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Sophomore setter Abby Simmons and the Utes travel to UNLV Thursday for a 6:30 p.m. PT match. All the action will be televised live on The Mtn.
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Sept. 28, 2009
The University of Utah volleyball team plays its first Mountain West Conference road match of this season Thursday at UNLV. First serve from Cox Pavilion is set for 6:30 p.m. PT.
Anne Marie Anderson and Amy Gant will have the call on The Mountain West Sports Network's live telecast.
The Utes enter the match 9-5 overall this season and 3-0 after the first two weekends of MWC action with home wins over Air Force, San Diego State and BYU. Utah has now won 17 straight MWC matches since suffering consecutive defeats at the start of the 2008 league slate.
UNLV is currently 3-8 overall and 2-2 in conference play. The Rebels have lost seven of their last nine matches and own a 1-6 record at Cox Pavilion this season.
Live stats for Thursday's match will be provided by Gametracker and are available on unlvrebels.com. Also, please be sure to follow Utah Volleyball on Twitter at http://twitter.com/utahvolleyball and the Utah Volleyball Blog at http://utahvolleyball.blogspot.com.
Launiere Reaches 400 Victories: After an intense 3-2 win Friday over BYU in the first Deseret First Duel match of the season, Beth Launiere now owns a 400-217 (.648) mark in her 20th season at Utah, the only school at which she has been head coach. After taking over in 1990, the three-time AVCA West Region and MWC Coach of the Year has 63 percent of the program's all-time victories. Launiere is already among the top 50 all-time winningest coaches in NCAA volleyball history.
Last Time Out: Utah took a five-set victory over BYU (19-25, 25-19, 27-29, 31-29, 15-10) last Friday at Crimson Court. Utah held a slight .114 to .110 edge in hitting over the course of the match and three different Utes turned in double-digit-kill performances while four others had double-digit-dig nights.
Utes Love the Small Screen: Utah is 5-0 in televised matches since 2008, including Friday's 3-2 win over BYU, and has dropped only three total sets in those matches. The other four matches include a sweep of the Cougars in Provo in 2008, a third televised victory against BYU at home, and additional home wins over UNLV and TCU.
Utes on the Road: While the Utes are 7-1 at Crimson Court this season, they are just 2-4 in road or neutral-site matches. Utah's two victories came in a five-set win at Utah State (Sept. 8) and a 3-1 neutral-site win over Missouri (Sept. 5) in Orem, Utah.
Sweet 17: After dropping its first two MWC matches last season at then-No. 15 Colorado State (Sept. 18) and at Wyoming (Sept. 20), Utah scorched through the rest of its conference slate with 14 straight victories en route to the sixth conference title in school history and its second NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearance. The Utes extended that conference win streak to 17 with a trio of home wins over Air Force, San Diego State and BYU to start the 2009 league slate. The Utes won 19 conference regular-season matches in a row from Nov. 24, 2005 to Nov. 18, 2006, including a perfect 16-0 mark in MWC play, the only unblemished season in the MWC's 10-year history.
Feeling Streaky: With a win on Thursday at UNLV, the Utes would put together their second four-match win streak of the season and would have an opportunity to establish a season-best five-match win streak at Crimson Court Tuesday, Oct. 6 against in-state rival Weber State.
Filling the Seats: A school-record crowd of 1,747 fans filed into Crimson Court Friday night for Utah's heroic 3-2 win over BYU. In what turned out to be a monumental night, approximately 50 former Ute volleyball players and staff members came together to celebrate the school's 35th anniversary with players from four different eras being introduced between the second and third set. Launiere then capped the night by claiming her 400th career win.
Back to Basics: When out-performing their opponents in fundamental areas of the game (hitting, blocking, and serving), the Utes have established an impressive record early this season. Utah is 9-0 when accumulating a higher hitting percentage, 7-0 when outblocking its opponents, and 5-0 when serving more aces than their opponents.
