Upcoming Event: Volleyball versus Weber State (Exhibition) on August 15, 2026 at 3:00 P.M.
3:00 P.M.
Volleyball
vs Weber State (Exhibition)
.png&width=31&height=31&type=webp)
The University of Utah Athletics
Volleyball Hosts Air Force, New Mexico
10/26/1999 12:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 26, 1999
Utah vs. Air Force
Oct. 29 * Crimson Court * Salt Lake City * 7:00 p.m.
Utah vs. New Mexico
Oct. 30 * Crimson Court * Salt Lake City * 7:00 p.m.
COMING UP:
Utah travels to UNLV on Thurs., Nov. 4. Match-time is set for 7:00 p.m. (PST). On Sat., Nov. 6, the Utes head to San Diego, to take on the Aztecs of San Diego State at 1:00 p.m. (PST).
A QUICK LOOK AT UTAH:
Utah's overall record is currently 15-6, 5-2 in the MWC. Utah won two-out of three matches last week. On Wed., Oct. 20, the Utes defeated Notre Dame in four games, (15-11, 15-13, 13-15, 15-6). Utah defeated Wyoming on Fri., Oct. 22 in three games, (15-12, 15-7, 15-12) and lost to No. 14 Colorado State in five games, (15-12, 16-14, 7-15, 12-15, 14-16). Possible starters for the Utes in the match-up against Air Force and New Mexico are: Graciela Torres-Lopez (Sr., S), McKelle Stilson (So., MB), Lenka Urbanov? (So., OH), Alisa Geddes (So., OH), Brooke Barton (Jr., OH), Adrianne Bradley (So., OH), or Lucie Turkov? (Jr., DS). Utah's all-time assists leader Graciela Torres-Lopez has added 955 assists thus far to her career total of 4,661. The Utes add four transfers and four true freshmen to this year's roster.
AFTER THIS:
On Fri., Nov. 12, the Utes travel to Provo, Utah to take on in-state rival BYU at 7:00 p.m. Utah will be back in action at home on Fri., Nov. 19 when they take on Mountain West Conference opponent Colorado State at 7:00 p.m. The Utes host the Cowgirls of Wyoming on Sat., Nov. 20 at 7:00 p.m. On Nov. 24-28, Utah will travel to Provo, Utah to compete in the first-ever Mountain West Conference women's volleyball tournament.
Notre Dame MATCH RECAP:
Graciela Torres-Lopez led Utah with her third triple-double of the season as the Utes defeated Notre Dame in four games, 15-11, 15-13, 13-15, 15-6, Wed., Oct. 20. Notre Dame, ranked first in their district and in the Big East, dropped to 10-5 overall, 4-0 in conference play.
Torres-Lopez totaled 12 kills for a .550 hitting percentage, 62 assists, 10 digs and four total blocks. Sophomore transfer Alisa Geddes posted a career-high 23 kills for a .450 hitting percentage and 13 digs. Freshman Katrena Ellett recorded a career-high 14 kills for a career-high .545 hitting percentage. Sophomore transfer Lenka Urbanov? recorded her first double-double of the season, totaling 10 kills and 11 digs. Utah sophomore McKelle Stilson posted 10 kills and six total blocks. Adrainne Bradley added 10 kills in the win. As a team, the Utes hit .278 in the match.
Notre Dame was led by Marcie Bomhack who had 16 kills for a .353 hitting percentage and six total blocks. Mary Leffers totaled 12 kills and eight total blocks, while teammate Emily Schiebout posted 15 digs. Denise Boylan added 45 assists in the match. The Irish hit .201 as a team.
Wyoming MATCH RECAP:
Utah defeated Mountain West Conference opponent Wyoming in three games, 15-12, 15-7, 15-12, Fri., Oct. 22. Wyoming fell to 8-12 overall, 2-4 in conference play.
Middle blocker McKelle Stilson led the Utes with 16 kills for a .481 hitting percentage and four total blocks. Sophomore transfer Alisa Geddes posted 12 kills and eight digs, respectively. Brooke Barton led the team with 11 digs, while Adrianne Bradley added 10 digs. Freshman Brenda Beal posted four kills for a .667 hitting percentage. Senior setter Graciela Torres-Lopez totaled 35 assists. As a team, the Utes hit .263 in the match.
Wyoming was led by Jamie Burke who had 16 kills for a .313 hitting percentage, seven digs and three total blocks. Rachel Lau totaled 10 kills for a .474 hitting percentage, while teammate Brooke Lowry posted 30 assists and 11 digs. Wyoming hit .174 as a team.
Colorado State MATCH RECAP:
Utah battled with Colorado State on Sat., Oct. 23 and lost in five games, 15-12, 16-14, 7-15, 12-15, 14-16. Colorado State improved to 19-1 overall, 6-1 in conference play.
