Utah Volleyball Falls in Straight Sets to #17 Arizona State

Friday, October 20

Salt Lake City, UT

6:00 PM

University of Utah

8-11,3-6Pac-12

Arizona State

19-2,7-2Pac-12

Arizona St.

Utah

Photo by: Eli Rehmer

Utah Volleyball Falls in Straight Sets to #17 Arizona State

10/20/2023 9:24 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Amelia Van Der Werff led the team with seven kills.

SALT LAKE CITY - Utah Volleyball fell in straight sets to #17 Arizona State at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on Friday night (12-25, 16-25, 22-25).

Senior Amelia Van Der Werff led the Utes offensively with seven kills, racking up her highest kill total since collecting 13 kills at UCLA earlier this season. Emrie Satuala and Lauren Jardine both tallied six kills while Satuala led the team with a .267 hitting percentage. Grace Hammond ran the offense and recorded a season-high 17 assists while adding a season-high 10 digs.

Defensively, senior libero Vanessa Ramirez recorded her 17th game of the season with double-digit digs, totaling 11. Rianne Vos contributed both offensively and defensively with seven digs and three kills.

Both teams started the match red-hot as both the Utes and the Sun Devils combined for 10 kills in as many points. The Utes and the Sun Devils stayed close early on as Van Der Werff, Kamry Bailey, Satuala, and Kamryn Gibadlo each recorded a kill through the first four Utah points to take a 4-3 lead. Arizona State went on a six-point run to take a 9-4 lead, but Utah responded with a 3-0 run, including an ace by Viktoria Wahlgren. Arizona State would use two more extended runs (5-0, 6-0) to take a first-set victory.

The second set was back-and-forth as the set was tied 9-9, early. Arizona State used a 5-1 run to take a 14-10 advantage and never gave it back. The Sun Devils would maintain a constant cushion and captured 11 of the next 17 points to seize the first two sets. Allie Olsen recorded all four of her kills in the set and contributed a service ace.

The Utes started the third set with six consecutive points including two kills from both Vos and Van Der Werff, forcing an Arizona State timeout. Both teams dug into a consistent groove with each team matching point-for-point until a kill from Jardine extended Utah's lead to 13-7. The Sun Devils fought back with an 8-1 run to tie the game, 15-15. The set would remain tight, but Arizona State found their biggest lead of the set 23-21. The Utes responded with a kill from Gibadlo to cut the deficit to just one point, but Arizona State closed the door, winning the next two points to finish the match.

UP NEXT
The Utes will host Arizona at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on Sunday at 12 p.m. MT. The match will be broadcast on Pac-12 Mountain with Krista Blunk on the call. The last time Arizona traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah defeated the Wildcats in straight sets. Utah has won eight consecutive matches against Arizona dating back to 2018, including winning seven in a row at home.