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Volleyball
vs Drake
Friday, December 1
Salt Lake City, UT
7:00 PM
University of Utah
24-9
3
vs
1
Purdue
23-10
1
2
3
4
F
Purdue
23
19
25
25
1
Utah
25
25
13
27
3
Utes Punch Ticket to Sweet 16
12/1/2017 11:39 PM | Volleyball
Utah downs Purdue 3-1 in epic sub-regional final
SALT LAKE CITY – For the first time since 2008 the Utah Utes (24-9) are headed to the Sweet 16 following a four-set win (25-23, 25-19, 13-25, 27-25) over the Purdue Boilermakers (23-10) in the championship game of the Salt Lake City Sub-Regional Friday evening at the Huntsman Center.
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Down 20-15 in the fourth set, Utah called a timeout and then proceeded to go on a 12-5 run to capture both the set (27-25) and the match (3-1). Carly Trueman connected on a kill to open a 5-2 run and get the Utes back within two, down 22-20, but later fell down set-point, 24-22. Back-to-back kills from Adora Anae and Trueman forced Purdue to call timeout and then after trading points to notch things up at 25-25, Dani Barton put the Utes up match-point with a kill. Purdue's Ashley Evans tried to put down a kill, but the ball sailed out of bounds to give Utah the victory.
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Anae finished the evening with a match-high 27 kills and tallied her second double-double of the sub-regional with 12 digs. Tawnee Luafalemana notched 12 kills and Trueman chipped in with 10 kills on the evening. Brianna Doehrmann totaled a match-high 18 digs and Bailey Choy dished out 40 assists in the win.
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Utah opened the match falling behind early, 5-2, and despite a late Purdue 5-0 run, Utah would take the first set 25-23 behind Luafalemana's six kills and .750 hitting percentage. Anae added five kills in the set, with four of them coming in a crucial 9-4 run early in the frame. The Utes led 21-16 before Purdue's 5-0 run tied the score, but the Utes would get kills from four different players to give the home team the first set.
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Utah jumped out to an early 5-1 lead in the second set, but Purdue climbed back into the set with a 6-1 run to take a 7-6 lead. Utah would go up 16-14 midway through the frame, but then proceeded to go on a 6-1 run to push the lead to 22-15. Anae would close the set with another kill giving Utah the frame, 25-19.
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Utah led the third set 4-2, but Purdue's 11-4 run was too much to handle and the Boilermakers would take the frame 25-13. Despite Purdue's sudden momentum and a late lead in the fourth set, Utah just would not back down and proved to be too much for the Boilermakers.
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Utah, who advances to the Sweet 16 for the third time in program history, will now await its next opponent as the majority of teams in left the tournament will finish the Round of 32 on Saturday.
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MATCH NOTES
• With the victory, Utah moved to 14-13 all-time in NCAA Tournament.
• Utah is now 3-8 all-time in second round matches, while moving to 5-1 all-time in NCAA Tournament matches played at home.
• The Utes are now 3-1 all-time against Purdue.
• Anae, who totaled 27 kills, set another school record on Friday becoming Utah's single-match leader for kills in a NCAA Tournament. She surpassed former All-American Kim Turner's total of 24 kills, which was set against Santa Clara back in 2003.
• In her NCAA Tournament career, Anae has tallied 89 kills and 53 digs with four double-doubles. Her 89 career kills in the tournament ranks second most in school history, while her 53 digs rank fourth most all-time.
• Shannon Scully and Doehrmann both registered two service aces apiece on Friday. Utah finished with five aces, while Purdue was held with scoring an ace.
• Doehrmann's 18 digs are tied for third most in school history during a NCAA Tournament single-match.
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QUOTES
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Utah Head Coach Beth Launiere
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Opening statements…
Unbelievable match in terms of competitiveness. I thought those were two really great teams going at it tonight. Purdue is an amazing team. They're as physical of a team that we have ever played this season, I think. We also knew that serving and passing was going to be pretty important tonight and that came to fruition. That was maybe the difference. I thought we served really well and passed really well. You know, lots of stuff goes through your head when you are down 22-18 and 24-22, but just a week ago we were down 23-20 at Colorado and we came back and won that fourth set. I felt like we were pretty confident and felt that it was great volleyball being played. There were some swings where I thought the match was over and nothing was going down on either team. It was truly an earned win and we had to work hard for it. Statistically, Purdue put up some big numbers, but I thought we just got some things done and made some plays late in the fourth set that made the difference. It was a great volleyball match, great environment, and I couldn't be happier.
