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 Notes
10/8/2003 12:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 8, 2003
SALT LAKE CITY -
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COMING UP:
The Utes (9-6, 3-1) travel to Provo, Utah, to face instate rival Brigham Young (13-4, 3-1) at 7 p.m. this Friday, Oct. 10.
A QUICK LOOK AT UTAH:
Utah went 2-0 last weekend with sweeps over New Mexico and Air Force on the road. In Friday's sweep of the Lobos, the Utes combined for a school record .512 hitting percentage. Five different players hit for over .500 on the match, led by junior Lyndsey Henderson at .562. Utah also held New Mexico to just .088 and finished with 13 service aces on the match.
Against Air Force last Saturday, the Utes hit for .424 and beat the Falcons in every statistical category.
On the season, the Utes are led by senior All-America candidate Kim Turner, who averages 3.84 kills, 2.36 digs and 1.38 blocks. Sophomore Shelly Sommerfeldt adds 3.82 kills per game, while senior libero Jackie Morrill averages a team-high 3.31 digs per game. Junior setter Kelsie Kartchner averages 10.26 assists per game.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION:
After defeating New Mexico and Air Force (in five games) last weekend, the Cougars beat Weber State 3-1 (27-30, 30-24, 30-20, 30-24) Tuesday night. April Varner posted her second consecutive double-double with match-highs of 15 kills and 16 digs. Lauren Richards dished out 46 assists and had seven kills, six digs, four blocks and three aces. Laura Nielsen had a match-high six blocks.
Kim Wilson leads the Cougars this season with a 3.96 kills per game average, while Varner adds 3.56 kills per game. Richards averages 11.37 assists per game, while libero Uila Crabbe has a team-high 3.40 digs per game average.
SERIES SHORTS:
* The Utes trail the all-time series with BYU 12-53. The last time the two teams met, on Nov. 23, 2002, Utah won 3-0, in the championship match of the Mountain West Tournament in Fort Collins, Colo. The Utes are 8-21 at home, 3-29 away and 1-3 at a neutral site vs. the Cougars.
QUOTING HEAD COACH Beth Launiere:
"I expect a great volleyball match. Both teams are talented and both are 3-1 in conference play, so it's obviously a very important match."
USA TODAY/AVCA TOP 25 OCT. 6, 2003
Rank School Total 2003 Last (1st-place Votes) Points Record Week1 USC (65) 1,625 14-0 1 2 Hawai'i 1,547 15-1 2 3 Florida 1,508 16-1 3 4 Stanford 1,418 12-2 4 5 Georgia Tech 1,361 16-0 5 6 Pepperdine 1,280 12-2 6 7 Nebraska 1,222 14-1 7 8 UCLA 1,185 12-2 8 9 California 1,099 14-0 9 10 Northern Iowa 1,014 14-2 10 11 Penn State 981 15-1 11 12 Kansas State 880 14-3 12 13 Washington 818 11-4 13 14 Santa Clara 723 11-5 16 15 Notre Dame 642 12-2 17 16 Michigan State 605 10-4 14 17 Louisville 564 9-3 18 18 San Diego 509 13-3 19 19 UC Santa Barbara 490 8-5 15 20 Loyola Marymount 425 17-2 21 21 Wisconsin 354 11-4 20 22 Colorado State 202 13-4 25 23 Pacific 123 8-5 23 24 Texas A&M 98 10-5 22 25 Long Beach State 65 10-3 NR
Others receiving points and listed on two or more ballots: San Francisco 62, Missouri 61, Michigan 50, Minnesota 41, BYU 36, Cincinnati 35, Florida A&M 27, Ohio 21, SW Missouri 15, Fresno State 11, North Carolina 9, Arkansas 5, UC Irvine 3.