Bartkowiak Earns Second MWC POW Award in 2009: Karolina Bartkowiak (Aurora, Ill.), a 2008 All-MWC Team honoree and 2009 All-MWC Preseason Team selection, was named the MWC Player of the Week for the second time in her career, the league office announced Monday. Bartkowiak stood out in Utah's five-set victory over BYU as Utah head coach Beth Launiere notched her 400th career victory.
Bartkowiak's 22-kill total currently stands as the third-highest single-match total in the MWC through the first two weekends of league play. She came up with her 22 kills on 39 swings with nine errors for a match-high-tying .333 hitting percentage.
Bartkowiak also turned in a career-high of 17 digs in the back row of the Ute defense for her fourth double-double this season and of her career. She finished the match strong with four kills on only six attempts (.667) in Utah's match-clinching 15-10 victory in the decisive fifth set. The Ute attack came together to hit .300 in the set, its highest single-set mark of the match. Bartkowiak ranks second in the MWC with 3.73 kills and 4.41 points per set and is fifth in hitting percentage at a .342 clip after the first three conference matches of the season. In the overall statistics, Bartkowiak ranks seventh with 3.46 points per set and is eighth with 2.92 kills per set this season.
Hibbert on the Attack: Sarah Hibbert (Anchorage, Alaska) is Utah's top attacker through its first 14 matches this season, leading the team and ranking seventh in the MWC with 2.94 kills per set. Hibbert has set a new career high in kills five times this season, most recently connecting for 21 kills Sept. 8 at Utah State. Hibbert has compiled eight double-digit-kill matches while leading or tying for the Ute team lead in kills six times. In Friday's match against BYU, She had 14 kills and Hibbert doubled her previous personal best with eight blocks. She also added two digs
Sizzling C: Cinthia Silva (San Paulo, Brazil) has arguably been Utah's most versatile player this season. Silva is third on the team in kills (2.25 k/s) and digs (2.10 d/s) and is fifth in blocks (0.69 b/s),
Doubling Up: Bartkowiak, Silva and Simmons have combined for nine double-double performances this season. All three had double-doubles Friday against BYU. All three put together double-doubles for Utah last Friday against BYU with Bartkowiak's 22 kills and 17 digs, Silva's 14 kills and 10 digs, and Simmons' 31 assists and 12 digs. Bartkowiak has three career double-doubles (all coming this season) and just missed the fourth of her career with 12 kills and eight digs Sept.19 against San Diego State.
Splitting the Sets: As part of Utah's 6-2 system, junior Stephanie Neeley (Saugus, Calif.) and Simmons have shared opportunities at the setter position for the Utes this season. Simmons holds a 5.77 assist-per-set average, while Neeley is distributing 5.06 assists per set. Neeley is 75 assists short of tying Cheryl Tye (1983-85) for ninth place on the school's all-time list.
Making the Most of their Swings: The Utes have been opportunistic on the attack so far this season as they lead the league in hitting percentage through their first 14 matches, hitting for a .236 mark, which is .04 ahead of second-place CSU. Chelsey Sandberg (West Jordan, Utah) ranks second in the MWC with a .362 hitting percentage this season, converting 103 kills on 221 attempts with only 23 errors. Utah ranks fourth with 12.50 kills per set, led by Hibbert's 2.94 kill-per-set mark that ranks seventh in the MWC. Bartkowiak follows in eighth among the league leaders with 2.92 kills per set.
The Utes Can Dig It: The Ute defense posted 19 digs per set for a season-high mark in three-set matches (57) in their Sept. 19 sweep of San Diego State, which finished well above the 12.41 digs per set they were averaging entering the match. Junior libero Keisha Fisher (Ririe, Idaho) is fifth in the MWC with 3.73 digs per set and has led or tied for the team lead in digs in all but one match this season. In her second season at the libero position for Utah, the three-year starter has 46 career double-figure-dig performances. Fisher has hit the double-digit mark in her last eight matches.
