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)
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The University of Utah Athletics
Utah Volleyball Opens Conference Play
9/28/1999 12:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 28, 1999
SALT LAKE CITY - Utah travels to Albuquerque, N.M., Fri., Oct. 1, to take on the Lobos of New Mexico at 7:00 p.m. The Utes are on the road again, Sat., Oct. 2, when they take on Air Force in Colorado Springs, Colo. at 7:00 p.m.
A QUICK LOOK AT UTAH:
The Utes played two big matches over the weekend. Utah lost in three games (1-15, 16-18, 12-15) to seventh ranked Stanford Fri., Sept. 24. The Utes came back Saturday night to defeat California in four games, (16-18, 15-8, 16-14, 15-12). Utah's overall record is currently 9-4. Possible starters for the Utes in the match-up against Idaho State are: Graciela Torres-Lopez (Sr., S), McKelle Stilson (So., MB), Jen Snow-Richards (Jr., OH), Katrena Ellett (Fr., MB), Brooke Barton (Jr., OH), Adrianne Bradley (So., OH), or Lucie Turkova (Jr., DS). Utah's all-time assists leader Graciela Torres has added 596 assists thus far to her career total of 4,302. The Utes add four transfers and four true freshmen to this year's roster.
AFTER THIS:
Utah is back at home again on Fri., Oct. 8 at 7:00 p.m. vs. San Diego State. On Sat., Oct. 9, Utah hosts UNLV. Match-time is set for 7:00 p.m. On Fri. Oct. 15, Utah will take on in-state rival, 10th ranked BYU at home at 7:00 p.m. Utah ends its four-match homestand on Oct. 20, when they take on Notre Dame at 7:00 p.m.
IDAHO STATE MATCH RECAP:
The Utes defeated Idaho State in three games, 15-8, 15-8, 15-6, Mon. Sept. 20. Idaho State fell to 6-6 overall, 0-2 in the Big Sky Conference.
Utah was paced by sophomores McKelle Stilson and Adrianne Bradley. Stilson totaled eight kills for an impressive .583 hitting percentage. Stilson led the team with four total blocks. Bradley posted nine kills and hit an even .500. Bradley also totaled nine digs respectively. Teammate Alisa Geddes added eight kills for a .316 hitting percentage and 10 digs in the match. Utah unloaded its bench after the first game with all 12 Utes seeing action on the court. As a team, the Utes hit .338 in the match.
Idaho State was led by Amanda Berg and Tara Dunn, both of whom hit over .285, with nine kills and six kills in the match. Teammates Rashelle Nelson and Katie Leonhardt each added seven kills. The Bengals managed to hit just .104 as a team.
STANFORD MATCH RECAP:
Seventh ranked Stanford University defeated Utah in three games (15-1, 18-16, 15-12), Fri. Sept. 24 at the Mountain West/Pac 10 Challenge in Palo Alto, Calif. Stanford improves to 7-1 overall.
Adrianne Bradley posted 10 kills for a .316 hitting percentage. McKelle Stilson totaled 10 kills and hit .231 in the match. Teammate Alisa Geddes added nine kills and led the team with eight digs. Graciela Torres-Lopez had 32 assists and the Utes posted a .136 hitting percentage in the match.
Kerri Walsh led the Cardinals with 11 kills for a .250 hitting percentage and 15 digs. Sarah Clark posted 10 kills and hit .240. Teammate Lindsay Kagawa added 37 assists. Stanford hit .221 in the match.
CALIFORNIA MATCH RECAP:
Sophomore McKelle Stilson had a career-high 25 kills for a .435 hitting percentage and eight total blocks to lead Utah to a 16-18, 15-8, 16-14, 15-12 win over California in the Mountain West/Pac 10 Challenge at Stanford's Maples Pavilion Saturday Sept. 25. California falls to 4-6 overall.
Utah freshman Brenda Beal hit a career-high .429 with 19 kills and teammate Alisa Geddes had 13 kills and a match-high 22 digs to lead the Utes. Adrianne Bradley totaled 12 kills and 15 digs, while Jen Snow-Richards added 10 kills. Lucie Turkova pitched in 13 digs, respectively. Senior setter Graciela Torres-Lopez posted a season-best 72 assists. As a team, the Utes hit .281 in the match.
California was led by Alicia Perry. Perry posted 29 kills for a .205 hitting percentage and 11 digs. Teammate Brooke Coulter added 14 kills and 12 digs. As a team, the Golden Bears hit .175 in the match.