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On coming back late in the fourth set…
We talked a lot going into the match about being mentally tough and that they were going to throw a lot at us and I thought we did an extremely good job at that. We talked about that in the timeout a lot, about who was going to be great competitors right now and who is going to be mentally strong. Adora [Anae] did scream out of the timeout, "we are still dancing".
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On Anae and Luafalemana…
These two right here are great competitors. They have been leading us for the last part of the season and I've heard Adora saying 'championship mentality' and I could just feel coming into this weekend that these two were going to lead the way. They have been doing a great job at that. They are just great competitors and I think that showed up tonight.
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On Trueman's play and other contributors…
I thought Carly did a nice job coming back in after struggling to get kills a little bit, but she got some really timely kills late in the set. She was going for it. I don't think I have ever seen her jump that high. She was skying. I thought Berkeley [Oblad] served and played great defense. That was huge. She had five really timely digs. Kenzie [Koerber] is doing what she does. She is steady for us and does a lot for things for us and always has a high hitting percentage for us because she doesn't make a lot of errors and she is really steady. That is exactly what happened tonight. I thought Dani [Barton] got some really timely kills that we needed. We needed some offense against their big kids. Tawnee [Luafalemana] was getting a lot of kills early and then jumped at her every time late in the match, so we went to some other people. I can't really say enough about the setters. Bailey Choy has got command of the offense right now. At one point, JJ asked me if we should have Bailey do something, and I said let Bailey Choy be Bailey Choy because she is really setting the offense great. I also thought Camryn [Machado] also came in and did a great job and put up some nice hittable sets. Brianna [Doehrmann]'s passing numbers were huge and she and 18 digs. She passed great all weekend and I am really happy for her.
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On Trueman's turnaround…
I have seen Carly have some amazing matches and some amazing kills and amazing swings so that is why I went back to her. I just wanted to give her a break and I felt like she would do that. She is a senior and she played like it. I felt athletically, she matched up really well and she was just going for it late in the match and it paid off. Â
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Senior Outside Hitter Adora Anae
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On thoughts when being down 22-18 in the fourth set…
We took a timeout when it was 18-22 and internally I was like, "we are winning this for sure", because the way we walked off the court and the way we responded. We talked about a championship mindset and we weren't thinking elsewhere, but forward. I thought our team showed some mental toughness in that situation.
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On the win being more meaningful after last season's early exit…
Definitely. We weren't thinking backward and we were only focusing on what we could do now heading into this tournament, and hosting, and the amount of energy we were going to bring in this tournament.
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On the progress on the program since Anae's sophomore season…
It is always tough trying to grind out in the toughest conference in the nation, but that is where you learn and grow. From two years ago, we are a way different program as a whole.
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On the ability to play even better than tonight moving forward…
We only had three blocks tonight our coach mentioned and that's not us. We are known for blocking and so we have to get back in that groove and once we do that, we are scary. We are going to work on that this week. We had some adjustments on the block that the middle blockers communicated with the middle back because No. 20 was going hard angle and we just needed to drop our hand and get some blocks.
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Senior Middle Blocker Tawnee Luafalemana
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On the team's thoughts being down late in the fourth set…
We kept saying leave it out on the court, leave it out on the court, no matter if they got a really big kill we would bring it together every single point. No matter what it was, we were together because they are going to get theirs and we are going to get ours. We brought it together really well as a team.
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On the team's fight…
I think as a whole, our libero Brianna [Doehrmann] was the biggest one that was kind of like 'come on guys, calm down, it's okay'. I knew we were going to come back and we had each other's backs during that time when they were up.
