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Beth Launiere and the Utes face UNLV and San Diego State this weekend.
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Oct. 13, 2003
SALT LAKE CITY -
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COMING UP:
The Utes (10-6, 4-1), currently in second place in the Mountain West Conference, host UNLV (8-8, 2-3) and San Diego State (12-8, 3-2) this Friday and Saturday, Oct. 17 and 18.
A QUICK LOOK AT UTAH:
Utah defeated Brigham Young 3-1 in Provo last Friday night to improve to 3-1 in MWC play. Utah hit for .226 in the match, while the Cougars combined for a .208 hitting percentage. The Utes also out-blocked BYU 15-10.
Senior All-America candidate Kim Turner led Utah with 16 kills, seven blocks and seven digs. Sophomores Shelly Sommerfeldt and Danielle Leichliter added 14 and 12 kills, respectively. Junior setter Tracy Neumeier, who started and played the majority of the match, dished out 43 assists. She also had seven digs and five blocks. Junior Lyndsey Henderson finished with eight kills and seven blocks, while senior libero Jackie Morrill finished with a match-high 15 digs.
On the season, the Utes are led by Turner, who averages 3.85 kills, 2.32 digs and 1.41 blocks. Sommerfeldt adds 3.80 kills per game, while Morrill averages a team-high 3.34 digs per game. Junior setter Kelsie Kartchner averages 10.26 assists per game, while Neumeier has an 8.54 assists per game average.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION:
UNLV - After needing five games against Air Force (27-30, 30-18, 26-30, 30-15, 15-9) last Thursday, the Rebels swept New Mexico (30-27, 30-20, 30-23) on Saturday. The weekend marked the return of junior setter Nikki King from an ankle injury. The team is 8-3 this season with her as the starting setter.
Leiana Oswald leads the Rebels this season with 4.16 kills and 2.13 digs per match. King averages 11.81 assists per match, while Tarin Keith adds 2.33 digs.
San Diego State -The Aztecs (12-8, 3-2) went 3-0 last week, sweeping New Mexico (30-21, 30-25, 30-18) and Air Force (30-22, 30-22, 30-27) over the weekend. In the win over the Lobos, Megan Schauermann established a new school record for hitting percentage in a three-game match, hitting for .867 with 13 kills on 15 attacks and no errors. San Diego State had defeated Cal State Fullerton earlier in the week.
On the season, the Aztecs are led by Aspen McPartland, who averages 3.91 kills per game. Schauermann boasts a team-high 1.52 blocks per game average, while Sara Engstrom averages 12.19 assists per game. Three players -- McPartland (2.10), Kara Moriarty (2.16) and Robyn Gregg (2.13) -- average 2.00 or more digs per game.
SERIES SHORTS:
* Utah leads the all-time series with UNLV 13-1. The last time the two teams met, on Oct. 26, 2002, Utah won 3-0 at Crimson Court. The Utes are 5-0 at home, 7-1 away and 1-0 at a neutral site vs. the Rebels.
* The Utes trail the all-time series with San Diego State 11-16. The two teams last met on Nov. 22, 2002, in the semifinals of the MWC Tournament, an Utah won 3-0. The Utes are 7-6 at home, 2-10 away and 2-0 at a neutral site against the Aztecs.
QUOTING HEAD COACH Beth Launiere:
On this weekend's matches against UNLV and San Diego State - "Our goal is to win two matches at home this weekend in order to continue towards our goal of a conference championship. We started this season with a blue collar work ethic, and that hasn't changed."
USA TODAY/AVCA TOP 25 OCT. 13, 2003Rank School Total 2003 Last
(1st-place Votes) Points Record Week
1 USC (65) 1,625 16-0 1
2 Hawai'i 1,551 17-1 2
3 Florida 1,504 18-1 3
4 Georgia Tech 1,397 18-0 5
5 California 1,324 16-0 9
6 Pepperdine 1,322 13-2 6
7 Stanford 1,272 13-3 4
8-T Nebraska 1,063 15-2 7
8-T Kansas State 1,063 16-3 12
10 Northern Iowa 1,029 15-2 10
11 UCLA 1,016 13-3 8
12 Washington 913 13-4 13
13 Penn State 822 16-2 11
14 Santa Clara 793 12-6 14
15 Notre Dame 722 14-2 15
16 UC Santa Barbara 563 10-5 19
17 San Diego 504 13-4 18
18 Michigan State 428 11-5 16
19 Loyola Marymount 421 17-3 20
20 Colorado State 369 14-4 22
21 Louisville 278 9-4 17
22 Texas A&M 234 12-5 24
23 Wisconsin 202 12-5 21
24 Pacific 155 10-6 23
25 Cincinnati 123 17-2 NR
Others receiving points and listed on two or more
ballots: Minnesota 82, Michigan 63, Missouri 58,
San Francisco 43, Florida A&M 36, Ohio 23, Illinois 21,
Arkansas 19, Arizona 17, Fresno State 16, UC Irvine 14,
Southwest Missouri State 12, Long Beach State 11,
Utah 8, Maryland 2.
