Volleyball Set to Make Home Debut this Weekend

Match 7: #18 Utah vs. #15 San Diego
Friday, Sept. 8 | 7 p.m. MT
Salt Lake City, Utah | Huntsman Center
Live Stats

Match 8: #18 Utah vs. Green Bay
Saturday, Sept. 9 | 12 p.m. MT
Salt Lake City, Utah | Huntsman Center
Live Stats

Match 9: #18 Utah vs. Missouri
Saturday, Sept. 9 | 7 p.m. MT
Salt Lake City, Utah | Huntsman Center
Live Stats

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
• Utah is coming off a 3-0 weekend in Honolulu after taking the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic Championship. The Utes moved to 5-1 overall and have won four straight heading into this weekend's Utah Classic.
• The Utes play inside the Huntsman Center for the first time this season. It marks the first time since 2006 that a Utah team did not have a home contest until at least Sept. 8.
• Senior Adora Anae, who played in her home state of Hawaii for the first time in her collegiate career, took home tournament MVP honors this past weekend after posting 44 kills, 32 digs and six total blocks.
• Senior Tawnee Luafalemana and freshman Dani Barton were both tabbed Pac-12 Players of the Week on Monday. Luafalemana was named defensive POW, while Barton took home freshman POW accolades.
• Utah moved up to No. 18 in this week's AVCA Coaches' Poll.

FIRST SERVE
The No. 18-ranked Utah Utes (5-1) will play inside the friendly confines of the Jon M. Huntsman Center for the first time this season as the squad hosts the 2017 Utah Classic this Friday and Saturday, Sept. 8-9. The four-team, round-robin tournament will also include No. 15 San Diego, Green Bay and Missouri.

Utah's first match will take place on Friday at 7 p.m. against the Toreros. The Phoenix and Tigers will get the tournament underway on Friday at 4:30 p.m. Following USD and Missouri Saturday morning at 10 a.m., the Utes will then take on the Green Bay Phoenix at noon. Green Bay and USD is set to get underway at 5 p.m. later on Saturday and the Utes will then close out the two-day event against the Tigers at 7 p.m.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
San Diego Toreros
San Diego moved up two spots in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll, ranked No.15 overall, after going 1-2 in the San Diego Invitational this past weekend. The Toreros earned sweeps over Georgia Tech and Villanova before falling to then No.4-ranked Texas. San Diego dropped the match to Texas in four sets. Senior Jayden Kennedy leads San Deigo on the year with 65 kills (3.42 k/set), while junior Kaity Edwards and freshman Roxie Wiblin have each chipped in 55 kills on the year. Senior Kristen Gengenbacher has totaled 197 assists (10.37 a/set) for the offense, while senior Lizzy Tardieu leads the team defensively with 76 digs (4.00 dig/s).

Green Bay Phoenix
Green Bay finished 1-2 at the Michigan Invitational this past weekend. The Phoenix picked up its sole win on the weekend on Friday against New Hampshire 3-1. Green Bay was swept by Butler and then fell to No. 19-ranked Michigan. The offense for the Phoenix is ran by sophomore Maddie Yoss, who has 267 assists on the year (12.71 a/set), while senior Lydia DeWeese leads the team in kills at 84 (4.00 k/set). Junior Vanessa Buman has tallied 110 digs this season (5.24 d/set) to set the tone defensively for Green Bay.

Missouri Tigers
Missouri last saw action at the Boise State Invitational where the Tigers went 1-2 on the weekend. Missouri picked up the 3-1 victory over Sacramento State, but dropped the next match to No. 10-ranked BYU, 3-1, and then was swept by tournament host, Boise State, to close out the event. Missouri's offense comes from many athletes, but leading the Tigers on the season is freshman Leketor Member-Meneh with 78 kills (3.00 k/set) and senior Kira Larson with 61 kills (2.10 k/set). Senior Courtney Eckenrode has totaled 234 assists on the year (8.07 a/set), while junior Alyssa Munlyn has controlled the net for the Tigers with 43 total blocks on the year (1.48 blk/s).