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On Lauga Guata entering the match and bringing energy…
For her, she brings so much energy to the team and when she comes in, she goes all out. No matter what it is, blocking or hitting or anything, she is not going to tip ever when she first gets thrown in. Her mentally is she is going to make our team better and that is what she does for us.
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Down 20-15 in the fourth set, Utah called a timeout and then proceeded to go on a 12-5 run to capture both the set (27-25) and the match (3-1). Carly Trueman connected on a kill to open a 5-2 run and get the Utes back within two, down 22-20, but later fell down set-point, 24-22. Back-to-back kills from Adora Anae and Trueman forced Purdue to call timeout and then after trading points to notch things up at 25-25, Dani Barton put the Utes up match-point with a kill. Purdue's Ashley Evans tried to put down a kill, but the ball sailed out of bounds to give Utah the victory.
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Anae finished the evening with a match-high 27 kills and tallied her second double-double of the sub-regional with 12 digs. Tawnee Luafalemana notched 12 kills and Trueman chipped in with 10 kills on the evening. Brianna Doehrmann totaled a match-high 18 digs and Bailey Choy dished out 40 assists in the win.
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Utah opened the match falling behind early, 5-2, and despite a late Purdue 5-0 run, Utah would take the first set 25-23 behind Luafalemana's six kills and .750 hitting percentage. Anae added five kills in the set, with four of them coming in a crucial 9-4 run early in the frame. The Utes led 21-16 before Purdue's 5-0 run tied the score, but the Utes would get kills from four different players to give the home team the first set.
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Utah jumped out to an early 5-1 lead in the second set, but Purdue climbed back into the set with a 6-1 run to take a 7-6 lead. Utah would go up 16-14 midway through the frame, but then proceeded to go on a 6-1 run to push the lead to 22-15. Anae would close the set with another kill giving Utah the frame, 25-19.
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Utah led the third set 4-2, but Purdue's 11-4 run was too much to handle and the Boilermakers would take the frame 25-13. Despite Purdue's sudden momentum and a late lead in the fourth set, Utah just would not back down and proved to be too much for the Boilermakers.
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Utah, who advances to the Sweet 16 for the third time in program history, will now await its next opponent as the majority of teams in left the tournament will finish the Round of 32 on Saturday.
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MATCH NOTES
• With the victory, Utah moved to 14-13 all-time in NCAA Tournament.
• Utah is now 3-8 all-time in second round matches, while moving to 5-1 all-time in NCAA Tournament matches played at home.
• The Utes are now 3-1 all-time against Purdue.
• Anae, who totaled 27 kills, set another school record on Friday becoming Utah's single-match leader for kills in a NCAA Tournament. She surpassed former All-American Kim Turner's total of 24 kills, which was set against Santa Clara back in 2003.
• In her NCAA Tournament career, Anae has tallied 89 kills and 53 digs with four double-doubles. Her 89 career kills in the tournament ranks second most in school history, while her 53 digs rank fourth most all-time.
• Shannon Scully and Doehrmann both registered two service aces apiece on Friday. Utah finished with five aces, while Purdue was held with scoring an ace.
• Doehrmann's 18 digs are tied for third most in school history during a NCAA Tournament single-match.
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QUOTES
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Utah Head Coach Beth Launiere
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Opening statements…
Unbelievable match in terms of competitiveness. I thought those were two really great teams going at it tonight. Purdue is an amazing team. They're as physical of a team that we have ever played this season, I think. We also knew that serving and passing was going to be pretty important tonight and that came to fruition. That was maybe the difference. I thought we served really well and passed really well. You know, lots of stuff goes through your head when you are down 22-18 and 24-22, but just a week ago we were down 23-20 at Colorado and we came back and won that fourth set. I felt like we were pretty confident and felt that it was great volleyball being played. There were some swings where I thought the match was over and nothing was going down on either team. It was truly an earned win and we had to work hard for it. Statistically, Purdue put up some big numbers, but I thought we just got some things done and made some plays late in the fourth set that made the difference. It was a great volleyball match, great environment, and I couldn't be happier.
