Utes Enter Big 12 Era with Win over Texas Tech

Thursday, September 26

Salt Lake City, UT

7:00 PM

University of Utah

11-1,1-0Big 12

Texas Tech

8-5,0-1Big 12

Texas Tech

Utah

9/27/2024 12:37 AM | Volleyball

Box Score

Kamryn Gibadlo has a career-high night as the Utes win their seventh in a row

SALT LAKE CITY – Utah Volleyball returned to the Jon M. Huntsman Center, beginning its journey through Big 12 action, defeating the Texas Tech Red Raiders, 3-1 (25-23, 30-28, 32-34, 25-23). The Utes have now won back-to-back conference debut matches, defeating Colorado in straight sets in 2011, when Utah debuted in the Pac-12. The Utes have now won seven consecutive matches through the start of the 2024 season, improving to 5-1 on their home floor of the Huntsman Center.

Utah was forced to overcome an early eight-point deficit, trailing Texas Tech 18-10 in the first set. Emrie Satuala helped bring the Utes to life with a pair of kills and two blocks, as the Utah comeback began, outscoring the Red Raiders 6-1 and making it a three-point match. The Utes continued to cut into the Texas Tech lead, trailing 21-22, taking advantage of three consecutive Red Raider errors. Storming back and scoring the final four points of the set, Utah would get kills from Allie Olsen, Kamryn Gibadlo and an ace from Kamry Bailey.

It was a back-and-forth battle through the early going of the second set, as the two sides traded points on the race to 15. Utah found a three-point advantage, getting kills from Lauren Jardine and back-to-back kills from Rianne Vos, putting the Utes ahead, 18-15. After Texas Tech knotted things back up at 18, Utah regained the lead, 22-18, getting a kill from Bailey along with a kill and an ace from Gibadlo. Texas Tech put together a six-point scoring run, taking the lead back and giving themselves set point, 22-24. Utah continued to battle, fending off the final points from the Red Raiders, taking the second set 30-28.

The Utes were forced to battle again in the third, falling to the Red Raiders 32-34. Texas Tech took a five-point advantage, 18-13. Utah cut the Red Raiders lead down to two, 20-18, getting kills from Jardine and Ashley West. The Utes put together a three-point run to capture their first lead of the set, getting back-to-back kills from Satuala, making it a 23-22 match in favor of Utah. The two sides battled back and forth until the Red Raiders sealed the third set win, 34-32.

Utah used a five-point run in the early stages of the fourth set to gain some separation on the Red Raiders, gaining an 11-7 advantage on Texas Tech. The Utes continued to maintain the advantage, trading rallies with the Red Raiders. Utah fought off the Texas Tech comeback attempt, getting kills from Satuala and Ashley West down the stretch, sealing the victory.

Standout Stats

Kamryn Gibadlo put down 17 kills, leading the Utah attacking effort and matching her career-high set last season against UC Santa Barbara. She eclipses her total attempts career mark, setting the new high at 45 swings.
With Gibadlo (17) leading the way, four Utes tallied double-digit kills on the night, including Lauren Jardine (14), Emrie Satuala (13 *season-high) and Allie Olsen (10).
The trio of Emrie Satuala (13/.333), Allie Olsen (10/.625) and Ashley West (6/.333) make up the efficiency of hitters to put down five or more kills with a .300+ hitting percentage.
Emrie Satuala was a defensive presence at the net, recording a team-high seven blocks. Lauren Jardine matched her season-high of five blocks for the fourth time this season.
Isabelle Marco (35) and Grace Hammond (29) each set a new season-high mark for assists in a match. Hammond matched her season-high mark of nine digs, while Marco tallied 10.
Kamry Bailey (17) logged a new career-high night for digs, while Claranne Fechter (20) led the Utes in digs on the receiving end.
Utah is 7-3 in their last 10 conference openers. The Utes have won 9 of their last 10 conference home openers.

UP NEXT
Utah returns to action on Sunday, Sept. 29, at 1 p.m. MT, hosting former Pac-12 rival Colorado.

FOLLOW THE UTES
Fans can follow along on social media (Twitter: @UtahVolleyball | Instagram: @UtahVolleyball | Facebook: Facebook.com/Utahvolleyball), and the official mobile app of Utah Athletics, Utah360.

OFFICIAL MOBILE APP OF UTAH ATHLETICS – UTAH 360
The official mobile app of Utah Athletics is Utah 360. Download it today to unlock a refreshed game-day experience that offers access to news and information, schedules, rosters, stats and behind-the-scenes videos, and allows fans to buy and manage game tickets and order concessions straight from their mobile device. The app is available in both the Apple Store (download) and Google Play (download). Add it today, access your game tickets and download them to your smartphone's wallet to make yourself game-day ready.