SERIES HISTORY
Utah and San Diego with match-up for the ninth time in a series that dates back all the way to 1979. The Utes are just 3-5 all-time when facing the Toreros, but the two squads have not faced off since 2010. Friday's match will be the first time that Utah has played the Toreros in Salt Lake City.

The Utes are 1-0 all-time when facing Green Bay, but the two programs' only meeting came back in 1992. Utah defeated the Phoenix 3-0 back on Sept. 5, 1992, in Lawrence, Kan.

Following a five-set, come-from-behind win over the Tigers in Columbia, Mo., last season, the Utes are now 3-1 all-time against Missouri. Utah's only loss to the Tigers was a 3-0 road loss back in 2005. Utah took the first-ever match between the two teams back in 2003 and also won a neutral-court contest against the Tigers back in 2009.

COVERING THE UTES
Due to the Huntsman Center installing a new video board, live streaming will not be available for any matches this weekend.

Live stats will be available for all three Utah matches, as well as the remaining three non-Utah matches. Live stats links for Utah's contests can be found at www.UtahUtes.com. The non-Utah match live stat links can be found at www.StatBroadcast.com.

LAST TIME OUT
Utah swept its way past South Dakota and Western Carolina, then rallied to defeat Hawaii in four sets to take the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic in Honolulu this past weekend.

Senior Adora Anae posted 10+ kill efforts in all three matches, which also included her notching her second double-double of the season in the win over Hawaii. Junior Berkeley Oblad totaled 25 kills and chipped in on defense with 11 total blocks, while sophomore Bailey Choy collected 102 assists while running the Ute offense.

All three players were later named to the all-tournament team, with Anae taking home tournament MVP honors.

A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
It was a weekend of first for the Utes in Honolulu this past weekend. Utah recorded "first wins" against all three teams it faced in the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic, picking up victories against South Dakota, Western Carolina and Hawaii.

It just so happened to be the first-ever meeting with both South Dakota and Western Carolina, but with its win over Hawaii, the Utes snapped an 11-game losing streak to the Rainbow Wahine. Hawaii was 11-0 all-time when facing the Utes in a series that dates back to 1980.

The win over Hawaii also marked the first time the Utes had defeated Hawaii at Stan Sheriff Center. The Utes were previously 0-5 when facing the Rainbow Wahine in Honolulu. Head coach Beth Launiere also recorded her first win over Hawaii, snapping a 10-match losing streak to UH.

POLL TALK
Utah moved up four spots to come in at No. 18 in this week's AVCA Top-25 Poll. The Utes have been ranked inside the AVCA Poll for 12 straight weeks dating back to last season.

Utah's No. 18 ranking in just the second week of action is the highest ranking the Utes have had this early in the season since 2009 when Utah was ranked No. 17 the first two weeks (Preseason and Week 1). This is the highest ranking at Week 2 since earning the No. 8 overall ranking back in 2002.

PAIR OF UTES EARN PAC-12 WEEKLY HONORS
Senior Tawnee Luafalemana and freshman Dani Barton were both named Pac-12 Volleyball Players of the Week this past Monday. Luafalemana was named Defensive Player of the Week, while Barton earned Freshman of the Week honors.

Luafalemana went on to record 18 total blocks on the weekend, netting 1.8 blocks per set. She also tallied 18 kills on .297 hitting on the offensive side of the net. Her 12 total blocks against Hawaii was a new single-match career-high for the Carson, Calif., native. She also became the first Utah player to register at least 12 total blocks in a single match since Erin Redd-Brandon totaled 12 kills against Utah State back on Sept. 14, 2013.

Barton registered the first double-double of her career when she managed to record 10 kills and 11 total blocks against the Rainbow Wahine on Sunday. She became the first Utah player to record a double-double with kills and blocks since Erin Brandon-Redd tallied 15 kills and 10 blocks against Arizona State back on Oct. 24, 2013. The Sandy, Utah, native totaled 19 kills and a 2.11 kills-per-set average on the week, while also leading the team with a .415 hitting percentage. She finished the weekend with 12 total blocks and a pair of digs.

