Emillie Toone pounds down team-high 13 kills.
Sept. 30, 2008
OGDEN, Utah - Despite not having a kill in the first set, senior middle blocker Emillie Toone led the University of Utah volleyball team with 13 kills in a non-conference win, 3-1 (22-25, 25-21, 25-17, 25-19), Tuesday at Swenson Gym in Ogden, Utah.
Utah (9-4, 1-2 MWC) hit .026 in the first set, but came back hit at least .300 in the second and third sets and outhit the Wildcats for the match, .224 to .149.
"[Weber State] came out and played great defense in the first set," Utah head coach Beth Launiere said. "They're a good team and they came out and played well. It wasn't really an issue of us not coming out with energy. It was just a matter of us going out and executing."
Toone, a native of American Fork, Utah, tied her season best with 13 kills and came up with four blocks. Toone hit .600 with only one attack error on 20 attempts on the attack for Utah. Lori Baird and Cinthia Silva notched double figures in kills, as well. Baird had 11 kills on 20 attempts to go along with a match-high five blocks. Silva had 10 kills to go along with 11 digs for a double-double performance.
Utah now holds a 45-19 edge over Weber State in the all-time series.
The Utes found themselves ahead 22-20 late in the first set, but could not hold off a 5-0 Wildcat run, as Weber State took a 25-22 opening-set victory. Silva and Baird totaled three kills apiece. Baird needed only five attempts and registered a set-high .600 hitting percentage, while Sandberg registered a pair of kills on five attempts. Toone came up with three blocks to lead Utah defensively.
The Utes came back with a vengeance to earn their first win of the season when dropping the first set, and are now 1-4 when falling behind 1-0.
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In the second set, Toone came alive offensively with six kills and added a block as Utah earned a 25-21 victory in the second set. Utah had a 21-18 lead, but managed to keep its lead and earn the victory by scoring four of the next seven points.
Thanks to six more kills from Toone, Utah rolled to an easy 25-17 win in the third set.
The Utes did not need Toone to have impact on the attack in the fourth set, and ran out to a 10-3 lead. Utah used a 4-0 run to take a 15-7 lead, prompting a Weber State timeout, but the Utes went on to take their largest lead of the match at 18-8.
Stephanie Shardlow and Abby Simmons split time at setter throughout the match. Shardlow distributed 24 assists and Simmons was credited with 23.
Both Kathryn Haynie and Keisha Fisher dug 24 Wildcat attack attempts apiece. Haynie also had a match-high two service aces, while the Utes limited the Wildcats to one service ace for the match.
Weber State (9-7, 1-2 Big Sky) was led by Chelsea Bair, who tied Toone for match-high honors with 13 kills. Bair also had 12 digs, while Leah Burmeister added 10 kills and 11 digs. Caitlyn Anderson had a match-high 15 digs.
The Utes continue Mountain West Conference action on the road Thursday against TCU at 6 p.m., in Fort Worth, Texas. Utah finishes its current three-match road stretch against New Mexico Saturday at 1 p.m. in Albuquerque, N.M.