MWC STANDINGS
Conference Overall W L Pct. W L Pct.Colorado State 4 0 1.000 13 4 .765 BYU 3 1 .750 13 4 .765 UTAH 3 1 .750 9 6 .600 Wyoming 2 2 .500 13 6 .684 Air Force 1 2 .333 10 6 .625 San Diego State 1 2 .333 10 8 .556 UNLV 0 3 .000 6 8 .429 New Mexico 0 3 .000 3 13 .188
MWC LEADERS:
As a team, the Utes rank third in the MWC in blocks per game (2.78) and winning percentage (.600), and fourth in assists (13.60), opponent hitting percentage (.196), service aces (1.84) and digs (13.02).
In conference-only statistics, Utah leads the league in hitting percentage (.300), assists (15.38) kills (17.08) and service aces (2.23), ranks second in digs (12.46) and winning percentage (.750), and third in opponent hitting percentage (.211).
Individually, Kim Turner ranks second in blocks per game (1.38) and points (4.91), sixth in kills per game (3.84) and seventh in hitting percentage (.304). Sophomore Shelly Sommerfeldt is seventh in kills per game (3.82) and eighth in points per game (4.36). Junior Kelsie Kartchner tied for fifth in service aces (0.38) and seventh in assists (10.26). Senior Jackie Morrill is third in digs per game (3.31), while sophomore Danielle Leichliter is second in services aces per game (0.43). Junior Lyndsey Henderson is seventh in blocks per game (1.18).
In conference-only statistics, junior setter Tracy Neumeier leads the league in service aces (0.75) and ranks third in assists (12.62). Turner ranks second in points (5.23), third in kills (4.23), fourth in hitting percentage (.421) and sixth in service aces (0.38). Sommerfeldt is fifth in kills (4.00) and tied for fifth in points (4.54). Morrill is second in digs (3.54), while Leichliter is fourth in service aces (0.58). Kartchner is seventh in assists (8.22) and Henderson is ninth in hitting percentage (.357).
CLOSING IN:
Senior All-America candidate Kim Turner currently has 1,341 kills on her career, good for second place all-time in the Ute record book. She needs 225 more kills to move into first place (1,566).
Turner already ranks first in both total blocks (576) and block assists (511), tied for fourth in block solos (65) and seventh in attempts (2,797).
Junior setter Kelsie Kartchner ranks fourth all-time in assists at Utah. She now has 2,525 on her career.
TURNER NAMED PRESEASON MWC PLAYER OF YEAR:
Senior Kim Turner, the reigning Co-MWC Player of the Year, was selected by the league's head coaches as the 2003 preseason MWC Player of the Year. Turner is the only two-time MWC Tournament MVP in league history.
Joining Turner on the preseason all-conference team was junior setter Kelsie Kartchner, who was named the Best Setter at last year's MWC Tournament.
SUNDAY NIGHT SPIKE:
Utah will face Colorado State on live television at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 26, at Moby Arena in Fort Collins, Colo. The match is part of the College Sports Television (CSTV) and American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Sunday Night Spike package.
TURNER MWC PLAYER OF THE WEEK SEPT. 1-6
Kim Turner, a middle blocker from Chandler, Ariz., was named MWC Player of the Week for Sept. 1-6, marking her ninth career award. Turner was named MVP of the Utah Classic for the third straight year as she helped the Utes capture the championship. In a five-game win vs. Washington State, Turner posted a triple double (15 kills, 15 digs, 11 blocks) and set Classic five-game records with nine block assists and three aces. For the week, Turner hit .284 and averaged 3.55 kills, 2.82 digs and 1.82 blocks per game.
INTERNET AUDIO/VIDEO BROADCASTS:
All of Utah's home matches can be seen and heard on the Internet through live audio and video streaming. To listen/watch, go to: http://155.99.112.235/vball/. You can also go to the volleyball page at www.UtahUtes.com and click on "Watch/Listen to Ute Home Matches Live."
UP NEXT:
The Utes host UNLV and San Diego State, respectively, for a 7 p.m. matches next Friday and Saturday, Oct. 17-18.
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