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Volleyball
at Nebraska
Thursday, November 7
Salt Lake City (Huntsman Center)
8:00 PM
University of Utah
0
vs
3
California
Utah Volleyball Falls in Three to No. 22 California
11/7/2013 12:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 7, 2013
SALT LAKE CITY - Junior right-side hitter Shelby Dalton tied her career high with eight blocks as the University of Utah volleyball team set its season high for blocks in a three-set match, but fell to No. 22 California, 3-0 (31-29, 25-19, 28-26), on Thursday in a Pac-12 Conference match in the Huntsman Center.
Utah (17-8, 6-7 Pac-12) held a 12.5-8.0 advantage in blocks over Cal and had three players with double-digits in digs.
"It was a big match and we didn't play our best," Utah Head Coach Beth Launiere said. "We have to figure out how to play our best in these big matches. All the teams we play are good and there's a small margin of error. This is the best of the best. We just have to play better and finish games. It's pretty obvious what we have to do. We had nine set points in set one. You're not going to win in this league if you can't close things out and take advantage of opportunities when they arise."
Dalton tied her career high with eight total blocks, which was set four previous times, and the last occurrence came against Cal on Oct. 13, 2012. She also chipped in five kills to go with four digs.
Junior outside hitter Chelsey Schofield turned in a team-high nine kills along with 12 digs and two blocks. Senior middle blocker Erin Redd-Brandon had eight kills to go with six blocks in addition to three digs. This was her 19th double-digit-dig effort of the year and the 48th of her career.
Senior outside hitter Morgan Odale turned in 15 digs to go with six kills. Senior libero Tess Sutton accumulated double-digits in digs for the fifth consecutive match with 12 digs.
The Utes took three of the first four points of the match and led by as many as four (6-2) before the Golden Bears went on a 4-0 run to regain the lead for the second time at 9-8. The action would be tied two more times, the last coming at 10-10, before the Utes inched out to a 15-11 edge after a 5-1 spurt. Cal came back with three straight scores to pull within a point (16-15) and would come within one two more times, the last coming at 19-18, before Utah sprinted to a 23-18 advantage via a 4-0 spurt. The Golden Bears put together a 5-0 run to even the set for the fifth time at 24 points apiece. Play would be tied six more times (29-29) before Cal came away with a 31-29 win. Dalton connected for kills on her first four swings of the set and ended up with a total of five.
Cal took the first two points of the second frame, but Utah stormed back with a 4-0 run and the set would be tied for the first time at five points apiece. Play would be tied once more (6-6) before the Golden Bears jumped out to a 10-6 edge. Cal would push its lead to five (18-13) before Utah took three straight scores (18-16). Unfortunately, the Bears were able to continue to increase their lead and take a 25-19 victory.
The Utes grabbed the first two points of the third frame, but Cal put together a 3-0 spurt to grab its first lead of the set, 3-2. Play would be even five more times at three, four, six, eight and nine before Utah put together three straight scores and a 12-9 lead. The Bears responded with a 4-1 run to tie the set for the seventh time at 13 all. The contest would be tied once more (14-14), but the Utes jumped to a 17-14 lead via a 3-0 run. Utah extended its lead to a four-point margin three times, the last coming at 23-19, but Cal managed to tie the set with a 5-1 spurt. A furious back-and-forth ensued with two more ties before Cal clinched the match with a 28-26.
No. 22 California (15-7, 8-5 Pac-12) was led by 17 kills and 14 digs from Adrienne Gehan.
The Utes host No. 6 Stanford on Sunday at 12 p.m. PT and tickets can be purchased at utahtickets.com. The match will be televised live on Pac-12 Networks with Krista Blunk on the play-by-play call and Al Scates providing the color analysis.
Players Mentioned
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