SCOUTING NEW MEXICO:
The Lobos travelled to Stoor, Conn. Fri.-Sat. Sept. 24-25, participating in the UCONN Husky Classic. On Fri., Sept. 24, New Mexico lost in four games (5-15, 15-7, 7-15, 10-15) to New Hampshire and in three games (5-15, 12-15, 9-15) to UCONN. On Sat., Sept. 25, the Lobos defeated Harvard, 3-0 (15-4, 15-11, 15-11) and lost to Southern Methodist, 3-1 (11-15, 15-13, 7-15, 7-15).
New Mexico is currently 5-11 overall, opening its MWC schedule with the Utes this weekend. Senior outside hitter, Amber Smith leads the Lobos in kills with 180, averaging 3.53 KPG. Smith also leads the team in digs, averaging 2.37 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 2.73 KPG. Conley averages 1,83 digs per game. Senior setter, Janelle Torres averages 8.98 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.
SCOUTING AIR FORCE:
The Air Force women's volleyball team continued its early season dominance, winning its last four matches. The Falcons defeated Army in four games, 14-16, 15-2, 15-7, 15-2, Tues., Sept. 21 in West Point, N.Y. On Wed., Sept. 22, Air Force shut-down Navy in Annapolis, Md., winning in three games, 17-15, 15-11, 15-11. Air Force returns five starters from last year's team, which posted a 9-17 overall record, 2-12 in the WAC. Shaylor Billings leads the team in kills, averaging 3.83 KPG and averages 1.57 digs per game.
Teammate Brooke Bffland currently averages 3.75 kills per game and leads the Falcons with 3.59 digs per game. Summer Koons averages 2.56 kills per game and leads Air Foce with 1.21 blocks per game. Tharommony In has posted 541 assists this season, averaging 12.58 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.
SERIES SHORTS:
New Mexico leads the all-time series with Utah, 21-24. Utah leads the all-time series with Air Force, 2-0.
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 this weekend.
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 167-132 (.559) 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 Mountain West/Pac 10 Challenge- "I was very pleased in the Stanford match because we competed very well against a top ranked team. We were actually serving for game point in game two and had them on the run. We are continuing to put ourselves in positions that are valuable to us in order to improve as a team. The California match was a very good match-up for us. In fact both Stanford and California are the best serving teams we've faced all year. That was a big challenge for us because we're a big passing team and that takes away from our strength. California plays in the Pac 10 and knows how to compete at a high level, it was just a really competitive match and a good win for us."
On the New Mexico match- "It is never easy to win at new Mexico, no matter what year it is, how good their team is, they just play very well at home. We've got to be prepared to come ready to play."
On the Air Force match- "Air Force has won a lot of matches so far this season, and they're starting to learn how to win. We're expecting two tough road matches and then we're glad to be home for a while because we've been on the road a ton and we're wearing out a little bit. The challenge is to go on the road one more weekend, but it's the start of the conference schedule and we've got to get fired up."
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 LEADING THE UTES:
In ten out of thirteen matches, sophomore middle blocker McKelle Stilson has posted double figures in kills. Stilson currently leads Utah with 178 total kills. She averages 3.87 kills per game and currently posts a .362 hitting percentage. Stilson is also a threat to any opponent's offense. She has racked up eight block solos and 53 blocks assists, for 61 total blocks to date. Stilson leads the team, averaging 1.33 blocks per game. In the match vs. California, Stilson posted a career-high 25 kills for a .435 hitting percentage and eight total blocks.
MWC STATISTICAL LEADERS:
Utah as a team leads the conference in digs, averaging 16.00 DPG. The Utes are currently second in kills (16.69 KPG) and assists (14.90 APG). Utah is fourth in blocks (2.53 BPG), fifth with a .223 team hitting percentage and eighth in service aces (1.27 SAPG). Individually, Utah ranks among some of the best in the conference. Senior co-captain, Graciela Torres-Lopez is currently second in the MWC in assists. Torres-Lopez averages 13.24 assists per game. Sophomore middle blocker, McKelle Stilson currently ranks fourth in the conference in blocks, averaging 1.33 blocks per game. Stilson is fourth in kills (3.87 KPG) and fourth with a .362 hitting percentage.
Sophomore transfer, Alisa Geddes currently ranks third in the MWC in digs, averaging 3.23 digs per game. Adrianne Bradley is fourth in digs (3.04 DPG) and teammate Katrena Ellett is 10th in blocks, averaging 1.03 blocks per game.
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