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Sept. 30, 2002
SALT LAKE CITY -
THIS WEEK:
No. 20 Utah (11-4, 1-1) will play its first home conference matches of the season this weekend. The Utes host New Mexico on Friday, Oct. 4, and Air Force on Saturday, Oct. 5. Both matches start at 7:00 p.m. in Crimson Court.
REVIEWING LAST WEEK:
Utah fell in three games to Olymp Praha, a professional team from the Czech Republic, in an exhibition match last Wednesday. The Utes opened conference play on the road with a four-game win at UNLV last Friday before falling in five games to San Diego State on Sunday.
Senior Sylva StrzinkovA was one block shy of a triple-double against UNLV. She finished with 21 kills, 12 digs and nine blocks.
USA Today/AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll
Rank School Total 2002 Last
(1st-place Votes) Points Record Week
1 USC (55) 1611 10-0 1
2 Hawai'i (9) 1553 11-0 2
3 Florida 1471 12-1 3
4 Stanford (1) 1439 12-1 4
5 Nebraska 1392 11-1 5
6 Minnesota 1242 15-2 8
7 UC Santa Barbara 1241 13-0 10
8 Long Beach State 1150 11-1 6
9 Penn State 1149 12-1 9
10 Northern Iowa 963 13-2 7
11 North Carolina 917 13-1 15
12 Pepperdine 783 7-5 14
13 UCLA 733 9-5 17
14 Wisconsin 659 10-3 13
15 Santa Clara 617 11-2 19
16 Ohio State 550 6-5 11
17 Arizona 546 6-5 12
18 Eastern Washington 498 15-0 22
19 Washington State 449 11-2 18
20 Utah 382 11-4 16
21 Missouri 325 13-1 NR
22 Michigan State 287 9-3 21
23 Georgia Tech 213 16-2 25
24 Arizona State 197 6-2 NR
25 Texas A&M 193 10-3 20
Others receiving points and listed on two or more ballots: Pacific (123), San Diego (112), South Carolina (98), California (62), Illinois (51), Texas (29), Nevada (17), Washington (14), Kansas (9), Louisville (8), Fresno State (7), Indiana (5), Notre Dame (5), Colorado (2), Bradley (2). Five teams mentioned on only one ballot for a total of 21 combined points.
MWC Standings
Conference Overall
W L Pct. W L Pct.
San Diego State 2 0 1.000 11 7 .611
Colorado State 1 0 1.000 9 6 .600
New Mexico 1 0 1.000 6 8 .429
Utah 1 1 .500 11 4 .733
BYU 1 1 .500 6 9 .400
Air Force 0 1 .000 6 9 .400
Wyoming 0 1 .000 14 2 .875
UNLV 0 2 .000 4 11 .267
SERIES SHORTS:
* The Utes lead the all-time series with New Mexico 28-24. The last time the two teams met, on Nov. 15, 2001, Utah won 3-0, at the Mountain West Tournament in Provo, Utah. The Utes are 13-9 at home, 11-14 away and 4-3 at a neutral site vs. the Lobos.
* Utah is undefeated all-time vs. Air Force (8-0). In their last meeting on Oct. 27, 2001, the Utes won 3-0 in Colorado Springs. The Utes are 4-0 at home and 4-0 away against Air Force.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION:
New Mexico
The Lobos (6-8) are coming off five consecutive wins (all at home), most recently over New Mexico State and Air Force. New Mexico is led by Anna Reines with a 3.62 kills per game average. Setter Monica Meihack is averaging 10.33 assists per game, while Blaire Burns leads the team with a 3.04 digs per game average. The Lobos are hitting .199 as a team.
Air Force
The Falcons (6-9) fell at New Mexico on Saturday in three games. Junior outside hitter Delvane Diaz leads both the team and the league in kills with a 4.32 average. Setter Kristin Huitt averages a team-high 11.76 assists and 2.44 digs. The Falcons are being out-hit .267 to .233 by their opponents.
MWC LEADERS:
As a team, Utah leads the MWC in opponent hitting percentage (.149) and blocks per game (3.55). The Utes also rank second in assists per game (13.76). In conference matches, the Utes rank second in all three categories.
Individually, sophomore Lyndsey Phillips leads the conference in blocks per game (1.63), while junior Kim Turner ranks third (1.56). Turner also ranks sixth in kills per game (3.60) and tied for 12th in service aces (0.31). Senior captain Sylva Strzinková ranks third in the league in kills per game (3.96), sixth in service aces (0.35), 12th in digs per game (2.48) and 13th in hitting percentage (.271). Junior Jackie Morrill is sixth in digs per game with a 2.96 average and sophomore Kelsie Kartchner is fourth in service aces (0.43).
HOME SWEET HOME:
Heading into this weekend's matches against New Mexico and Air Force, the Utes have a 23-match home winning streak that dates back to the 2000 season. Utah, 6-0 at Crimson Court this season, went 15-0 at home last year and won its last two home matches of the 2000 season. The Utes' last loss at Crimson Court came on Nov. 19, 2000, when they fell to Colorado State 3-1.
MILESTONE WATCH:
Kim Turner ranks fourth all-time in block assists (346), just seven away from third place, and fifth place all-time in total blocks (391). With 198 kills on the season, she needs just 133 more to join the 1,000-kill club.
Sylva Strzinková, the team leader in kills this season, could finish her career in the top 10 in all-time kills at Utah, despite the fact that she will have only played two seasons for the Utes. Strzinková notched 406 kills last season, and at her current pace, would finish with 461 kills this season (based on the 17 additional matches the team is guaranteed this season; there is a definite possibility of playing more than 17 matches). At that rate, she would finish with 867 kills on her career, just 20 shy of the No. 10 all-time, Mikki Kane-Barton, who had 887 (also in just two years).
NEXT WEEK:
The Utes host conference rival Brigham Young on Friday, Oct. 11, at 7:00 p.m.
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