Chelsey Serves and Blocks: In addition to standing second in the MWC in hitting percentage, Sandberg leads the MWC with a 0.46 service ace per set average thanks to a total of 24 aces in 52 sets this season. Sandberg is second on the Ute squad with a 1.12-block-per-set average that is sixth in the league.
Killpack on the Block: Danielle Killpack (Idaho Falls, Idaho) came up with a career-high nine blocks to lead Utah at the net Friday against BYU. This season, Killpack owns a team-high average of 1.14 blocks per set to tie for fourth place in the MWC statistical rankings. She has led the Utes in blocks four times this season.
Utes in the Polls: Utah was last listed in the AVCA Top-25 Coaches Poll on Sept. 7, receiving 75 votes. Utah also received votes in the Sept. 8 Volleyball Magazine poll. Before Tuesday's match at Crimson Court against then-No. 12 Oregon, the Utes' only match against a ranked opponent was against then-No. 25 Arizona on Sept. 11. The Utes earned a 3-2 win over Cincinnati, which received five votes, on Aug. 29 in Salt Lake City before facing Santa Clara, which received four votes in the poll, last Saturday. Utah's highest ranking in the AVCA Poll this season was No. 17.
Utah Classic All-Tournament Team: As a reward for helping Utah go 3-0 at the season-opening Utah Classic with wins over Arizona State, UC Riverside and Cincinnati, Bartkowiak was named the Tournament MVP while Sandberg and Fisher were named to the all-tournament team.
All-Tournament Team Utes: Sandberg was named to the 2009 La Quinta Inn & Suites All-Tournament Team on Sept. 5 after she averaged 2.55 kills and 1.00 blocks per set in three matches against Utah Valley, Washington State and Missouri. Bartkowiak represented the Utes on the Santa Clara Invitational All-Tournament team with a team-high 3.17 kill-per-set average against then-No. 25 Arizona and Santa Clara.
Scouting UNLV: UNLV started this season 3-8 and has split its first four conference matches before Thursday's contest at BYU. The Rebels have lost seven of their last nine matches and own a 1-6 record on their home court this season. The Rebels do not rank higher than sixth in any of the MWC's team statistics. Their highest ranking is sixth in blocking with a 2.23 per set mark. Reigning MWC Co-Player of the Week Cursty Jackson is UNLV's leading attacker and blocker, averaging 1.03 blocks (eighth in the MWC), and 2.77 kills per set (ninth in the league).
Series Against UNLV: Utah won both of last season season's meetings and have won 19 of 21 meetings since 2000. Overall, the Utes own a commanding 26-3 lead in the all-time series.
Former Ute Kathryn Haynie surpassed 1,000 kills and the Utah volleyball team earned a 3-0 victory (25-13, 25-14, 25-22) against UNLV Oct. 8, 2008 at Crimson Court. Haynie had a match-high 11 kills on 24 swings for a season-high .375 hitting percentage. Utah outhit UNLV .368 to .123 for the match and held an 11-4 edge in blocks.
Haynie then notched the 18th double-double of her career, sixth of the season, to lead Utah to a 3-1 win at UNLV (25-27, 25-17, 25-22, 25-19) Nov. 8, 2008 at the Cox Pavilion.
Utah outhit the Rebels .274 to .162 in the match while hitting better than .210 in each of the final three sets, all victories for the Utes. Meanwhile, the Rebels hit .255 in the opening set, but couldn't hit above .200 for the remainder of the match.
Utes Picked to Win MWC: Utah was selected to repeat as MWC champions in the 2009 Preseason Coaches Poll. In addition, Bartkowiak was named to the Preseason All-MWC Team.
Launiere for President: As of Jan. 1, 2009, Launiere has served as President of the AVCA. Launiere's impact on the sport goes well beyond the court. Since 2004 she has guided volleyball on the national stage as a member of the AVCA Board of Directors.
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