Utah Volleyball Claims 3-0 Win Over Arizona State

Friday, October 14

Salt Lake City

7:00 PM

University of Utah

Arizona State

Utah Volleyball Claims 3-0 Win Over Arizona State

10/14/2011 12:00 AM | Volleyball

Oct. 14, 2011

Box Score
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SALT LAKE CITY - Ute outside hitters Morgan Odale and Chelsey Schofield both had at least 10 kills to lead the University of Utah volleyball team to a 3-0 win (25-23, 25-15, 25-20) over Arizona State Friday night in a Pac-12 Conference match at Crimson Court.

Utah (8-11, 3-7 Pac-12) outhit Arizona State during its third Pac-12 win, .197 to .093, which was the 12th time this season it had outhit its opponents this season. The Utes are 8-4 in those matches. Utah also held a 14.0-7.0 edge in team blocks, which was the 14th time this year the Utes have outblocked their foes.

"The win was great, but it was how we won the match that really made a big difference," Utah head coach Beth Launiere said. "We were in control most of the match. We were on the attack, focused and looking forward. That was the key for us. We were in the match mentally and we played with a pretty high level of execution."

Odale had a match-high 13 kills on 36 attempts with only a pair of errors for a .306 clip on the attack. She has nine double-digit-kill performances this season and 31 in her career. Odale also chipped in seven digs, four blocks and a service ace.

Schofield turned in 10 kills to go along with the eight digs. She has reached double-figures in kills in seven matches this year.

Erin Redd anchored a strong defensive effort at the net for the Utes. The Spanish Fork, Utah native had a match-high eight blocks, which is her personal-best for a Pac-12 match this season. Redd also pitched in seven kills on 16 attempts with two errors, which was good for a .312 mark on the attack. Danielle Killpack and Shelby Dalton were solid at the net as well, both contributing six blocks apiece.

"Individually, all of our players are getting better at blocking," Launiere said. "[Dalton] is in there a little bit more and she is a very good blocker on the right side and [Redd] is just blocking a lot of balls. We are focused on it and they are starting to learn how to carry out a game plan, defensively and offensively."

In the back row, sophomore libero Nikki Sim registered 19 digs, which gave her double-digits in digs for the third consecutive match and the 12th time this season. She finished just one dig shy of her fourth 20-dig match in 2011.

Junior setters McKenzie Odale and Abby Simmons split the setting duties for the Utes. Odale distributed a team-high 17 assists to go with 11 digs for her sixth double-double of the year and the eighth of her career. Simmons handed out 14 assists and also had three digs.

Utah jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the opening set and the Utes led by as many as four (8-4). Arizona State then strung together three straight points to tie the set for the first time at nine points apiece and the Sun Devils took their first lead, 10-9. The Utes trailed 11-10 before going on a 4-0 tear to assume a 14-11 edge, but ASU cut its deficit to one point (15-14). Utah then scored four straight to go ahead by a 19-14 score, its largest lead of the set. ASU then put together a 6-2 stretch to cut the Utes' edge to a point, 21-20, and went on to claim a 25-23 first-set victory. The Utes hit only .050 in the opener, compared to a .071 mark by ASU. Utah outblocked the Sun Devils 4.0-2.0. Morgan Odale had four kills on nine swings and Redd had three blocks. The Utes are 6-1 this year when winning the opener.

"We just took advantage of a matchup situation that helped us and we were able to run some offense over a smaller Arizona State blocker," Launiere said. "We just got into a rhythm and our outside hitters did a really nice job today. Morgan [Odale] hit .300 and Chelsey [Schofield] hit in the high .100's. It was a big match for them and that really made a difference for us."

The Utes took the first three points of the second set and after the Sun Devils made the set 3-2, Utah inched out to a four-point with three consecutive points, 6-2. The Utes led by as many as 10, 20-10, and cruised to a win in the frame by the same margin, 25-15. The Utes outhit the Sun Devils .258 to .045 in the set with Schofield pounding four kills on six attempts. Utah also held a 5.0 to 2.0 edge in team blocking as Redd turned in three more blocks.

After taking the first five points of the third set, Utah led by as many as seven (9-2) before ASU cut its deficit to four (9-5) after taking three straight points. The Utes managed to work their lead back to seven (14-7) and would lead by at least five points until the Sun Devils pulled to within three (21-18). Fortunately, the Utes did not allow ASU to get any closer as they earned a 25-20 win to clinch the match. Morgan Odale closed strong with six kills and three blocks in the final frame as the Utes held a .283 to .163 edge in hitting percentage.

Arizona State (4-14, 0-9 Pac-12) was led by eight kills apiece from Danica Mendivil and Nora Tuioti-Mariner, but was hampered by seven service errors with only one ace.

"We have a good Arizona team coming into town tomorrow night," Launiere said. "They are young but athletic. I told the team that if we play like this, with aggressiveness while taking care of our side of the net to go with that kind of defense, we can get into some good battles. Hopefully that will happen tomorrow night."

The Utes host Arizona at Crimson Court tomorrow at 7 p.m. A live stream of the match can be found at <> with live stats on Gametracker at utahutes.com as well.