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The University of Utah Athletics
Utah Volleyball Notes
11/16/2003 12:00 AM | Volleyball
Complete Release in PDF Format
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Nov. 16, 2003
SALT LAKE CITY -
COMING UP:
Utah (18-7, 12-2), which just completed its best-ever Mountain West Conference record, travels to San Diego, Calif., this Thursday-Saturday, Nov. 20-22, for the 2003 Mountain West Conference Tournament at San Diego State. The No. 2 seed in the tournament, Utah will face seventh-seeded Wyoming (15-15, 4-10) at 11 a.m. (PDT) on Thursday, Nov. 20. Should the Utes win that match, they will face the winner of the #3 BYU/#6 Air Force match at 4 p.m. (PDT) on Friday, Nov. 21. The championship match is at 7 p.m. (PDT) on Saturday, Nov. 22.
MWC Tournament Bracket in PDF Format
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A QUICK LOOK AT UTAH:
Utah closed out regular-season play with a sweep of San Diego State (30-26, 30-27, 30-12) on Friday and a five-game win over UNLV (30-17, 27-30, 30-23, 27-30, 16-14) on Saturday. Against the Aztecs, the Utes hit for .450 on the match and held San Diego State to just .160. Senior All-America candidate Kim Turner finished with 20 kills and committed just one error on 25 attempts for a season-high .760 hitting percentage. She also added four blocks and four digs. Junior Lyndsey Henderson added 11 kills and six blocks, while sophomore Danielle Leichliter had 10 kills and four blocks. Junior setter Kelsie Kartchner dished out 29 assists, while Tracy Neumeier added 22. Senior libero Jackie Morrill had a match-high 14 digs.
On Saturday, Utah hit for .302 on the match and held the Rebels to .209. Utah also out-blocked UNLV 16-10. Turner had a career-high 25 kills to go along with six blocks. Sophomore Shelly Sommerfeldt added 18 kills, while Henderson and Kartchner finished with 12 and 11, respectively. Sommerfeldt added seven blocks and seven digs, Henderson notched six blocks, and Kartchner had 29 assists, four service aces and four digs on the match. Neumeier dished out 35 assists, while Morrill had 12 digs. Freshman Amie Toone scored the last three points of the match for the Utes on blocks. She finished with five on the night.
On the season, the Utes are led by Turner, who averages 4.16 kills, 2.18 digs and 1.48 blocks. Sommerfeldt adds 3.62 kills per game, while Morrill averages a team-high 3.40 digs per game. Neumeier averages 9.04 assists per game, while Kartchner has an 8.30 assists per game average.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION:
Wyoming
The Cowgirls defeated New Mexico 3-1 (31-29, 22-30, 42-40, 30-28) on Friday night before falling to Air Force in three games (26-30, 28-30, 26-30) on Saturday. In the New Mexico match, Wyoming hit .223 and out-blocked the Lobos 9.5-6.5. Against Air Force, the Cowgirls hit .168 and only recorded 28 digs.
Rauter leads the Cowgirls this season with 3.76 kills and 2.58 digs per match. Setter Amy Doman averages 11.55 assists per match, while Amanda Miller adds a team-high 3.17 digs.
SERIES SHORTS:
* The Utes lead the all-time series with Wyoming 29-23. The last time the two teams met, on Oct. 25 of this year, Utah won in five games in Laramie. Utah is 16-9 at home, 9-14 away and 4-0 at a neutral site vs. Wyoming.
QUOTING HEAD COACH Beth Launiere:
On the upcoming Mountain West Conference Tournament - "I have a lot of respect for Wyoming's program. We had a tough match up in Wyoming this year. We're going to have to be prepared and ready. We're playing good volleyball right now, but it's hard to beat the same team three times in one year. We have to take this one match at a time from here on out, so all we're concerned with right now is Wyoming."
MWC STANDINGS:
Conference Overall W L Pct. W L Pct.Colorado State 14 0 1.000 24 4 .857UTAH 12 2 .857 18 7 .720 BYU 10 4 .714 20 7 .741 San Diego State 7 7 .500 17 13 .567 UNLV 4 10 .286 11 16 .407 Air Force 4 10 .286 14 14 .500 Wyoming 4 10 .286 15 15 .500 New Mexico 1 13 .071 4 24 .143
MWC TOURNAMENT TICKET INFORMATION:
Day passes for the MWC Volleyball Tournament are $7 for adults and $5 for students, while all-tournament passes are $15 for adults and $12 for students. Tickets are available at the Aztec Ticket Office (Gate G, Qualcomm Stadium) or by calling (619) 283-SDSU.
MWC TOURNAMENT TELECASTS:
Every match of the 2003 MWC Volleyball Championship will appear on television with the semifinals and finals being broadcast nationally on College Sports Television (CSTV), plus a live telecast on Fox Sports Rocky Mountain for the championship match.