This is Luafalemana's second Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week honor after earning the same accolade back on Oct. 10 of last season. This is Barton's first Pac-12 weekly honor of her career.

#BLOCKU
The Utes put on a blocking clinic in its final match of the Rainbow Wahine Classic, netting 19.0 total team blocks in its win over Hawaii. It was a new season-high for the Utes and was also the most blocks Utah had tallied in a match since totaling 20.0 blocks against Utah State back on Aug. 24, 2012. It marked just the fourth time the Utes have tallied 19.0 blocks or more in a match sin 2011.

Senior Tawnee Luafalemana and freshman Dani Barton teamed up to record 23 of Utah's 36 total blocks in the match. Luafalemana posted a career-high 12 blocks (two solo, 10 assisted) in the match and Barton chipped in with 11 assisted blocks, marking the first time two Utah players recorded 10+ blocks in the same match since Oct. 14, 2006, when Emillie Toone (14) and Lori Barid (13) combined for 27 blocks against Wyoming.

The Utes went into the weekend netting 1.91 blocks per set as a team, but following its last three matches in Honolulu, Utah is now averaging 2.43 blocks per set.

DOUBLE TALK
Utah had three players record double-doubles in its win over Hawaii on Sunday. Senior Adora Anae registered her second double-double of the season with 19 kills and 16 digs, sophomore Bailey Choy totaled 38 assists and 11 digs, and freshman Dani Barton added 10 kills and 11 total blocks.

For Anae, it was the 46th double-double of her career, meanwhile Choy netted the 11th double-double of her two-year career. Barton registered the first double-double of her career.

HIGH FIVE FOR 25
Senior Adora Anae registered at least 25 kills in a single match for the 11th time in her career when she tallied 26 kills in a loss to Kentucky back on Aug. 25. Anae is the only player in school history to record at least 25 kills in a single match more than five times in a career. Anae, who has a current 32-match streak of registering at least 10 kills or more, has gone onto collect 20 kills or more, 28 different times in her career. Overall, Anae has posted double-digit kill efforts in 77 of the 101 matches she has played in over the last four seasons.

MOVING ON UP
Senior Adora Anae continues to climb her way up Utah's all-time statistical leader boards. The four-year veteran moved up to No. 3 all-time in career kills. She now has 1,474 career kills and will head into the weekend needing 92 kills to move into the No. 2 spot and surpass Brenda Barton-Whicker's total of 1,565 kills. She is 147 kills away from taking over the top spot, which is currently held by Kim Turner, who totaled 1,620 kills.

Anae did move up to No. 4 all-time in career attempts (3,761) and also managed to move into the top-10 with 986 career digs. She surpassed Sharman Grant, who tallied 983 digs from 1991-94.

SWEEPING EFFORTS
Utah registered its third and fourth three-set sweeps of the season this past weekend, collecting 3-0 wins over both South Dakota and Western Carolina. The Utes notched sweeps against Cincinnati and Arkansas State opening weekend in Lexington, Ky.

UTES PICKED TO FINISH FOURTH IN PAC-12
Utah earned its highest preseason finish since joining the Pac-12 back in 2012, coming in at No. 4 in the 2017 preseason coaches' poll. The Utes garnered one first-place vote in the poll for a total of 88 points. Washington was picked to win the league, while Stanford and Oregon followed to round out the top-three.

ANAE NAMED TO ALL-PAC-12 PRESEASON TEAM
Adora Anae was named to the All-Pac-12 Preseason Team for a second straight season. Anae, who enters her senior season with the Utes, was an All-Pac-12 First Team selection following the 2016 season. She led the league in kills (592), kills-per-set (4.70) and points-per-set (5.22).

UP NEXT
Utah closes out non-conference next week with a couple of in-state rivals. The Utes will host BYU next Thursday, Sept. 14, before heading to Orem to face Utah Valley on Friday, Sept. 15.

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Adora Anae

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