Match 18: #13 Utah at Arizona
Friday, Oct. 13 | 7 p.m. MT
Tucson, Ariz. | McKale Center
TV: N/A
Stream:
ArizonaWildcats.com
Live Stats:
ArizonaWildcats.com
Â
Match 18: #13 Utah at Arizona State
Sunday, Oct. 15 | 2 p.m. MT
Tempe, Ariz. | Wells Fargo Arena
TV: Pac-12 Networks (Kate Scott, Dain Blanton)
Stream:Â
Pac-12 NOW
Live Stats:
TheSunDevils.com
Â
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
•  Utah moved up four spots to No. 13 in this week's AVCA top-25 poll. It is Utah's highest ranking since coming in at No. 15 in 2006's final poll of the season.
•  Utah also climbed up from No. 14 to No. 9 in this week's NCAA RRI rankings, according to NCAA.com rankings that were released on Monday.
•  Utah is coming off a 2-0 weekend, which included upsetting No. 9 Washington and then defeating Washington State on the road. It was Utah's first-ever win over the Huskies in Seattle.
•  Utah senior
Adora Anae and junior
Berkeley Oblad were named this week's Pac-12 Players of the Week. Anae was tabbed Offensive POW, while Oblad earned Defensive POW honors.
•  In addition to her Pac-12 weekly honor, Anae was also named the NCAA National Player of the Week by both the AVCA and espnW. It is just the second time a Utah player has earned AVCA National Player of the Week honors - the first since Brenda Barton-Whicker earned the honor back on Sept. 15, 1997.
Â
FIRST SERVE
The No. 13-ranked Utah Utes (14-3, 5-1) will take its current three-match winning streak back onto the road this week to face both squads from the desert. The Utes will match-up with Arizona Wildcats (8-7, 2-4) on Friday, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. MT in Tucson, Ariz., before closing out its four-match road swing against the Arizona State Sun Devils (10-8, 0-6) on Sunday at 2 p.m. MT in Tempe, Ariz.
Â
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Arizona Wildcats
Arizona is coming off a 1-1 weekend against both Los Angeles based schools, falling in straight sets to No. 13-ranked UCLA, but then sweeping past No. 15-ranked USC. The win over the Trojans snapped a four-match losing streak in the process. Despite the win though, the Wildcats are just 2-4 overall in Pac-12 play heading into this week.
Â
The Wildcats have four players that have tallied at least 100 kills on the season, but are led overall by Kendra Dahlke's total of 142 kills and 3.16 kills-per-set average. Paige Whipple follows with 120 kills on the season. Julia Patterson runs the offense and has tallied a team-best 585 assists and a 10.64 assists-per-set average. Patterson ranks second on the team with 145 digs, just two shy of team-leader Kimberly Gutierrez's total of 147 digs. Devyn Cross has a team-high 51 total blocks, which also includes a team-best nine solo blocks.
Â
Arizona State Sun Devils
After closing out non-conference play with a six-match winning streak, Arizona State has dropped its previous six matches, which have all come in Pac-12 play. The Sun Devils are coming off a pair of four-set losses to both UCLA and USC this past weekend in Tempe.
Â
Oluoma Okaro leads the team with 285 kills and a 4.45 kills-per-set average, which ranks third in the Pac-12. Ivana Jeremic (178 kills) and Griere Hughes (174 kills) follow as the other Sun Devil players with 100+ kills on the season. Shelie Dobmeier (375 assists) and Nicole Peterson (311 assists) combine to run the ASU offense, but its Dobmeier's 11.03 assists-per-set that ranks fourth in the conference. Halle Harker leads ASU and the conference with 346 digs and a 5.41 digs-per-set average. Carmen Unzue leads the team at the net with 57 total blocks (1.00/set) on the season.
Â
SERIES HISTORY
Arizona leads the all-time series with a 27-5 overall record, which also includes a 10-1 mark over the Utes since Utah joined the Pac-12. The Wildcats have won six straight matches, with Utah's last win coming back on Oct. 27, 2013, in Salt Lake City. The Utes are 0-10 all-time when facing the Wildcats in Tucson.
