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The University of Utah Athletics
Volleyball Notes
9/23/2002 12:00 AM | Volleyball
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Sept. 23, 2002
SALT LAKE CITY -
THIS WEEK:
No. 16 Utah (10-3) hosts Olymp Praha, a professional team from the Czech Republic, for an exhibition match on Wednesday, Sept. 25, at 7:00 p.m. At 7:00 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 27, Utah opens confernece play against UNLV (4-9) at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. On Sunday, Sept. 29, the Utes play at San Diego State (9-6) at 1:00 p.m.
REVIEWING LAST WEEK:
The Utes fell at Weber State 3-1 last Tuesday, but rebounded over the weekend with a five-game win over Arkansas on Friday, followed by a four-game win against Illinois on Saturday. In the Arkansas match, the Utes were down 2-0 but came back and won the last three games to take the win. Against Illinois, Utah went down in game one, but again won three straight to win the match.
Junior Kim Turner posted a rare triple-double against Illinois and double-doubles in each of the other two matches.
September 23, 2002 USA Today/AVCA Top 25
Rank School Total 2002 Last (1st-place Votes) Points Record Week1 USC (55) 1611 8-0 1 2 Hawai'i (8) 1545 10-0 2 3 Florida 1470 9-1 3 4 Stanford (1) 1431 10-1 4 5 Nebraska 1383 9-1 5 6 Long Beach State (1) 1332 10-0 6 7 Northern Iowa 1225 13-1 7 8 Minnesota 1151 13-2 8 9 Penn State 1062 10-1 9 10 UC Santa Barbara 1035 11-0 12 11 Ohio State 831 6-3 13 12 Arizona 827 6-4 15 13 Wisconsin 788 9-2 16 14 Pepperdine 675 7-5 14 15 North Carolina 674 11-1 18 16 Utah 626 10-3 10 17 UCLA 550 7-5 11 18 Washington State 520 11-0 20 19 Santa Clara 506 10-2 19 20 Texas A&M 374 9-2 17 21 Michigan State 354 8-2 21 22 Eastern Washington 329 12-0 23 23 Colorado 144 8-4 NR 24 Pacific 130 5-5 22 25 Georgia Tech 122 14-2 NR
Others receiving points and listed on two or more ballots: Missouri (116), South Carolina (80), San Diego (51), Arizona State (35), California (31), Illinois (22), Texas (17), Washington (15), Colorado State (12), Louisville (12), Fresno State (10), Nevada (8), Notre Dame (8), Cincinnati (2), Weber State (2). Four teams mentioned on only one ballot for a total of nine (9) combined points.
MWC STANDINGS
Overall Conference W L Pct. W L Pct.Wyoming 11 2 .846 0 1 0.000 Utah 10 3 .769 0 0 0.000 San Diego State 9 6 .600 0 0 0.000 Colorado State 7 5 .583 1 0 1.000 Air Force 6 8 .429 0 0 0.000 BYU 5 8 .385 0 0 0.000 New Mexico 4 8 .333 0 0 0.000 UNLV 4 9 .308 0 0 0.000
SERIES SHORTS:
* The Utes lead the all-time series with UNLV 11-1. The last time the two teams met, on Nov. 10, 2001 in Las Vegas, Utah won 3-1. The Utes are 4-0 at home, 6-1 away and 1-0 at a neutral site vs. the Rebels.
* Utah trails the all-time series with San Diego State 9-15. In their last meeting on Nov. 9, 2001, the Aztecs won 3-2 in San Diego. The Utes are 6-6 at home, 2-9 away and 1-0 at a neutral site against San Diego State.
QUOTING HEAD COACH BETH LAUNIERE:
On the upcoming exhibition match against Olymp Praha - "We have a great connection with the volleyball world in the Czech Republic. It's good for us to have a relationship with them, especially for recruiting purposes. They are going to be a good team. This match will allow us to work on things we can't in a real match."
On the upcoming conference matches against UNLV and San Diego State - "This is going to be our toughest road trip. Both are really good teams and we haven't been very successful playing on their courts in the past."
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION:
Olymp Praha
Olymp Praha, which faces UNLV tonight, is 1-2 against U.S. collegiate opponents this fall. The Czech team defeated UCLA 3-1 (30-24, 30-27, 28-30, 30-24) on Sept. 18, but was swept by Southern California (30-23, 30-20, 30-19) on Sept. 17, and lost in five games (30-27, 30-26, 20-30, 28-30, 15-13) at Long Beach State on Sept. 16.
UNLV
UNLV (4-9) is coming off three consecutive losses to Sacramento State, Fresno State and San Diego over the weekend at the Fresno State Quadrangular. The Rebels, who have now lost five straight, are led by Leiana Oswold with a 3.23 kills per game average. Setter Nicki King is averaging 10.72 assists per game, while outside hitter Tarin Keith has a 2.21 digs per game average. UNLV is hitting .219 as a team.
San Diego State
The Aztecs (9-6) claimed the championship at the Black and Gold Challenge in Winston-Salem, N.C., with wins over Winthrop, Alabama-Brimingham and Wake Forest last weekend. Middle blocker Aspen McPartland was named tournament MVP and setter Melissa Wright was also named to the all-tournament team. Melissa Cansdale leads the Aztecs with a 3.37 kills per game average. McPartland is averaging 2.87 kills, 1.09 blocks and a team-high 3.00 digs per game. Wright leads the team with a 10.94 assists per game average.
MWC LEADERS:
As a team, the Utes lead the MWC in opponent hitting percentage (.142) and blocks per game (3.58). The Utes also rank second in assists per game (13.59).
Individually, Sylva Strzinkova ranks third in the league in kills per game (3.96), tied for tenth in service aces (0.33), 13th in hitting percentage (.270) and 14th in digs per game (2.49). Kim Turner ranks second in the conference in blocks per game (1.67), sixth in kills per game (3.59) and tied for 10th in service aces (0.33). Sophomore Lyndsey Phillips ranks fourth in blocking (1.47) and 12th in hitting percentage (.273). Junior Jackie Morrill is sixth in digs per game with a 2.93 average. Senior Brenda Beal is in eighth place in blocks with a 1.23 per game average and sophomore Kelsie Kartchner is fifth in service aces (0.42).
HOME SWEET HOME:
After last weekend's wins over Arkansas and Illinois, the Utes have a 23-match home winning streak that dates back to the 2000 season. Utah, 6-0 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 ranks fourth all-time in block assists (338), just 14 away from third place, and fifth place all-time in total blocks (382). With 165 kills on the season, she needs just 166 more to join the 1,000-kill club.
NEXT WEEK:
The Utes host New Mexico on Friday, Oct. 4, and Air Force on Saturday, Oct. 5, in conference action. Both matches start at 7:00 p.m. at Crimson Court.
Get to know new Utah Volleyball Head Coach Alyssa D'Errico.
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Utah Volleyball Press Conference - 12.10.25
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