Emillie Toone records 11 kills and nine blocks.
Oct. 11, 2008
SALT LAKE CITY - Ute middle blocker Emillie Toone was one block shy of her second double-double of the season with 11 kills and nine blocks as the University of Utah volleyball team earned its sixth consecutive victory with a 3-1 win against San Diego State (21-25, 25-14, 25-18, 25-15) Saturday at Crimson Court.
Utah (13-4, 5-2 MWC) outhit San Diego State .207 to .084 despite being at a .429 to .025 disadvantage in that department during the first set.
"I just told our team that we need to stay with it," Utah head coach Beth Launiere said. "We just continued to play tough and started marking stops."
Toone has hit double-digits in kills five times this season and was just one block short of achieving her second double-double performance of the season. Toone converted 11 kills on just 17 attack attempts with three errors for a .471 hitting percentage. Toone's first double-double this season came at Weber State, when she notched 14 kills and 13 digs.
Kathryn Haynie had a match-high 14 kills to go along with 10 digs for her fifth double-double of the season. The newest member of Utah's 1,000-kill club hit .321 with 14 kills on 28 swings and five attack errors.
Lori Baird totaled eight kills to go along with six blocks, three digs and two service aces. Karolina Bartkowiak had a match-high .500 hitting percentage with seven kill on 12 attack attempts and just one service error. Chelsey Sandberg totaled seven blocks with five kills
The match signaled the first career start for Sarah Hibbert. The freshman outside hitter from Anchorage, Alaska, totaled four kills with nine digs and one block.
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"[Hibbert] did a nice job," Launiere said. "We felt that she deserved the opportunity because she's been working so hard. She took advantage of it."
Stephanie Shardlow set up the Ute attack with 23 assists and also served a pair of aces. Abby Simmons dished out 18 assists.
Utah's six-match win streak is its longest of the season and includes five consecutive Mountain West Conference victories.
In the opening set, Utah dropped four of the first five points, but came back to tie the match at 5-5. The teams traded points until an 11-11 tie, but the Aztecs scored five unanswered points to take a 16-11 advantage. SDSU eventually extended its lead to seven points at 20-13 and withstood a 5-1 Utah run late in the set to earn a 25-21 first-set win. The Aztecs outhit the Utes .429 to .025 in the opener and held a 4-0 edge in blocks. Toone had four kills, Baird had three, and Haynie and Bartkowiak both recorded two kills apiece.
"We came out a little flat," Launiere said. "[San Diego State] started with a lot of intensity and had a lot of momentum [from Thursday's win at BYU]."
The Utes have now won two consecutive contests after losing the first set of a match, improving to 2-4 in that situation overall. Utah came back from a 22-25 first-set loss for a 3-1 victory at Weber State. The only other time Utah lost the opening set at home this season was during a 3-2 loss to then-No. 15 Purdue on Sept. 13.
Utah used a 7-0 run early in the second set to take a 10-2 lead. The Utes' advantage would grow to as many as 14 points with another 7-0 run to make the score 18-4. Utah would go on to take a 25-14 second-set win. Utah had a .370 to -0.067 edge in hitting and also had a five to three lead in blocks during the second set. Toone added four more kills and came up with her first four blocks of the match.
The Utes forced an Aztec timeout by taking a 9-3 lead in the third set. Two consecutive blocks by the Utah front line gave the Utes a 13-5 lead early in the set. With an 18-13 lead, the Utes went on a 5-1 run to take a 23-15 lead. Utah's defense held the SDSU attack to a .000 hitting percentage, while managing a .276 mark. The Utes also outlbocked the Aztecs 7-1 in the third set. Haynie registered three more kills, while four other Utes had a pair of kills in the set.
After jumping out to a 7-4 lead in the fourth set, the Utes went on a 6-1 run to take a 16-9 advantage. The Utes would take that momentum to a 25-15 win to clinch the match.
UNLV (5-11, 2-4 MWC) was led by 11 kills and nine digs from Lauren Van Orden, who had a .348 hitting percentage. Bailee Hellwig had five blocks, while Lauren Salisbury totaled four. Michelle Ferrer registered a match-high 13 digs.
"We have one big match left in the first rotation of the conference schedule," Launiere said.
The Utes head to Provo, Utah for the Deseret First Duel match Friday at 7 p.m., against BYU.
