Utes win 10th consecutive MWC match.
Nov. 6, 2008
SAN DIEGO - Utah middle blocker Karolina Bartkowiak registered 11 kills on only 14 attempts for a .714 hitting percentage to help the No. 24 University of Utah volleyball team take its 10th consecutive Mountain West Conference win with a 3-0 sweep (25-13, 25-17, 25-23) of San Diego State Thursday in Peterson Gym.
Utah is 18-5 overall and 10-2 in MWC play this season. The Utes have won 10 consecutive conference matches and have not dropped a conference tilt since Sept. 20, and have won 11 of their last 12 matches overall.
In Utah's first match with a national ranking, Bartkowiak tied for the team high with 11 kills and finished just two kills shy of tying her season high while nearly matching her career-high hitting percentage (.769). The Aurora, Ill., native also chipped in two blocks.
"[Bartkowiak] came up huge for us throughout the match," Utah head coach Beth Launiere said. "[Bartkowiak] had close to half of our kills in the final set, and it turned out that we needed every kill that we could get.
"It was just a great team effort for us, not just [Bartkowiak]," Launiere said. "We played well right from the start and we got an impressive win."
Outside hitter Kathryn Haynie tied Bartkowiak for match-high honors with 11 kills on 26 swings for a .346 hitting percentage and two attack errors as Utah outhit San Diego State .372 to .184 and managed a 4-3 edge in team blocks.
Utah middle blocker Emillie Toone came up with five kills and turned in a match-high four blocks.
"We weren't able to get a lot of blocks tonight," Launiere said. "[San Diego State] just had a good approach of swinging high. It wasn't anything we were doing wrong, it was just a matter of us adjusting to their new approach to be effective in the match."
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Lori Baird finished third on the team with nine kills and served a career-high seven service aces. The Utes served 12 aces in the match as a team, compared to just two for the Aztecs. In addition to Baird's career and match-high seven aces, libero Keisha Fisher served a pair of aces.
Fisher also came up with a match-high 15 digs as she was the only player in the match to reach double figures in digs.
Stephanie Shardlow and Abby Simmons split the setting duties, with both players distributing 20 assists apiece.
The Utes were up 13-9 in the opening set, then went on a 4-0 run to take a 17-9 lead in the opener. Utah coasted to an easy first-set win and ended the set with their largest lead of the set with a 25-13 victory.
Three different Utes, Haynie, Toone and Bartkowiak tied for the team lead with three kills apiece in the first set. Bartkowiak converted on all three of her attack attempts for a 1.000 hitting percentage Utah managed six service aces in the first set, led by four aces from Baird.
Down 2-1 in the second set, the Utes scored five consecutive points to gain a 6-2 edge. Utah maintained its four-point lead with a 10-6 spread. The Utes' lead grew to six points with a 16-10 edge before Utah scored three of the next four points en route to a 19-11 edge. Two more kills by Bartkowiak fueled a three-point run to clinch the set and Utah kept its eight-point edge as the final margin was 25-17.
The third set was tied 3-3 before the Utes took the next five points for an 8-3 lead, but the Aztecs charged back with a 12-1 run to take a 15-9 edge. The teams traded points until the score was 17-11, which was when Utah scored four straight points to reduce SDSU's lead to 17-15. The Aztecs took the next two points and kept their four-point lead at 21-17, but the Utes took eight of the match's last 10 points to clinch the match with a 25-23 third-set victory.
"We really executed well in the first two sets," Launiere said. "Our level of play went down, but we were able to come back and pull out the match-clinching win."
The Utes look to extend their conference win streak to 11 matches Saturday at 2 p.m. MDT against UNLV in Las Vegas.