Â
Arizona State leads the all-time series 13-11, but Utah won the only meeting between the two teams last season, downing the Sun Devils in five sets at the Huntsman Center. Utah has won seven of the 11 meetings between the two teams since Utah joined the Pac-12, but are just 2-3 when playing the Sun Devils in Tempe. Utah is 3-7 all-time when playing ASU at Wells Fargo Arena.
Â
COVERING THE UTES
Utah's match at Arizona will be live streamed via www.ArizonaWildcats.com, while Sunday's contest against Arizona State will be televised live on the Pac-12 Networks. Kate Scott will have the call for the afternoon contest and Dain Blanton will provide color commentary. Fans can also follow the action on-line by logging onto Pac-12.com/live or watching via smart phones and tablets using the Pac-12 Now App, which can be downloaded at the Apple Store, Google Play Store or Amazon Apps Store.
Â
Live stats will be provided for both contests this weekend, with links to these matches found at www.ArizonaWildcats.com (Friday) and www.TheSunDevils.com (Sunday).
Â
LAST TIME OUT
Utah went 2-0 with its road swing through the Evergreen state last weekend, first upsetting then No. 9-ranked Washington in five sets last Friday and then downing Washington State in four sets on Sunday.
Â
Utah went up 2-0 on the Huskies, but UW came back with back-to-back wins in the third and fourth sets to take the match to a decisive fifth set.
Adora Anae came through in the end, notching 25 kills and helping lead the Utes to a 16-14 win in the final set to take the frame. It was Utah's first-ever win over the Huskies in Seattle.
Berkeley Oblad matched a career-high with 15 kills and registered a new career-high 11 total blocks for the first double-double of her career. Utah would go on to record a season-high 16.5 total blocks in the match - the team's highest single-match block total since totaling 17.5 blocks against Gonzaga back on Sept. 5, 2015.
Brianna Doehrmann set a new season-high with 18 digs on the night and
Camryn Machado tallied her first career double-double with 23 assists and 10 digs - both season highs for the freshman.
Â
Utah erased any doubts of having a hangover from its win over UW with a four-set win over the Cougars at Bohler Gym on Sunday, giving the Utes its second two-match weekend sweep of the season and moving to 5-1 in Pac-12 play. Anae again led the Utes with 20 kills, while also moving up to No. 1 all-time in school history with her 1,621st career kill. She matched a season-high with 16 digs to record the 53rd double-double of her career. Doehrmann added 17 digs and
Shannon Scully totaled 14 digs on the afternoon. Oblad led the team at the next with six total blocks.
Â
POLL TALK
Utah moved up four spots to No. 13 in this week's AVCA Top-25 Coaches Poll, giving the Utes its highest ranking in the poll since coming in at No. 11 back on Nov. 27, 2006. Utah has now been ranked inside the AVCA Poll for 17 straight weeks dating back to last season - the team's longest stretch of being ranked since a run of 45 straight weeks back from 09/11/2000 - 12/02/2002.
Â
This is Utah's highest ranking in the AVCA Poll as a member of the Pac-12 Conference.
Â
UTES AGAINST RANKED TEAMS
With its win over No. 9-ranked Washington, Utah moved to 3-3 against AVCA top-25 ranked teams this season. All three losses have come to teams ranked No. 14 or higher (No. 14 Kentucky, No. 14 BYU and No. 12 Oregon) and all three losses came in five sets. Utah is 9-10 against ranked teams the past two seasons.
Â
ANAE AND OBLAD NAMED PAC-12 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Senior
Adora Anae and junior
Berkeley Oblad were each named Pac-12 Volleyball Players of the Week on Monday. Anae was tabbed the conference's Offensive Player of the Week, while Oblad earned Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Â
Anae tallied 45 kills with a 5.00 kills-per-set average, notched four service aces, 27 digs and three total blocks on the way to helping guide Utah to a pair of wins in the Evergreen state this past weekend. Anae registered a double-double with 25 kills and 11 digs in Utah's upset win over No. 9-ranked Washington on Friday and then turned around to record another double-double with 20 kills and 16 digs against Washington State on Sunday.
