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1:30 PM
Volleyball
vs California Baptist
Thursday, September 17
Salt Lake City, Utah
7:30 PM
University of Utah
6-5
0
vs
3
Brigham Young
9-1
1
2
3
F
BYU
25
25
25
3
Utah
16
18
22
0
Utes Fall to No. 9 Cougars, 3-0, on Thursday
9/17/2015 12:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 17, 2015
SALT LAKE CITY - Utah sophomore Adora Anae recorded match highs in both kills (16) and digs (15), but it was not enough as the Utah Utes (6-5) fell in straight sets (16-25, 18-25, 22-25) to the No. 9-ranked BYU Cougars (9-1) Thursday evening at the Huntsman Center.
Utah tallied 42 kills to BYU's 36 kills on the evening, but the Cougars outhit the Utes .284 to .094 and tallied 10 more total team blocks (14.0 to 10.0) on the way to earning the sweep and picking up its fifth straight win over the Utes. BYU also managed to earn the Deseret First Duel series trophy for a sixth time out of nine tries since the rivalry series was introduced in 2007.
The Utes and Cougars traded points throughout the beginning of the first set, but BYU would later go on a 5-1 run to take a 14-8 lead midway through the set. A 6-2 run would later put the Cougars up 21-12 before the Utes managed to get its first pair of back-to-back points and a 4-1 run pulled the home team back within six points, down 22-16. The Cougars ended the run and tallied the set's final two points en route to a 25-16 win in the first set.
BYU jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the second set, forcing Utah to take a timeout, but the Utes managed back-to-back points just two times in the frame and the Cougars would take a 2-0 lead into the locker room after winning the second set, 25-17.
A cross-court kill from freshman Berkeley Oblad would put the Utes up 4-1 early in the third set, but BYU came back with three straight points to take its first lead of the frame, 5-4. Utah countered with runs of 4-1 and 4-0 to go up 12-7, but back-to-back kills from BYU's Alexa Gray forced Utah to call a timeout as the Cougars pulled back to within three points, down 12-9. The Cougars scored consecutive points to pull within a point of the Utes, but Utah came right back with a 7-1 run to go up 19-12 and force BYU to call a timeout.
Following the break in play, BYU scored eight of the next 10 points and Utah's lead dwindled to just 21-20. Senior Brenna DeYoung registered a kill to put Utah back up by two, but the Cougars closed with a 5-0 run to take the set 25-22.
"I liked the way that our team battled back in that third set," Utah head coach Beth Launiere said. "We looked to have the momentum and the crowd was behind us, but we just couldn't close it the way that we would have liked."
Anae recorded her seventh double-double of the season and 11th of her career, while also leading the team with a .265 hitting percentage on the evening. Sophomore Eliza Katoa was second on the team with nine kills and Jessie Jorgensen led the squad with 20 assists. Jorgensen came up one dig shy of recording her second double-double of the season as she finished the match with nine digs.
Gray led BYU with 11 kills on the night and Jaiden Achermann tallied a match-high 19 digs for the Cougars. Whitney Howard led the Cougars at the net with eight block assists as BYU finished the match with 28 total block assists. DeYoung tallied a team-high three block assists, but the Utes finished with just eight block assists total.
A record crowd of 3,056 fans were on hand inside the Huntsman Center on Thursday evening. It was the largest attendance ever for a Utah volleyball match, breaking the previous mark of 2,218 fans that were in attendance when the Utes faced Stanford back on Sept. 21, 2012. Two of the top-three crowds for a volleyball match inside the Huntsman Center have come when the Utes and Cougars have squared off.
The Utes will return to action next Wednesday, Sept. 23, as the team turns its focus to Pac-12 play, opening the conference slate at home against Colorado. First serve between the Utes and Buffs is set for 6 p.m.
Team Stats
BYU
UTAH
Kills
36
42
Errors
9
31
Attempts
95
117
Hitting %
.284
.094
Points
55.0
48.0
Assists
32
41
Aces
5
2
Blocks
14.0
4.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
16
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
5
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
OH/RS
/ Volleyball
MB
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
S
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