Oct. 4, 2008

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The University of Utah volleyball team received another impressive performance from senior outside hitter Lori Baird, who slammed down a career-high 21 kills, to lead the Utes to a 3-1 win at New Mexico (25-21, 28-26, 13-25, 25-21) Saturday.

"It was a close match throughout," head coach Beth Launiere said. "It was a rollercoaster ride the whole way. [New Mexico] would get the lead, then the match would be tied, and then we would take the lead. But when we needed to make something happen, we were able to go out and make plays when it counted."

Utah (11-4, 3-2 MWC) has won three straight road matches and four straight overall. The Utes were paced by Baird throughout the match, who not only registered a career-high 21 kills on a .447 hitting percentage (21-4-38), but also tied a season high with 10 blocks to go along with four digs.

"We just kept setting [Baird] up because she was unstoppable," Launiere said. "When someone is in a rhythm like that, you get them involved in the offense as much as possible. She played really well, not only on the attack, but in every aspect of the game."

Setter Stephanie Shardlow came through with a double-double, distributing a team-high 32 assists and tying for the team-high with 12 digs. Abby Simmons had 19 assists, while libero Keisha Fisher tied Shardlow for team-high honors with 12 digs.

Two other Utes totaled double figures in kills. Kathryn Haynie totaled 12 kills and finished with nine digs, finishing just one dig short of a double-double. Haynie now has 998 career kills and will look to become the 11th member of Utah's 1,000-kill club Thursday at home against UNLV.

"[Haynie] played really well," Launiere said. "She did everything that we expect a senior to do and she has been a key contributor to our program for a long time."

Middle blocker Karolina Bartkowiak had 11 kills for the Utes with a match-high .500 hitting percentage. The Aurora, Ill., native needed only 18 attempts to get 11 kills and only a pair of errors.

"With [Emillie Toone] getting so much attention from our opponents and getting double-teamed throughout the match, we needed [Bartkowiak] to step up," Launiere said. "She did just that for us today."

Despite receiving constant double-teams, Toone had five kills on 12 attempts and .250 hitting percentage to go along with six blocks. As a team, the Utes outblocked the Lobos 19-6.

"This was our best blocking match of the season," Launiere said. "I'm happy with how we've improved throughout this season and I hope we continue to make progress."

Excluding a 1-1 tie to open the first set, Utah led the entire way in the match-opener. Baird led the way with four kills, four blocks and three digs. The second set was close the whole way as the teams were tied at 26 points apiece, then a block by Baird and Cinthia Silva followed by a Lobo attack error gave the Utes a two-point spread and a 28-26 second-set win. Utah was outhit .727 to .160 in the third set as it never could get into a rhythm and took a 25-13 loss in the third set. The match-clinching set was tied at 21 points apiece but the Utes scored the final four points to take a 25-21 win. Baird put down seven kills in the match finale.

New Mexico (13-3, 3-2 MWC) was led by 24 kills from Jeanne Fairchild, who got her kill total on 43 attempts with nine errors for a .349 hitting percentage. Gayle Tripp had 25 digs.

The Utes will look to earn their 100th victory since 2000 at Crimson Court against UNLV Thursday at 7 p.m. The Mtn. will televise the match live.