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The University of Utah Athletics
Utes Open Season With Northern Iowa
8/31/1999 12:00 AM | Volleyball
Aug. 31, 1999
The University of Utah women's volleyball team opens its 1998 season, hosting Northern Iowa of the Missouri Valley Conference on Wednesday (Sept. 1) at 7:00 p.m. at Crimson Court.
A QUICK LOOK AT UTAH
With three starters, two letterwinners and a redshirt freshman returning, along with the addition of eight talented newcomers, the 1999 squad has aspirations to challenge for the Mountain West crown. That optimism begins with its head coach and has been legitimized by her peers. The Utes received 24 votes to place just outside the top-25 in the USA Today/AVCA preseason poll.
The majority of the 1999 team will be made of newcomers. Utah brings in four freshmen and four sophomore transfers. Two have played in Division I programs, one in a junior college, and one overseas. The new crop of recruits will be young, but not inexperienced.
The returners picked up some individual recognition last season. Lucie Turkov? was named first-team all-Western Athletic Conference Pacific Division defensive specialist last season. She also earned academic all-WAC honors.
McKelle Stilson broke the WAC single-match hitting percentage record for a conference match with an .813 percentage against San Jose State, recording 13 kills and no errors in 16 attempts.
Brooke Barton ranked fifth in the WAC in service aces last season (0.43) and earned academic all-WAC honors. She also was a second-team all-WAC Mountain Division defensive specialist in 1996.
Graciela Torres ranked fifth in the WAC in assists (12.81) and 17th in service aces (0.30) last season. She is Utah's all-time leader in assists with 3,706. Jen Snow-Richards also earned academic all-WAC honors last season.
SCOUTING NORTHERN IOWA
The Panthers, which, like the Utes open their season on Wednesday. Northern Iowa returns four starters and seven letterwinners from last year's team that went 25-3 overall and captured the Missouri Valley Conference Championship with an 18-0 record.
Senior Holly VanHofwegen (6-1) anchors the middle after hitting .257 and averaging 1.60 blocks per game last season.
1998 Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, Shannon Perry posted 12.05 assists, 2.24 digs and .29 aces per game last season.
Head Coach Iradge Ahrabi-Fard begins his 17th season at Northern Iowa with a 444-136 career record.
SERIES SHORTS
THE SCHEDULE
Before Utah gets into its challenging Mountain West Conference schedule, it must first play a very competitive non-conference schedule in September.
With three tournaments against some top-notch teams, Utah will have its hands full in the early part of the season. After opening up with Northern Iowa at Crimson Court on Sept. 1, Utah participates in the Texas Tech Tournament, Sept. 3-4.
The Utes will be back in action at home on Sept. 7 vs. Weber State, but hit the road Sept. 10-11 to play in the Illini Classic in Champaign, Ill. Following two home stands and one match on the road, Utah will face Stanford and California at the Mountain West/Pac-10 Challenge, Sept. 24-25 in Palo Alto, Calif.
Utah's 1999 schedule includes eight matches against six teams that competed in the 1998 NCAA Tournament. The Utes will face Illinois, Notre Dame, Stanford, and Texas Tech during the non-conference season, and Brigham Young, and Colorado State twice each during the Mountain West Conference portion of their schedule.
Brigham Young advanced to the East regional finals, while Stanford made it to the Mountain regional semifinals. Colorado State, Illinois, and Notre Dame all advanced to the second round.
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 open their conference schedule in October. Many believe it will be one of the more competitive conferences in the nation.
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 158-128 (.552) 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 season opener with Northern Iowa- "I think we have our work cut out for us because this is a team that won their conference last year, went to the NCAA Tournament and returns five starters. I think they've got a big edge on us right out of the gate. It's going to be a big challenge for us and I'm glad we've got them at home. I'm also glad we played an Alumni match because we worked out a few bugs. I think we have the talent, but its just going to take some time to put it all together."
TORRES MOVING UP THE CAREER CHARTS
Graciela Torres (S, 5-8, Sr.) is Utah's all-time leader in assists with 3,706. She broke the mark against Illinois State (Dec. 4) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Torres ranks seventh in the WAC in career assists, but will not be able to move up the list any further since Utah is now affiliated with the new Mountain West Conference.
Torres ranked fifth in the WAC in assists last season (12.81) and 17th in service aces (0.30).
STILSON MAKES HER MARK
McKelle Stilson (MB, 6-1, So.) ranked fifth in the WAC in blocks last season (1.32). Stilson broke the WAC single-match hitting percentage record for a conference match with a .813 percentage against San Jose State on Nov. 17, 1998. She had 13 kills and no errors in 16 attempts.
MWC PRE-SEASON POLL
In a survey of the Mountain West Conference coaches before the season, the University of 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 enters the season ranked No. 7 in the nation, while Colorado State climbed into the preseason national poll at No. 24.
1999 Mountain West Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll
School National Rank 1. BYU No. 7 2. Colorado State No. 24 3. Utah received 24 votes 4. UNLV received 1 vote 5. Wyoming 6. New Mexico 7. San Diego State 8. Air Force
Utah probable starters
No. Name Yr. Pos. 2 Graciela Torres Sr. S 3 McKelle Stilson So. MB 4 Jen Snow-Richards Jr. OH 12 Katrena Ellett Fr. MB 14 Brooke Barton Jr. OH 16 Adrianne Bradley So. OH OR 8 Lucie Turkov? Jr. DS/S
Utah Roster
No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. Exp. Hometown (Previous School) 2 Graciela Torres S 5-8 Sr. 3L Santa Rosa, Calif. (Ursaline HS) 3 McKelle Stilson MB 6-1 So. 1L/RS Orangeville, Utah (Emery HS) 4 Jen Snow-Richards OH 6-0 Jr. 2L Salt Lake City (Highland HS) 5 Brenda Beal MB 6-1 Fr. HS Emmett, Idaho (Emmett HS) 6 Jade Millo DS 5-0 Fr. HS Salt Lake City, Utah (East HS) 7 Megan Anderson MB 6-1 Fr. RS Boise, Idaho (Boise HS) 8 Lucie Turkov? DS/S 5-9 Jr. 2L Brno, Czech Republic (Taylorsville HS) 9 Lenka Urbanov? OH 6-1 So. TR Prague, Czech Republic (Olymp Praha) 10 Amber Fish OH 5-11 So. TR Provo, Utah (Ricks JC) 11 Tera Henriksen OH 5-11 Fr. HS Las Vegas, Nev. (Cimarron Memorial HS) 12 Katrena Ellett MB 6-1 r. HS Taylorsville, Utah (Cyprus HS) 13 Alisa Geddes OH 5-11 So. TR Escondido, Calif. (Cal State Fullerton) 14 Brooke Barton OH 5-10 Jr. 2L/RS Farmington, Utah (Davis HS) 16 Adrienne Bradley OH 6-2 So. TR Castle Dale, Utah (Hawaii)
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