Oct. 13, 2008

BYU Match Notes

SALT LAKE CITY - The University of Utah volleyball team (13-4, 5-2 MWC) heads to Provo, Utah for a Deseret First Duel match against Brigham Young Friday at 7 p.m. The Utes are enjoying the momentum of a six-match winning streak, their longest of the season, while the Cougars are in the midst of a four-match losing streak. The match will be televised live on BYU-TV.

Last Week

The Utes swept a pair of Mountain West Conference matches at Crimson Court, defeating UNLV and San Diego State. The Utes got a 3-0 win against UNLV last Thursday. Utah earned its sixth consecutive victory with a 3-1 win Saturday against San Diego State. The Utes have won all three of their MWC matches at home this season and improved to 7-1 at Crimson Court overall.

Scouting BYU

BYU is 9-7 this season with a 2-5 mark in MWC play. The Cougars won two of their first three conference matches, but have lost each of their lost four contests. BYU is holding their opponents to a .166 hitting percentage this year, and outblocking their foes, 2.75 to 2.00. Rachel Dyer leads BYU in hitting percentage (minimum 100 attempts), and blocks per set. Dyer, a senior middle blocker from Encinitas, Calif., is tied for the team-high in service aces per set and is hitting .340 in 55 sets, a 1.09 block-per-set average. Dyer is also tied for team-high mark with 0.31 service aces per set to go along with 2.40 kills per set. Libero Morgan Loyd has a team-high 162 digs this season for a 2.95 dig-per-set average.

Common Opponents

The Utes and Cougars share eight common opponents so far this season. BYU is 3-5 in those matches, with 3-0 victories over Utah State, Wyoming and Air Force and has suffered defeats against Colorado State, New Mexico, TCU, San Diego State, and UNLV. Utah is 6-2 this year against the shared foes. The Utes dropped back-to-back MWC road matches at CSU and Wyoming, but picked up wins against Utah State, Air Force, TCU, New Mexico, UNLV and SDSU.

Series History

The Utes trail the all-time series with BYU, 56-21. Last year's sweep at the hands of the Cougars interrupted a four-match win streak in the rivalry Utah enjoyed from Nov. 4, 2005 to Oct. 24, 2006.

Deseret First Duel Continues

Friday night's matchup between Utah and BYU will mark the second contest of the 2008-09 Deseret First Duel rivalry series.

The rivalry series includes competition in the 12 sports the two universities compete in head-to-head during regular-season play. The Deseret First Duel will use a system that awards points to the winner of each head-to-head competition. A team trophy will be awarded to the individual winner of each sport. Points won by the individual sports will count toward each school's overall total. A granite traveling trophy will be awarded to the overall series champion each year. Fans can follow the series at http://utahutes.cstv.com/ot/duel-home.html.

Haynie Joins 1,000-kill Club

Kathryn Haynie (North Salt Lake City, Utah) reached 1,000 career kills with a match-high 11 kills on 24 swings for a season-high .375 hitting percentage Thursday against UNLV. Haynie is the 11th member of Utah's exclusive 1,000-kill club, joining teammate Lori Baird (Murray, Utah). Baird was named the MWC Player of the Week on Oct. 6 after leading Utah to a trio of road wins.

Two Of A Kind

Haynie and Baird are the first set of Ute teammates to have more than 1,000 career kills at the same time in school history. Baird joined the 1,000-kill club Sept. 18, 2008, at No. 15 Colorado State. She is currently ninth on the school's all-time kills, passing Sheila Cottrell-Sorenson for ninth on the school's career kills list.

Blocking Utes

The Utes rank third in the country in blocking, with 2.96 team blocks per set. The reigning MWC Co-Player of the Week, Emillie Toone (American Fork, Utah), leads the way, coming up with 1.38 blocks per set to rank second in the MWC and 14th in the nation. Toone has seven block solos and 76 block assists in 60 sets this season and is currently second on the school's all-time block assist list (514) and total blocks list (565). Toone needs 75 block assists and 105 total blocks to tie school records held by Kim Turner (2000-03).

Baird is right behind Toone in both blocking categories, currently occupying third place on both the school's block assist and total blocks lists. Baird has 556 total blocks in her career and is just five block solos and nine total blocks behind Toone for second place on the Utah's all-time list. Baird is fifth among MWC players in blocking, and 19th in the nation, with 1.34 blocks per set.

Model Of Efficiency

Toone has been the most efficient attacker in the MWC this season. Her .415 hitting percentage leads the conference and is 14th in the country. Toone is third on the team with 137 kills, but has committed only 24 attack errors on 272 swings.

All In The Family

The brother of third-year Utah assistant coach Heather Olmstead, Sean Olmstead, is in his first season as an assistant coach at BYU, serving as the recruiting, video and defensive coordinator for the Cougars.

Hibbert Gets The Nod

Saturday's match against San Diego State signaled the first career start for Sarah Hibbert (Anchorage, Alaska). The freshman outside hitter totaled two new career highs with four kills with nine digs to go along with one block against the Aztecs. Hibbert is averaging 0.77 kills per set with 1.23 digs per set in 13 sets, appearing in eight matches during her first season with the Utes.

It's All In How You Start

In 11 of Utah's 13 victories this season, the Utes have won the first set. Utah is 2-4 when it doesn't come up with a first-set victory, but has come away with two consecutive wins in that situation after coming back for wins at Weber State and against San Diego State.

Utah Receiving Votes

The Utes received 23 votes in the latest 2008 CBS College Sports Network/AVCA Division I Coaches Top-25 Poll. Colorado State is the only MWC school ranked in the poll, appearing 13th.

Utah Picked Second In MWC Preseason Poll

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