Sept. 15, 2008

Colorado State/Wyoming Match Notes

The Utah volleyball team (7-2) begins its Mountain West Conference schedule on the road Thursday at No. 15 Colorado State and Saturday at Wyoming. First serve for both matches is set for 7 p.m.

MWC History

The Utes went 9-7 in MWC play last season and advanced all the way to the championship match of the conference tournament. Utah owns an impressive all-time record in the conference regular season, going 102-30 (.772) since the MWC's inaugural season in 1999. Head coach Beth Launiere ranks second among all active MWC coaches in career conference victories.

Last Week

The Utes went 2-1 at their own tournament, the Utah Classic, last weekend at Crimson Court. Utah started the tournament with back-to-back 3-0 victories, defeating Utah State and Saint Louis. The Utes dropped a five-set match to then-No. 15 Purdue in the tournament finale.

Emillie Toone (American Fork, Utah) not only registered nine kills in each of Utah's three matches, but also hit at least .500 on the attack against Utah State and Saint Louis. Against Utah State, Toone tied for match-high honors with a .571 hitting percentage (minimum five attempts) and also led the Utes with five blocks. Against Saint Louis, Toone needed only 16 attempts to put down nine kills and again had a match-high .500 hitting percentage (minimum five attempts) to go along with three blocks.

Scouting Colorado State

Utah will begin its conference shedule by playing the country's 15th-ranked team for the second consecutive match, this time on the road against Colorado State. The Rams are fresh off three consecutive victories in the Coors Rocky Mountain Challenge. CSU beat Colorado, 3-1 in Boulder, Colo., then swept both North Carolina (25-23, 25-23, 25-14) and then-No. 8 Florida (26-24, 25-16, 25-14) at home. The Rams currently enjoy a 19-match win streak in Moby Arena.

The Rams are led on the attack this season by Jaime Strauss and Mekana Barnes. Strauss averages 3.23 kills per set, while Barnes is just .11 kills per set behind (3.12) and boasts a .351 hitting percentage, totaling 100 kills on only 194 attempts. Reigning MWC Player of the Week Katelyn Steffan emerged last weekend with 30 kills in three matches against Colorado (11), North Carolina (8), and then-No. 8 Florida (11).

Heading into this year's conference-opening match for both teams, Utah trails the all-time series, 45-23. In their last meeting, the Utes defeated the Rams in the semifinal round of the MWC Tournament in Las Vegas, Nev., 3-2, thanks to 20 kills and 15 digs from Kathryn Haynie (North Salt Lake City, Utah).

Scouting Wyoming

Wyoming is 1-8 this season with a 1-2 mark at home in the UniWyo Sports Complex. The Cowgirls snapped their season-opening eight-match losing streak with a 3-0 win over Cleveland State Saturday. Wyoming hosts No. 24 BYU Thursday night.

Dani Bedore leads the Cowgirl attack with 2.83 kills per set and is third on the team in attack proficiency with a .205 hitting percentage. Lauren Whitney averages 2.63 kills per set, while JennaRae Jester has 0.60 blocks per set.

The Utes maintain a 39-23 edge in the all-time series.

Classic Performances

Toone and Lori Baird (Murray, Utah) represented the Utes on the 2008 Utah Classic All-Tournament team last weekend. Toone had 2.45 kills per set to go along with 10 blocks in Utah's three matches. Baird led the team in kills and blocks during the event with 2.55 kills and 1.00 block per set to go along with 22 digs and a pair of service aces. Baird had 13 kills and five blocks in Friday's win over Utah State, while Toone was a model of consistency, pounding down exactly nine kills in each contest of the event.

Home Victory Milestones

Utah is also closing in on its 100th home win at Crimson Court since 2000. The Utes have posted a 98-16 record for a .860 winning percentage.

Digging It

Utah's back row players kept busy against No. 15 Purdue Saturday. Libero Keisha Fisher (Ririe, Idaho) and setter Stephanie Shardlow (Saugus, Calif.) totaled 19 digs apiece. Nineteen digs was a career-high for Shardlow, who set her previous career-best mark of 17 in the MWC Tournament against UNLV on Nov. 24, 2007. Fisher set a new season-best with her performance. The sophomore from Ririe, Idaho came up with a career-high 22 digs against the Boilermakers on Sept. 1, 2007.

A Helping Hand

Shardlow dished out a career-high 52 assists in Utah's 3-1 win at New Mexico State, Sept. 7. The sophomore leads the team with 272 total assists this season for a 10.46 assist-per-set average. Shardlow coordinated the Ute attack with 102 assists in three matches during the Utah Classic last weekend, and also tied for the team high with three service aces.

Approaching Club 1,000

Kathryn Haynie and Lori Baird are both close to becoming the next members of Utah's 1,000-kill club. Both had more than 800 career kills in their first three seasons with the Utes. Nine matches into their respective senior seasons, Baird holds a slight edge with 989 kills in 399 sets for a 2.48 kills-per-set average, while Haynie has 955 kills in 269 career sets for a 3.55 kill-per-set mark.

Baird Among The Nation's Best

Baird was one of only 22 players from around the country selected to participate in the U.S. Women's Senior A2 National Team program this past offseason. Baird has earned honorable mention recognition on the AVCA's All-West Region team and All-Mountain West Conference honors each of the last two seasons.

Toone On The Block

Toone recently moved into sole possession of second place on the school's career total blocks list, moving past Sheila Cottrell-Sorenson (482 from 1982-86). The redshirt senior currently has 518 career blocks and is tied for the team lead with 36 this season at 1.16 blocks per set and needs 72 more to become Utah's all-time leader.

Utah Receiving Votes

The Utes received 31 votes in the latest 2008 CBS College Sports Network/AVCA Division I Coaches Top-25 Poll. Two other MWC teams were recognized, as Colorado State moved up to 15th and BYU was 24th.

Utes Picked Second In MWC Preseason Poll

Utah accumulated 95 points and was picked to finish second in the 2008 MWC Preseason Coaches Poll.