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Senior Kim Turner was named to the all-tournament team last weekend.
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Sept. 2, 2003
SALT LAKE CITY -
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THIS WEEK:
Utah (1-2) hosts the Hampton Inn Volleyball Classic this Friday and Saturday. The Utes face Washington State (1-2) at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 5. On Saturday, Sept. 6, Utah will play UVSC (1-2) at noon, followed by a 7 p.m. match against No. 18 Missouri (3-0).
HAMPTON INN VOLLEYBALL CLASSIC SCHEDULE:Sept. 5 (Fri.) Missouri vs. UVSC 5 p.m. UTAH vs. Washington State 7 p.m. Sept. 6 (Sat.) Missouri vs. Washington State 10 a.m. UTAH vs. UVSC noon UVSC vs. Washington State 5 p.m. UTAH vs. Missouri 7 p.m.
A QUICK LOOK AT UTAH:
The Utes went 1-2 at the Arizona State Sun Devil Classic last weekend, dropping matches to the host Sun Devils (21-30, 23-30, 30-28, 24-30) and to San Diego (18-30, 16-30, 30-27, 30-27, 7-15). It was the first time since the 1994 season that Utah had opened the season 0-2. The Utes then swept Ohio (30-25, 30-28, 30-25) to close out the tournament.
Senior All-America candidate Kim Turner was named to the all-tournament team after averaging 4.00 kills, 1.92 digs, 1.33 blocks and 0.33 service aces per game in the three tournament games.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION:
Washington State
The Cougars went 1-2 at their own Cougar Challenge last weekend, defeating Oklahoma 3-1 before dropping close, five-game matches to San Francisco and Wichita State.
Washington State's Kristen Carlson and Brenn Larson were both named to the all-tournament team. Carlson averaged 2.64 kills, 3.79 digs and 1.00 blocks per game, while Larson averaged 10.64 assists, 1.07 kills and 2.21 digs per game.
On the season, Washington State has four players -- McKenzie Burgess, Jennifer Todd, Zanda Bautre and Kristen Carlson -- that average 2.00 kills or more per game and four players -- Burgess, Todd, Carlson and Jen Barcus -- that average 1.00 blocks or more per game.
UVSC
The Wolverines (1-2) fell to Portland (23-30, 30-23, 26-30, 27-30) and Bowling Green (30-25, 23-30, 24-30, 30-32) and defeated host Boise State (25-30, 30-27, 26-30, 30-18, 15-13) at the Boise State Invitational last weekend. Krystal Peterson was named to the all-tournament team after averaging 2.75 kills per game.
UVSC is also led by Alina Wallauer, who averages 2.46 kills and 2.15 digs per game, and Kassidy Brotherson, with 2.62 and 1.15 kills and blocks per game averages, respectively.
Missouri
No. 18 Missouri, enjoying its highest ranking in school history, opened the season with a 3-0 record at its Quality Inn Tiger Invitational last weekend. The Tigers defeated Montana State (30-13, 30-16, 30-9), Toledo (30-22, 30-17, 30-21) and Arkansas (30-15, 30-18, 26-30, 30-16).
Lindsey Hunter was named the tournament MVP after averaging 13.00 assists a game. Shen Danru and Mary Lauren Smith joined Hunter on the all-tournament team. Danru averaged 4.50 kills and 3.90 digs per game, while Smith added 4.10 kills per game.
SERIES SHORTS:
* Utah trails the all-time series with Washington State 0-8. In their last meeting on Sept. 4, 1998, the Utes fell 3-2 in Pullman, Wash. Utah is 0-4 at home, 0-1 away and 0-3 at a neutral site vs. the Cougars.
* This is the first meeting between the Utes and the Wolverines of Utah Valley State College.
* The is the first-ever meeting between Utah and Missouri.
QUOTING HEAD COACH Beth Launiere:
On last weekend - "Did I want to come out of that tournament 1-2? No, but we learned a ton and we'll be a better team for it."