MWC STANDINGS Conference Overall
W L Pct. W L Pct.
Colorado State 5 0 1.000 14 4 .778
UTAH 4 1 .800 10 6 .625
BYU 3 2 .600 13 5 .722
San Diego State 3 2 .600 12 8 .600
Wyoming 2 3 .400 13 7 .650
UNLV 2 3 .400 8 8 .500
Air Force 1 4 .200 10 8 .556
New Mexico 0 5 .000 3 15 .167
MWC LEADERS:
As a team, the Utes rank third in the MWC in blocks per game (2.85), and fourth in assists (13.58), opponent hitting percentage (.197) and digs (12.97).
In conference-only statistics, Utah leads the league in hitting percentage (.280), rank second in assists (14.88), kills (16.65), service aces (2.00) and digs (12.41) and third in opponent hitting percentage (.210).
Individually, Kim Turner ranks second in blocks per game (1.41) and points (4.92), seventh in kills per game (3.85) and ninth in hitting percentage (.292). Sophomore Shelly Sommerfeldt is eighth in kills per game (3.80) and points per game (4.33). Junior Kelsie Kartchner tied for sixth in service aces (0.38) and seventh in assists (10.15). Senior Jackie Morrill is second in digs per game (3.34), while sophomore Danielle Leichliter is third in services aces per game (0.42). Junior Lyndsey Henderson is sixth in blocks per game (1.22).
In conference-only statistics, junior setter Tracy Neumeier ranks third in service aces (0.58) and fourth in assists (12.00). Turner ranks second in points (5.21), third in kills (4.18), tied for sixth in blocks (1.18) and eighth in hitting percentage (.343). Sommerfeldt is sixth in kills (3.88) and points (4.38). Morrill leads the league in digs (3.59), while Leichliter is fifth in service aces (0.50). Kartchner is seventh in assists (7.90) and Henderson is tied for sixth in blocks (1.18).
CLOSING IN:
Senior All-America candidate Kim Turner currently has 1,357 kills on her career, good for second place all-time in the Ute record book. She needs 209 more kills to move into first place (1,566). Turner already ranks first in both total blocks (583) and block assists (516), fourth in block solos (67) and sixth in attempts (2,839).
Junior setter Kelsie Kartchner ranks fourth all-time in assists at Utah. She now has 2,530 on her career.
TURNER PRESEASON MWC PLAYER OF 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. Turner is the only two-time MWC Tournament MVP in league history.
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.
CSTV is currently available nationwide to more than 15 million cable and satellite homes. To find out where CSTV is available in your area, log on to www.CSTV.com, or call your local cable or satellite operator.
TURNER MWC PLAYER OF THE WEEK SEPT. 1-6
Kim Turner was named MWC Player of the Week for Sept. 1-6, marking her ninth career award. Turner was named MVP of the Utah Classic for the third straight year as she helped the Utes capture the championship. In a five-game win vs. Washington State, Turner posted a triple double (15 kills, 15 digs, 11 blocks) and set Classic five-game records with nine block assists and three aces. For the week, Turner hit .284 and averaged 3.55 kills, 2.82 digs and 1.82 blocks per game.
INTERNET AUDIO/VIDEO BROADCASTS:
All of Utah's home matches can be seen and heard on the Internet through live audio and video streaming. To listen/watch, go to: http://155.99.112.235/vball/. You can also go to the volleyball page at www.UtahUtes.com and click on "Watch/Listen to Ute Home Matches Live."
UP NEXT:
The Utes travel to Wyoming and Colorado State next Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 25-26. Saturday's match starts at 7 p.m., while Sunday's nationally-televised match begins at 4 p.m.
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