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On coming back late in the fourth set…
We talked a lot going into the match about being mentally tough and that they were going to throw a lot at us and I thought we did an extremely good job at that. We talked about that in the timeout a lot, about who was going to be great competitors right now and who is going to be mentally strong. Adora [Anae] did scream out of the timeout, "we are still dancing".
Â
On Anae and Luafalemana…
These two right here are great competitors. They have been leading us for the last part of the season and I've heard Adora saying 'championship mentality' and I could just feel coming into this weekend that these two were going to lead the way. They have been doing a great job at that. They are just great competitors and I think that showed up tonight.
Â
On Trueman's play and other contributors…
I thought Carly did a nice job coming back in after struggling to get kills a little bit, but she got some really timely kills late in the set. She was going for it. I don't think I have ever seen her jump that high. She was skying. I thought Berkeley [Oblad] served and played great defense. That was huge. She had five really timely digs. Kenzie [Koerber] is doing what she does. She is steady for us and does a lot for things for us and always has a high hitting percentage for us because she doesn't make a lot of errors and she is really steady. That is exactly what happened tonight. I thought Dani [Barton] got some really timely kills that we needed. We needed some offense against their big kids. Tawnee [Luafalemana] was getting a lot of kills early and then jumped at her every time late in the match, so we went to some other people. I can't really say enough about the setters. Bailey Choy has got command of the offense right now. At one point, JJ asked me if we should have Bailey do something, and I said let Bailey Choy be Bailey Choy because she is really setting the offense great. I also thought Camryn [Machado] also came in and did a great job and put up some nice hittable sets. Brianna [Doehrmann]'s passing numbers were huge and she and 18 digs. She passed great all weekend and I am really happy for her.
Â
On Trueman's turnaround…
I have seen Carly have some amazing matches and some amazing kills and amazing swings so that is why I went back to her. I just wanted to give her a break and I felt like she would do that. She is a senior and she played like it. I felt athletically, she matched up really well and she was just going for it late in the match and it paid off. Â
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Senior Outside Hitter Adora Anae
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On thoughts when being down 22-18 in the fourth set…
We took a timeout when it was 18-22 and internally I was like, "we are winning this for sure", because the way we walked off the court and the way we responded. We talked about a championship mindset and we weren't thinking elsewhere, but forward. I thought our team showed some mental toughness in that situation.
Â
On the win being more meaningful after last season's early exit…
Definitely. We weren't thinking backward and we were only focusing on what we could do now heading into this tournament, and hosting, and the amount of energy we were going to bring in this tournament.
Â
On the progress on the program since Anae's sophomore season…
It is always tough trying to grind out in the toughest conference in the nation, but that is where you learn and grow. From two years ago, we are a way different program as a whole.
Â
On the ability to play even better than tonight moving forward…
We only had three blocks tonight our coach mentioned and that's not us. We are known for blocking and so we have to get back in that groove and once we do that, we are scary. We are going to work on that this week. We had some adjustments on the block that the middle blockers communicated with the middle back because No. 20 was going hard angle and we just needed to drop our hand and get some blocks.
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Senior Middle Blocker Tawnee Luafalemana
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On the team's thoughts being down late in the fourth set…
We kept saying leave it out on the court, leave it out on the court, no matter if they got a really big kill we would bring it together every single point. No matter what it was, we were together because they are going to get theirs and we are going to get ours. We brought it together really well as a team.
Â
On the team's fight…
I think as a whole, our libero Brianna [Doehrmann] was the biggest one that was kind of like 'come on guys, calm down, it's okay'. I knew we were going to come back and we had each other's backs during that time when they were up.
Â
On Lauga Guata entering the match and bringing energy…
For her, she brings so much energy to the team and when she comes in, she goes all out. No matter what it is, blocking or hitting or anything, she is not going to tip ever when she first gets thrown in. Her mentally is she is going to make our team better and that is what she does for us.
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Team Stats
PUR
UTAH
Kills
60
67
Errors
13
25
Attempts
132
166
Hitting %
.356
.253
Points
73.0
75.0
Assists
58
59
Aces
0
5
Blocks
13.0
3.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
27
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
L/DS
/ Volleyball
OH
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
OH
/ VolleyballOH
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