Utes Fall in Four Games to Colorado State - The Official Athletic Site of the University of Utah

Utes Fall in Four Games to Colorado State
Utah hits for season-low .103 on the match

Senior Kim Turner posted her sixth double-double of the season on Saturday.

Sept. 27, 2003

SALT LAKE CITY - The Utah volleyball team (7-6, 1-1) fell in four games (25-30, 27-30, 30-28, 15-30) to Colorado State (11-4, 2-0) in Mountain West Conference action at Crimson Court tonight. The Utes hit for a season-low .103 on the match, compared to the .269 of the Rams. Utah was also out-blocked 15-8.

"CSU is playing very well," Head Coach Beth Launiere said. "They're quick, athletic and they served very well. We played good volleyball at times, we just need to sustain it. We actually played well a lot of the time; we just got in slumps where we let them score too many points in a row."

Sophomore Danielle Leichliter led Utah with 13 kills on the match, followed by senior Kim Turner, junior Lyndsey Henderson and sophomore Shelly Sommerfeldt with 12 apiece. Turner added 10 digs for her sixth double-double of the season and second in a row. Turner and Henderson also finished with four blocks each.

Junior setter Tracy Neumeier, who entered in the second game, finished with 30 assists. "Tracy came in and did a nice job," Launiere said. "It was nothing fancy, she just ran a disciplined offense."

Senior libero Jackie Morrill finished with a match-high 18 digs.

After a tie at three in game one, the Rams used a 10-3 run to take a 13-6 lead. Utah battled back, going on a 6-1 run and later a 5-1 run to tie it at 20. Both teams battled back and forth before CSU scored five of the last six points for a 30-25 win. Utah hit for .053 on the game, compared to the .226 of the Rams. The Utes were also out-blocked 4-2. Sommerfeldt and Henderson had four kills apiece to lead Utah.

CSU opened strong in game two, jumping out to a 7-2 lead. The Rams then maintained the lead for the majority of the game with Utah cutting the lead to one six times before tying it at 25 and again at 26. CSU proved too much in the end, scoring four of the last five points for the 30-27 win. The Utes combined for a .205 hitting percentage on the game, while the Rams hit for .293. Leichliter and Henderson each had four kills on the game.

Game three was played extremely close throughout, with neither team leading by more than two points until Utah went up 25-22. Though the Rams put up a fight, Utah went on to win 30-28. The Utes hit for .282 on the game and held CSU to .229. Leichliter led Utah with six kills on the game, while Morrill had six digs.

After a close start to game four, CSU scored seven straight points to take a 12-7 lead and never looked back, outscoring Utah 18-8 from that point and winning 30-15. Utah hit for -.125 on the game, while the Rams posted a match-high .333 hitting percentage.

UP NEXT:
The Utes hit the road, playing at New Mexico and Air Force next Friday and Saturday, Oct. 3-4. Both matches start at 7 p.m.