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
Volleyball Notes
9/16/2002 12:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 16, 2002
SALT LAKE CITY -
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THIS WEEK: No. 10 Utah (8-2) travels to Weber State (7-4) for a 7:00 p.m. match on Tuesday, Sept. 17. The Utes then host Arkansas (8-2) on Friday, Sept. 20, and Illinois (5-2) on Saturday, Sept. 21. Both matches begin at 7:00 p.m. at Crimson Court.
REVIEWING LAST WEEK: Utah placed second at the Boise State Invitational last weekend after going 2-1 in the tournament. The Utes fell to undefeated Eastern Washington on Friday night before regrouping and sweeping both Boise State and George Washington on Saturday.
Senior Sylva Strzinkova, junior Kim Turner and sophomore Lyndsey Phillips were named to the all-tournament team. It was the third such honor in three weeks for both Strzinkov? and Turner.
September 16, 2002 USA Today/AVCA Top 25
Rank School Total 2002 Last (1st-place Votes) Points Record Week 1 USC (44) 1594 6-0 2 2 Hawai'i (12) 1542 8-0 3 3 Florida (1) 1435 7-1 6 4 Stanford (6) 1422 8-1 1 5 Nebraska (1) 1411 7-1 4 6 Long Beach State (1) 1364 8-0 5 7 Northern Iowa 1237 10-1 7 8 Minnesota 1065 10-2 13 9 Penn State 1019 9-0 1110 Utah 911 8-2 811 UCLA 891 7-3 1412 UC Santa Barbara 855 9-0 1813 Ohio State 782 5-3 914 Pepperdine 721 7-4 1015 Arizona 694 5-3 1516 Wisconsin 677 6-2 1217 Texas A&M 662 8-1 1618 North Carolina 520 8-1 2019 Santa Clara 369 8-1 2220 Washington State 281 9-0 2521 Michigan State 273 7-2 1922 Pacific 227 4-4 2123 Eastern Washington 212 11-0 NR24 Texas 171 8-1 NR25 Colorado State 152 6-3 17
Others receiving points and listed on two or more ballots: San Diego (143), Georgia Tech, Notre Dame (90), South Carolina (71), Louisville (57), Colorado (43), Illinois (37), California (22), South Florida (16), Missouri (15), Kansas State (6). Five teams mentioned on only one ballot for a total of 19 combined points.
MWC STANDINGS
Overall Conference W L Pct. W L Pct.Utah 8 2 .833 0 0 0.000Wyoming 8 2 .667 0 1 0.000Colorado State 6 3 .800 1 0 1.000San Diego State 6 5 .545 0 0 0.000BYU 5 6 .455 0 0 0.000UNLV 4 5 .444 0 0 0.000Air Force 3 8 .273 0 0 0.000New Mexico 1 8 .111 0 0 0.000
SERIES SHORTS:
* The Utes lead the all-time series with Weber State 39-18. The last time the two teams met, on Oct. 16, 2001 at Crimson Court, Utah won 3-0. The Utes are 20-8 at home, 16-7 away and 3-3 at a neutral site vs. the Wildcats.
* Friday's meeting is the first-ever between Utah and Arkansas.
* Utah trails the all-time series with Illinois 0-4, including three meetings in 1985. In their last meeting on Sept. 17, 1993, the Illini won 3-2 in Champaign. The Utes are 0-1 away and 0-3 at a neutral site against Illinois.
QUOTING HEAD COACH BETH LAUNIERE:
On the upcoming match against Weber State - "Every time we play at Weber State, it's always a good match. They always get fired up to play us. They are playing good volleyball right now, so we need to be prepared. We play them every year, so there's a long-standing tradition. Any time you have that kind of instate rivalry, you have to be ready."
On the upcoming matches against Arkansas and Illinois - "I'm excited to have teams from other parts of the country -- the Midwest and back East -- coming here. They've been playing against teams from other parts of the country, so it's a good gauge to see how we compare nationally. Both Arkansas and Illinois are traditional NCAA-appearing teams, so it should be exciting, tough competition."
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION:
Weber State Weber State (7-4) is coming off a 2-1 performance in the Ogden Marriott-Weber State Classic over the weekend, good for second place. The Wildcats swept Alabama-Birmingham and UC-Riverside, but fell to Lamar in five games. The Weber State attack is led by Stephanie Kropushek and Holly Montano, who average 3.90 and 3.76 kills per game, respectively. Setter Laura Robinson averages 11.88 assists per game, while Kendrea Meyer leads the team with a 3.38 digs per game average.
Arkansas The Lady Razorbacks (8-2) suffered their first losses of the season over the weekend when they placed third in the Morning News Invitational with a 1-2 record. Arkansas defeated Oral Roberts but lost to then-No. 17 Colorado State and tournament champion Louisville. Middle blocker Jennifer Haaser was named to the all-tournament team. Haaser averages 3.78 kills, 2.58 digs and 1.06 blocks per game.
Illinois The 5-2 Fighting Illini won the championship and Head Coach Don Hardin recorded his 300th career victory in the Illini Classic over the weekend with wins over Arkansas State and Connecticut. Setter Betsy Eiserman, who averages 10.73 assists per game, was named tournament MVP. Sue Webber and Jessica Belter were also named to the all-tournament team. Melissa Vandrey leads Illinois with a 3.30 kills per game average.
MWC LEADERS:
As a team, the Utes lead the MWC in opponent hitting percentage (.133) and blocks per game (3.44). The Utes also rank third in assists per game (13.42) and service aces (2.03).
Individually, Sylva Strzinkov? leads the league in kills per game (4.09), and ranks tied for seventh in service aces (0.41), 11th in hitting percentage (.280) and 12th in digs per game (2.56). Kim Turner leads the conference in blocks per game (1.67), and ranks eighth in kills per game (3.58) and 14th in service aces (0.33). Sophomore Lyndsey Phillips ranks fourth in blocking (1.43) and 12th in hitting percentage (.277). Junior Jackie Morrill is 10th and sophomore Sabine Schulz is 14th in digs per game with 2.79 and 2.50, respectively. Senior Brenda Beal is in eighth place in blocks with a 1.19 per game average. Finally, sophomore Kelsie Kartchner ranks tied for seventh in service aces (0.41) and eighth in assists (9.53).
HOME SWEET HOME:
Heading into this weekend's matches against Arkansas and Illinois, the Utes are riding a 21-match home winning streak that dates back to the 2000 season. Utah, 4-0 at Crimson Court this season, went 15-0 at home last year and won its last two home matches of the 2000 season. The Utes' last loss at Crimson Court came on Nov. 19, 2000, when they fell to Colorado State 3-1.
MILESTONE WATCH:
Kim Turner has moved into fourth place all-time in block assists (321) and fifth place all-time in solo blocks (39). With 118 kills on the season, she needs just 213 more to join the 1,000-kill club.
Sophomore Kelsie Kartchner entered the season ranked seventh all-time in career assists after just one season with the Utes. In last Wednesday's match against Idaho State, Kartchner recorded her 1,000th assist. Despite the fact that she has 305 assists already this season, she's 631 away from sixth place (1,698).
NEXT WEEK:
Utah hosts an exhibition match against Olymp Praha, a team from the Czech Republic, at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 25. On Friday, Sept. 27, the Utes open conference play at UNLV with a 7:00 p.m. match. Utah then plays at San Diego State at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 29.
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