina Bartkowiak and sophomore outside hitter Sarah Hibbert had 13 kills each but the University of Utah volleyball team had its 13-match home win streak snapped after a 3-1 (22-25, 25-17, 25-20, 25-17) loss to 12th-ranked Oregon Tuesday at Crimson Court.
"I was very proud of how we competed tonight," Utah head coach Beth Launiere said. "We played hard and played some really good volleyball. Oregon played some really good defense on us, but I was pleased with our effort. This was a good match for us and our team is responding to the tough losses we've had. We played much better tonight. That's all we can ask for."
Utah (6-5) was outhit .209 to .308 and outblocked 10.5 to 9 in the match by Oregon. Bartkowiak hit her 13 kills on 31 swings with five errors for a .258 hitting percentage. Hibbert hit for a .135 mark, taking 37 attempts with eight errors on the attack for the Utes. Middle blockers Chelsey Sandberg and Jennifer Lanting connected for nine kills each. Lanting had just three errors on 15 attempts to post a team-high .400 hitting percentage while Sandberg had just three errors on 22 swings for a .273 mark.
Sophomore setter Abby Simmons set up 25 Ute kills, while junior Stephanie Neeley contributed 19 assists.
Junior libero Keisha Fisher posted a match-high 13 digs, followed by three different Utes who posted seven digs apiece (Bartkowiak, Cinthia Silva and Simmons).
Defensively, junior libero Keisha Fisher came up with a match-high 13 digs and Sandberg took match-high honors as well with five blocks at the net during the match. Silva finished second on the team with a season-high-tying four blocks.
There were six ties at the start of the first set before a Utah 4-1 run gave the Utes a 10-7 advantage. The Utes forced the Ducks to call their second timeout of the set as their lead grew to six points at 19-13 and eventually went on to a 25-22 first-set victory thanks to three kills by Bartkowiak. Three different Utes, Sandberg, Bartkowiak and Hibbert, came up with four kills apiece as Utah outhit Oregon, .625 to .333, in the set.
"We came out ready to play," Launiere said. "We had a good and intense practice on Monday coming off the weekend. We came in ready and responded."
Oregon used a 4-1 run to assume 9-5 edge to start the second set and later came up with a 6-1 run to extend its lead to nine points, 21-12. The Utes managed to take four of the next five points but still fell 25-17 in the second set. A trio of Utes including Sandberg, Bartkowiak and Lanting tallied two kills apiece but the Utes were outhit by the Ducks, .395 to .172, for the set.
Utah was within one point at 7-6 to start the third set, but Oregon came up with four consecutive points to take an 11-6 lead and would lead by as many as eight points (22-14). The Utes scored six of the next seven points to pull within three points (23-20), but the Ducks went on take the third set by a score of 25-20. Utah hit .161 in the set compared to a .323 mark for Oregon, but both Bartkowiak and Hibbert each totaled four kills in the set to lead the Ute attack.
Back-to-back Hibbert kills gave the Utes a 5-4 lead early in the fourth set then the Ducks tied the set at five points apiece. Unfortunately, Oregon went on a 7-0 tear to seize control of the set with a 13-6 lead and went on to clinch the match with a 25-17 win in the fourth set. Hibbert saved her best for last, coming up with four kills on 14 swings in the final set. Bartkowiak added three kills in the final frame but could not help the Utes avoid the loss.
No. 12 Oregon (7-0) was led by a match-high 21 kills from Sonja Newcombe. Neticia Enesi had 17, followed by 11 from Jocelyn Levig. Duck setter Nevena Djordjevic dished out 55 assists while Haley Jacob and Katherine Fisher shared team-high honors with 11 digs apiece.
The Utes begin Mountain West Conference action at home against Air Force Thursday at 7 p.m.
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