Middle blocker McKelle Stilson led the Utes with 20 kills for a .311 hitting percentage and eight total blocks. Sophomore transfer Alisa Geddes posted 18 kills and led the team with a career-high 26 digs. Lenka Urbanov? totaled a career-high 13 kills and 11 digs. Adrianne Bradley had 11 kills and 15 digs, while Brooke Barton added 16 digs. Senior setter Graciela Torres-Lopez totaled 56 assists. As a team, the Utes hit .175 in the match.
Colorado State was led by Angela Knopf who had 23 kills, 19 digs and six total blocks. Teammate Catie Vagneur also added 23 kills and totaled 11 digs and five total blocks. Courtney Cox posted 19 kills, 13 digs and five total blocks. Allison Peckham posted 67 assists and 16 digs in the match. Colorado State hit .183 as a team.
SCOUTING Air Force:
The Air Force women's volleyball team continued its mid-season dominance, winning its last three matches. Currently, Air Force has an overall record of 16-5, 4-3 in the MWC. The Falcons defeated MWC opponent San Diego State in four games, 15-6, 11-15, 15-2, 16-14, Fri., Oct. 22 at home. On Sat., Oct. 23, Air Force shut-down UNLV, losing the first game 9-15, and winning the next three, 15-6, 17-15, 15-5. Air Force returns five starters from last year's team, which posted a 9-17 overall record, 2-12 in the WAC. Brooke Effland leads the team in kills, averaging 3.86 kills per game and leads the Falcons with 3.34 digs per game. Teammate Shaylor Billings averages 3.69 KPG and averages 1.47 digs per game. Summer Koons averages 2.75 kills per game and leads Air Foce with 1.38 blocks per game. Tharommony In has posted 903 assists this season, averaging 12.37 APG. Head Coach Penny Lucas-White enters her 3rd year at the helm for the Falcons. Lucas-White has compiled a 9-51 record at Air Force and a 104-131 career record.
SCOUTING New Mexico:
The Lobos took on Mountain West Conference opponent UNLV, Fri., Oct. 22 and won in four games (15-13, 15-11, 8-15, 15-7) The win against UNLV ended New Mexico's eight match losing streak. On Sat., Oct. 23, New Mexico defeated San Diego State at home, 3-1 (15-5, 11-15, 15-12, 15-5). New Mexico is currently 7-17 overall, 2-5 in the MWC. Senior outside hitter, Amber Smith leads the Lobos in kills with 282, averaging 3.62 KPG. Smith also leads the team in digs, averaging 2.42 digs per game. In 1998, Smith finished the season with 292 kills, adding 258 digs defensively. Junior transfer Micaela Conley is currently second on the team in kills, averaging 3.06 KPG. Conley averages 2.83 digs per game. Senior setter, Janelle Torres averages 8.83 assists per game. Last year, Torres totaled 1,080 assists. New Mexico returns three starters from last year's team that went 9-18 overall and 3-11 in the WAC. Head Coach Laurel Brassey Iversen begins her 14th season at New Mexico. Brassey Iversen has compiled a 244-166 career record.
SERIES SHORTS:
The Utes lead the series with Air Force 3-0. Earlier this season, Utah defeated the Falcons 3-2, (11-15, 9-15, 15-8, 15-7, 15-13. New Mexico leads the all-time series with Utah, 24-22. On Oct. 1, the Utes defeated the Lobos in Albuquerque, in four games, (15-9, 13-15, 15-9, 15-13).
THE NEW MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE:
Utah and seven other schools broke away from the WAC to form the new Mountain West Conference. Joining the Utes in the nation's newest conference are: Air Force, Brigham Young, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV and Wyoming. The Utes opened their conference schedule on October 1st 1999.
HEAD COACH BETH LAUNIERE:
In her tenth season, Beth Launiere has not only resurrected the Ute volleyball program and turned it into a consistent winner, she has also guided Utah to unprecedented success on the national level.
Under Launiere's leadership, Utah made its first-ever appearance in 1999 and advanced to the second round. It is the crowning achievement of Launiere's tenure at Utah, in which she has posted a 173-134 (.564) career record.
The winningest coach in school history, Launiere has overseen a significant transformation since her arrival in 1990. In the last five years alone, Launiere has guided the Utes to four 20-win seasons and five upper division finishes in the Western Athletic Conference.
QUOTING LAUNIERE:
On the Notre Dame match- "I think that was our best match of the season against a quality opponent. We made adjustments and took advantage of their weaknesses. We've got eight newcomers on the team and we're trying to find a line-up that fits. The line-up that we used against Notre Dame felt pretty good all week and we're going to try it out for a while. We've got a lot of depth in all of our positions right now and we're playing a lot of kids."
On the Wyoming match- "This was a really good win for us and I felt we were in control of the match the whole time. We are starting to come together as a team and with the amount of subs I'm using right now, I'm pleased with that. It's never an easy win on the road and we played very well against Wyoming."