Â
Anae became Utah's all-time leader after registering her 1,621st career kill in the first set against the Cougars on Sunday. She surpassed former All-American Kim Turner's total of 1,620 kills. Following her 20-kill performance against WSU, the fourth-year veteran has now tallied 1,635 in her career with the Utes.
Â
Oblad was just as phenomenal on the week, totaling 24 kills and a .320 hitting percentage, 10 digs and 17 total blocks on the weekend. She set new career-highs with 15 kills and 11 total blocks in Utah's win against the Huskies on Friday, which helped secure the Utes' first-ever win over UW in Seattle. It also marked Oblad's first-ever career double-double effort. She then followed Friday's performance with nine kills and six total blocks against WSU on Sunday.
Â
This marks Anae's first player of the week honor for the 2017 season and the third Pac-12 weekly honor of her career overall. This is Oblad's second weekly honor of the season and career after earning defensive player of the week accolades back on Sept. 11.
Â
ANAE ADDS TO WEEKLY AWARDS WITH NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
Adora Anae earned a pair national honors on Tuesday as she was named the Sports Imports/AVCA and espnW National Player of the Week. Anae, who was tabbed the Pac-12 Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week on Monday, becomes just the second player in program history to receive the AVCA's weekly national honor and the first since
Brenda Barton-Whicker back on Sept. 15, 1997. She is the first player to earn espnW national honors.
Â
The Punaluu, Hawaii native helped lead the Utes to a 2-0 record on the road this past weekend, which included upsetting then No. 9-ranked Washington this past Friday and earning Utah's first-ever win over the Huskies in Seattle. Utah then closed out the weekend knocking off Washington State on Sunday. Anae totaled 25 kills in the win over UW and then registered another 20-kill effort against WSU. She registered double-doubles in both contests, posting 11 digs against the Huskies and then notching 16 digs against the Cougars. She would go on to average 5.00 kills and 3.00 digs per set.
Â
Along with helping guide Utah to a 14-3 overall record and a 5-1 mark in Pac-12 play, the four-year veteran also managed to become the program's all-time leader in kills as she surpassed former All-American Kim Turner's career total of 1,620 kills. Anae heads into the week now with 1,635 career kills.
Â
Anae was also named VolleyMob.com Player of the Week Honorable Mention.
Â
WITH THE ASSIST
Utah ranks No. 1 in the Pac-12 and No. 3 overall in the nation with a 13.89 assists-per-set team average. Midway through the season, Utah's' 13.89 per-set average currently ranks only behind 2007's 14.41/set and 2006's 14.95/set totals. The Utes also rank No. 1 in the Pac-12 with 903 total team assists on the season.
Â
Sophomore
Bailey Choy ranks second in the Pac-12 with 631 total assists, while her 9.71 assists-per-set average ranks seventh in the conference. She ranks among the nation's top-100 in both categories.
Â
LEADERS Of THE PAC
While leading the conference in assists, Utah also ranks among the best in the Pac-12 in team kills (953) and kills-per-set (14.66). The Utes rank No. 8 in the nation with its 14.66 kills/set average.
Â
SEEING DOUBLE
Senior
Adora Anae has tallied four straight double-doubles and nine overall on the season, while sophomore
Bailey Choy has tallied seven double-doubles on the season. Junior
Berkeley Oblad and freshman
Camryn Machado both notched their first career double-doubles just this past weekend, while freshmen
Dani Barton and
Shannon Scully have also notched double-doubles earlier in the season.
Â
Barton, who registered her double-double with 10 kills and 11 blocks, became the first Utah player to notch a double-double with kills and blocks since
Erin Redd-Brandon did so back in 2013. Oblad also notched her double-double with 15 kills and 11 blocks, giving Utah its first player duo to record a double-double in the same season via kills and blocks since
Lori Baird and
Emilie Toone did so back in 2006.
Â
UP NEXT
Utah returns back to the friendly confines of the Huntsman Center next week, taking on both Los Angeles-based squads. The Utes will face UCLA next Friday, Oct. 20 at 6 p.m. MT and will then close out the weekend hosting USC on Sunday, Oct. 22 at 1 p.m. MT.
Â