Utes led by career-high 22 kills from Lori Baird.
Oct. 30, 2008
SALT LAKE CITY - Utah senior Lori Baird notched a career-high 22 kills as the University of Utah volleyball team won its eighth consecutive Mountain West Conference match with a 3-1 victory against New Mexico (25-22, 25-21, 23-25, 26-24) Thursday at Crimson Court.
Utah (16-5, 8-2 MWC) has not lost a conference match since Sept. 20 and has won three straight home matches. The Utes improved to 14-0 this season when winning the first set, and are now 16-0 this year when posting a higher hitting percentage than their opponents.
"I'm really happy with how we played tonight," Utah head coach Beth Launiere said. "It was a big match for us because New Mexico has such a talented team, especially on the block. [Baird] and [New Mexico's Jeanne] Fairchild are two of the best players in the conference, so I'm glad we came out on top."
Baird notched her 13th double-digit kill match this season with 36 attack attempts for a .528 hitting percentage and only committed three errors. Baird also chipped in five blocks and three assists.
The Utes outhit the Lobos .267 to .187 and maintained a 13-9 edge in blocking for the match.
"We held New Mexico to under .200 and hit above our average," Launiere said. "That's pretty good result for such a tough match."
Middle blocker Emillie Toone turned in a match-high .528 hitting percentage with nine kills on 15 attempts and just one error to go along with a match-high-tying seven blocks. Teammate Chelsey Sandberg tied Toone for match-high honors with seven blocks off a block solo and six block assists. Cinthia Silva was the other Ute in double-figures in kills, with 11 kills to go along with eight digs and four blocks.
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Outside hitter Kathryn Haynie tied for match-high honors with 12 digs to go along with eight kills and a team-high two service aces.
In the opening set, the Lobos went on a 4-0 run to take a 10-7 lead before Utah responded by taking five of the next six points for a 12-11 advantage. With the score tied at 15 points apiece, the Utes scored seven of the next eight points to go ahead 22-16 as they won the first set 25-22.
Baird collected six kills on 11 attempts with a single error for a .455 hitting percentage to help the Utes outhit the Lobos .265 to .143 for the set and held a 4-1 advantage in blocks as well.
Utah was 13-0 when winning the first set and was 15-0 when posting a higher hitting percentage than its opponents.
The Utes jumped out to a 5-2 lead to start the second set and extended their lead to as many as eight points with a 15-7 advantage. Utah's lead was trimmed to a single point at 21-20, but the Utes closed the set with a 4-1 run to take the win in a 25-21 decision.
Baird was perfect on the attack in the set, coming through with five more kills on just five attempts, while Toone added three more kills as Utah came through with the set victory despite being outhit by the Lobos .231 to .222 and outblocked UNM, 3-1.
The Lobos built a 10-5 lead to begin the third set and earned their largest lead of the match, seven points, by taking a 13-6 edge. Utah fought back with a 6-2 run to cut the deficit to three points at 15-12. The deficit would grow to as many as five points at 21-16, when Utah pieced together a 4-0 to climb within a 21-20 margin. Kills by Silva, Baird, and Haynie each brought the Utes back to within one point, but they still fell 25-23.
In set four, New Mexico used an early 3-0 run to take a 4-3 lead but Utah responded to tie the score at five points apiece, but the Lobos score three more unanswered points to earn an 8-5 lead. The Utes battled back to tie the set at 13 and took a 14-13 lead after a block by Toone and Sandberg gave them their first lead in the set since 3-2. The Lobos evened the match at 20 and the set would be tied three more times before a Silva kill gave the Utes a 25-24 edge en route to a match-clinching 26-24 win.
New Mexico (17-5, 7-4 MWC) was lead by a match-high 23 kills from Jeanne Fairchild, who achieved her kill mark on 44 attempts with eight errors for a .341 hitting percentage.
The Utes host TCU Sunday at 1 p.m. at Crimson Court in the `Pack the House Pink' event to raise breast cancer awareness. The match will be televised on the CBS College Sports Network Tuesday at 7 p.m.
