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Sept. 2, 2002
SALT LAKE CITY -
THIS WEEK: No. 8 Utah travels to Stanford, Calif., to participate in the Stanford Invitational this Friday and Saturday. The Utes face Cal Poly at 5:00 p.m. (PDT) on Friday, Sept. 6. On Saturday, Sept. 7, Utah will play San Jose State, which finished No. 24 in the final 2001 poll, at noon, followed by a 7:00 p.m. match against Stanford, the No. 1 team in the nation and reigning national champions.
REVIEWING LAST WEEK: Utah won the Utah Classic over the weekend after going undefeated in the tournament. The Utes swept New Hampshire and Murray State before beating then-No. 12 Pacific in the championship match, 26-30, 30-28, 30-21, 28-30, 15-9.
In addition to claiming the championship, four Utes were named to the all-tournament team, led by junior Kim Turner, who was named tournament MVP for the second year in a row. Senior Sylva Strzinkova and sophomore Kelsie Kartchner also made the team, while junior Jackie Morrill was named the tournament's top libero.
TURNER NAMED MWC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Utah middle blocker Kim Turner was named the season's first Mountain West Conference Volleyball Player of the Week, marking the fifth time she has received the award.
A 6-2 junior, Turner set Utah Classic single-match records for solo blocks (5) and assist blocks (6) in the Utes' five-game championship match victory over No. 12 Pacific. She also added 20 kills and seven digs vs. the Tigers, and earned Utah Classic Most Valuable Player honors.
In the season opening win vs. New Hampshire, Turner recorded her first double-double of the season with 10 kills and 10 digs, while hitting a match-high .500 (10-2-16). In a victory over Murray State, Turner totaled 15 kills and seven digs, while hitting .400 (15-5-25).
For the week, she totaled 45 kills (4.09 kpg), four service aces (.36 sapg), 24 digs (2.18 dpg) and 16 blocks (1.45 bpg), while hitting .255 (45-21-94).
September 2, 2002
USA Today/AVCA Top 25
Rank School Total 2002 Last
(1st-place Votes) Points Record Week
1 Stanford (57) 1615 2-0 1
2 Nebraska (2) 1534 2-0 2
3 USC (2) 1481 2-0 3
4 Hawai'i (4) 1462 2-0 4
5 Long Beach State 1355 4-0 5
6 Florida 1302 3-0 7
7 UCLA 1192 2-0 11
8 Utah 1048 3-0 13
9 Northern Iowa 1022 5-1 14
10 Ohio State 977 1-2 9
11 Arizona 891 2-1 6
12 Michigan State 812 3-0 15
13 Pacific 750 2-1 12
14 Pepperdine 721 3-2 8
15 Penn State 708 3-0 16
16 Wisconsin 633 2-1 10
17 Texas A&M 557 3-0 17
18 Colorado State 549 3-0 18
19 UCSB 374 3-0 20
20 Minnesota 370 5-1 NR
21 Illinois 327 2-1 19
22 Louisville 326 3-0 NR
23 North Carolina 281 3-0 NR
24 Santa Clara 197 3-0 24
25 Kansas State 168 2-1 22
Others receiving points and listed on two or more ballots: Notre Dame (115), Colorado (100), Washington State (72), San Diego (71), South Carolina (41), Arkansas (17), Duke (17), BYU (16), Eastern Washington (5). Six teams mentioned on only one ballot for a total of 19 combined points.
MWC STANDINGS:
W L Pct.
Colorado State 3 0 1.000
Utah 3 0 1.000
Wyoming 3 0 1.000
San Diego State 2 1 .667
UNLV 2 1 .667
BYU 1 2 .333
Air Force 0 4 .000
New Mexico 0 4 .000
STANFORD INVITATIONAL SCHEDULE:
Sept. 6 (Fri.) UTAH vs. Cal Poly 5:00 p.m.
Stanford vs. San Jose State 7:00 p.m.
Sept. 7. (Sat.) Stanford vs. Cal Poly 10:00 a.m.
UTAH vs. San Jose State 12:00 p.m.
Cal Poly vs. San Jose State 5:00 p.m.
UTAH vs. Stanford 7:00 p.m.
SERIES SHORTS:
* Utah trails the all-time series with Cal Poly 1-11. In their last meeting on Sept. 9, 2000, in the Cal Poly Tournament, the Utes defeated the Mustangs 3-1. Utah is 0-7 at home, 1-0 away and 0-4 at a neutral site vs. Cal Poly.
* The Utes are 3-1 all-time against San Jose State. The last time the two teams faced each other was Nov. 13, 1998, when the Utes swept the Spartans 3-0. Utah is 2-1 at home and 1-0 away vs. San Jose State.
* Utah is 1-2 all-time against Stanford. The last time the teams met was Dec. 7, 2001, in the Utes' first-ever trip to the NCAA Sweet 16. Utah lost that match 3-1, and Stanford went on to win the national championship. Utah was the only team in the NCAA Tournament to take a game from Stanford. Utah is 1-0 at home and 0-2 on the road against the Cardinal.
QUOTING HEAD COACH BETH LAUNIERE:
On the upcoming Stanford Invitational - "This is going to be a tough tournament," admits Launiere. "We aren't even thinking about Stanford because we have to get through San Jose State and Cal Poly first. Both are very good teams."
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION:
Cal Poly The Mustangs opened the season 1-2 at the Shamrock Invitational at Notre Dame over the weekend. Cal Poly defeated Cincinnati before falling to Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Notre Dame.
Sophomore outside hitter Jessica Diepersloot leads Cal Poly with 38 kills (3.45 per game). Senior setter Carly O'Halloran is averaging 7.45 assists and 1.45 blocks per game, while junior Molly Duncan leads the team with a 4.09 digs per game average.
San Jose State The 2-1 Spartans placed second at the University of California Golden Bear Invitational over the weekend, falling to host California in the championship match. San Jose State defeated Northern Arizona and Tennessee-Martin in earlier tournament matches.
Middle blocker Stephanie Pascucci and outside hitter Kimberly Noble both earned all-tournament team honors. Pascucci is averaging 3.91 kills and 1.27 blocks, while Noble averages 3.09 kills and 2.55 digs per game.
Stanford The 2-0 Cardinal face St. Mary's (Calif.) at 7:00 p.m. tonight. Stanford won the NACWAA/State Farm Classic Aug. 23-24, in Minneapolis, Minn., after defeating Northern Iowa and Minnesota. Senior outside hitter Logan Tom was named tournament MVP after averaging 3.86 kills, 2.43 digs and 1.29 blocks on the tourney. Sophomore Ogonna Nnamani and middle blocker Sara McGee were also named to the all-tournament team.
MWC LEADERS: As a team, the Utes lead the MWC in opponent hitting percentage (.070), and rank second in blocks per game (3.23) and third in assists per game (13.91).
Individually, Turner ranks in the top 15 in four categories (kills per game, fourth; blocks, fifth; hitting percentage, 14th; and service aces, 15th. Strzinková is second in kills and 10th in hitting percentage. Sophomore Sabine Schulz is 13th in hitting percentage and 14th in digs, while Kartchner is sixth in assists. Sophomore Lyndsey Phillips is seventh in blocks and Morrill is 15th in digs.
NEXT WEEK:
Utah hosts Idaho State at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 11. Over the weekend, the Utes travel to Boise, Idaho, for the Boise State Tournament. At 7:15 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 13, Utah faces Eastern Washington. On Saturday, Sept. 14, the Utes play Boise State at 12:30 p.m. and George Washington at 5:00 p.m.
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