On the upcoming Hampton Inn Volleyball Classic - "This is going to be a very competitive Utah Classic. All three teams are very good. Washington State is young, but they have great tradition and any Pac-10 team is good. UVSC was a great junior college program and I fully expect them to be a solid, Division I team. Missouri is obviously nationally ranked. They returned a lot from last year's team that made an NCAA run. I'm glad that we'll face these three teams at Crimson Court. It's going to be an exciting tournament."
USA Today/AVCA Top 25
Sept. 1, 2003
Rank School Total 2003 Last
(1st-place Votes) Points Record Week
1 USC (65) 1625 5-0 1
2 Hawai'i 1550 3-1 2
3 Florida 1492 4-1 3
4 Stanford 1435 3-0 4
5 Nebraska 1334 3-0 7
6 Northern Iowa 1191 2-1 8
7 UC Santa Barbara 1170 1-0 9
8 Pepperdine 1166 2-1 5
9 Penn State 1041 4-0 11
10 Arizona 1006 2-1 10
11 UCLA 1003 2-0 13
12 Georgia Tech 915 3-0 12
13 Minnesota 726 0-3 6
14 Kansas State 689 3-2 15
15 Long Beach State 683 2-0 16
16 Louisville 488 1-2 22
17 North Carolina 430 3-0 20
T-18 Ohio State 397 0-0 18
T-18 Missouri 397 3-0 21
20 Santa Clara 377 1-1 14
21 Notre Dame 362 2-1 NR
22 California 303 2-0 24
23 Washington 295 3-0 NR
24 Wisconsin 261 2-1 17
25 Michigan State 208 3-0 22
Others receiving points and listed on two or more ballots: Pacific 205; Miami -Fla. (90); San Diego (87); Texas A&M (83); Washington State (24); Texas (19); BYU (18); Colorado State (18); Loyola Marymount (13); San Francisco (6).
MWC Standings
Conference Overall
W L Pct. W L Pct.
Air Force 0 0 .000 2 1 .667
BYU 0 0 .000 2 1 .667
Colorado State 0 0 .000 2 1 .667
San Diego State 0 0 .000 2 1 .667
Wyoming 0 0 .000 2 1 .667
UNLV 0 0 .000 1 2 .333
UTAH 0 0 .000 1 2 .333
New Mexico 0 0 .000 0 3 .000
MWC LEADERS:
As a team, the Utes lead the MWC in blocks per game (2.62) and rank third in service aces (2.08).
Individually, Kim Turner leads the conference in blocks per game (1.33), is third in points (5.08) and is tied for sixth in kills per game (4.00). Sophomore Shelly Sommerfeldt is 10th in kills per game, while freshman Amie Toone is eighth in blocks (1.00). Junior setter Kelsie Kartchner is seventh in assists (10.25), and sophomore Danielle Leichliter is tied for fourth in service aces (0.50).
TURNER SELECTED AS PRESEASON MWC PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
Senior Kim Turner, the reigning Co-MWC Player of the Year, was selected by the league's head coaches as the 2003 preseason MWC Player of the Year. The only two-time MWC Tournament MVP in league history, Turner needs five block assists and 435 kills to move into first place all-time in both categories at Utah.
Joining Turner on the preseason all-conference team was junior setter Kelsie Kartchner, who was named the Best Setter at last year's MWC Tournament.
SUNDAY NIGHT SPIKE:
Utah will face Colorado State on live television at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 26, at Moby Arena in Fort Collins, Colo. The match is part of the College Sports Television (CSTV) and American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Sunday Night Spike package.
NEXT WEEK:
The Utes travel to South Bend, Ind., for the Notre Dame Classic, next Friday and Saturday, Sept. 12-13. Utah faces South Carolina at 4:30 p.m. (CDT) on Friday, Sept. 12. On Saturday, Sept. 13, the Utes face No. 21 Notre Dame at 7 p.m. (CDT).
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