On the Colorado State match- "It's always tough to play on the road, but this was an extremely even match. Both teams battled thoughout the match and we played tough, I'm happy that we didn't just give them the win, we made them earn it. We didn't let up, they just came up with two extra points in the final game to win the match."
On the upcoming Air Force and New Mexico matches- 'Air Force is going to be a tough match, they are playing great volleyball. I felt fortunate to get out of there with a win the last time we played them. It's a big match for us and they are a very expereinced team. New Mexico won their last two matches and it's obvious that they are playing better. We didn't have an easy match when we went down there and every match from here on out is an imporant one, that's the bottom line."
MWC PRE-SEASON POLL:
In a survey of the Mountain West Conference coaches before the season, Utah, which received votes in the preseason national poll, was picked to finish third. Brigham Young was the unanimous favorite in the poll, with Colorado State projected to be the MWC runner-up. BYU entered the season ranked No. 7 in the nation, while Colorado State climbed into the preseason national poll at No. 24.
STILSON LEADS UTAH:
Sophomore middle blocker McKelle Stilson leads Utah's offense and plays a key role in the defense as well. In 17 out of 21 matches, Stilson has posted double figures in kills. Stilson currently leads Utah with 287 total kills. She averages 3.73 kills per game and currently posts a .317 hitting percentage. Stilson is also a threat to any opponent's offense. She has racked up 11 block solos and 87 blocks assists, for 98 total blocks to date. Stilson leads the team, averaging 1.27 blocks per game. Earlier this season, Stilson posted a career-high 25 kills for a .435 hitting percentage and eight total blocks vs. California. Stilson has posted 20-plus kills in four matches this season. On Oct. 5, she was named the Mountain West Conference's Volleyball Athlete of the Week.
MWC STATISTICAL LEADERS:
Utah as a team leads the conference in digs, averaging 16.15 DPG. The Utes are currently third in kills (16.42 KPG), assists (14.46 APG). Utah is third with a .211 team hitting percentage, fourth in blocks (2.69 BPG) and seventh in service aces (1.46 SAPG). Individually, Utah ranks among some of the best in the conference. Senior co-captain, Graciela Torres-Lopez is currently third in the MWC in assists, averaging 12.73 assists per game. Torres-Lopez ranks eighth in the conference with a .278 hitting percentage. Sophomore transfer, Alisa Geddes currently ranks third in the MWC in digs, averaging 3.22 digs per game. Adrianne Bradley is fifth in digs, averaging 2.92 digs per game. McKelle Stilson currently ranks sixth in the conference in blocks, averaging 1.27 blocks per game and seventh in kills, averaging 3.73 kills per game. Stilson is seventh in the conference with a .317 hitting percentage.
Player Notes:
In 11 out of 18 matches, sophomore transfer Alisa Geddes has recorded double figures in digs. She has posted 20-plus digs in two matches this season. In 13 out of 21 matches, Geddes has posted double figures in kills. Geddes posted a career-high 23 kills Oct. 20, 1999 vs. Notre Dame. In 11 out of 18 matches, outside hitter Adrianne Bradley had totaled double figures in kills. In 10 out of 21 matches, Bradley has posted double figures in digs. Bradley recorded a career-high 19 kills and 19 digs Sept. 10 vs. Georgia. Freshman Brenda Beal posted a career-high 19 kills vs. California on Sept. 25. Beal posted a career-high .778 hitting percentage (7-0-9) on Sept. 11 vs. George Mason. Junior Brooke Barton recorded a career-high 14 kills and a career-high .478 hitting percentage, Oct. 8 vs. San Diego State. Senior setter Graciela Torres-Lopez has recorded three triple-doubles so far this season. On Sept. 7 vs. Weber State, Torres-Lopez posted 10 kills, 60 assists and 11 digs. On Sept. 17 vs. Pepperdine, Torres-Lopez totaled 12 kills, 60 assists and 16 digs. Torres-Lopez recorded 12 kills, 62 assists, and 10 digs on Oct., 20 vs. Notre Dame. In 10 out of 20 matches, Torres-Lopez has posted double figures in digs.
Trick-or-Treat With The Utah Volleyball Team:
Come join the University of Utah women's volleyball team in a howling good time trick-or-treating after the match against New Mexico, Sat., Oct. 30. This is a chance for local youngsters to meet the Utes and join in the fun at Crimson Court. Don't miss out on your chance to go trick-or-treating with the University of Utah women's volleyball team.
Get to know new Utah Volleyball Head Coach Alyssa D'Errico.
Wednesday, December 10
Utah Volleyball Press Conference - 12.10.25
Wednesday, December 10
ESPN+ Feature | Utah Volleyball's Leah Wilton-LaBoy
Thursday, November 20
ESPN+ Feature | Utah Volleyball's Devyn Weist
Thursday, November 06