This is the second straight year that matches will be broadcast back to each MWC market, and the fourth straight year the MWC has televised the entire championship. Saturday's title match will be televised live at 8 p.m. (MT) on Fox Sports Net (Rocky Mountain) with a coverage area including Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, as well as parts of Montana, Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska and Nevada. The telecast will also be available to a national audience on FSN to DirecTV subscribers. The semifinals and finals will air on CSTV via tape delay.
SATELLITE:
Galaxy 11C TR. 20 Downlink: 4100 V
REGIONAL/NATIONAL OUTLETS:
Fox Sports Net Rocky Mountain (championship match - live)
CSTV (semifinals and finals - tape delay)
CLEARANCES:
School Market StationAir Force Colorado Springs Adelphia Cable (Channel 32) BYU Provo KBYU (Channel 11) CSU Fort Collins Comcast Cable (Channel 68) New Mexico Albuquerque KRQE (Channel 13) San Diego State San Diego Cox (Channel 4) UNLV Las Vegas Cox (Channel 48)Utah Salt Lake City KULC (Channel 9) Wyoming Casper KTWO (Channel 2) Cheyenne KKTU (Channel 33)
UTES ON TV:
Utah's quarterfinal match against Wyoming on Thursday, Nov. 20, will be aired locally on KULC (Channel 9) on tape delay from 9-11 p.m. If Utah advances to the semifinal match on Friday, Nov. 21, it will be shown locally on KULC (Channel 9) on tape delay from 7-9 p.m. Should the Utes advance to the championship match on Saturday, Nov. 22, it will be aired both on tape delay on KUED (Channel 7) from 12-2 a.m. and on Sunday Nov. 23, on KULC (Channel 9) from 7-9 p.m.
UTAH AND THE MWC TOURNAMENT:
Utah has won the last two MWC Tournaments, sweeping through the tournament last year and defeating fourth-seeded Brigham Young (30-22, 30-25, 30-23) in the championship match in Fort Collins, Colo. In 2001, the second-seeded Utes defeated top-seeded Colorado State in five games (32-34, 19-30, 30-23, 30-27, 15-8) in the championship match at BYU.
No. 3-seed Utah was eliminated in four games in the semifinals of the 2000 tournament by second-seeded BYU (9-15, 3-15, 15-5, 9-15). In the inaugural MWC Tournament in 1999, Utah, the No. 3 seed, fell to No. 2-seed CSU in the semifinals (3-15, 15-10, 15-10, 13-15, 15-17).
Senior All-America candidate Kim Turner has been named MVP of the MWC Tournament in each of the last two years.
TURNER NAMED FIRST-TEAM ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT:
Kim Turner, co-captain of the Utah women's volleyball team, was recently named to the Academic All-District VIII Team. Turner garnered first-team honors with a 3.646 GPA as an elementary education major. As a first-team selection, she now advances to the national ballot, the results of which will be announced on Thursday, Dec. 4.
MWC LEADERS:
As a team, the Utes rank second in the MWC in assists (13.83) and kills (15.29), third in digs (13.08), blocks (3.01), opponent hitting percentage (.174) and hitting percentage (.249), and fourth in service aces (1.66).
In conference-only statistics, Utah leads the league in hitting percentage (.279), and ranks second in opponent hitting percentage (.160), kills (15.86), assists (14.47) and digs (12.98), and third in blocks (3.04) and service aces (1.61).
Individually, Kim Turner ranks second in blocks per game (1.48), kills per game (4.16), hitting percentage (.358) and points (5.25). Sophomore Shelly Sommerfeldt is ninth in kills per game (3.62) and 10th in points per game (4.18). Senior Jackie Morrill is second in digs per game (3.40), while sophomore Danielle Leichliter is third in service aces per game (0.42). Junior Tracy Neumeier seventh in assists (9.04) and 10th in service aces per game (0.33), while junior Lyndsey Henderson is eighth in blocks per game (1.18). Junior Kelsie Kartchner is tied for seventh in service aces (0.34), eighth in assists (8.30) and 10th in hitting percentage (.297), and freshman Amie Toone is tied for 13th in blocks per game (1.02).
In conference-only statistics, Turner ranks first in hitting percentage (.434) and points (5.61), and second in kills (4.53) and blocks (1.47). Morrill is second in digs (3.53), while Neumeier ranks seventh in both service aces (0.35) and assists (10.14). Sommerfeldt is seventh in points (4.07) and ninth in kills (3.51), while Leichliter is third in service aces (0.45). Henderson is eighth in hitting percentage (.311) and tied for ninth in blocks (1.14), while Toone is 13th in blocks (1.03). Kartchner is ninth in assists (5.92).
CLOSING IN:
Senior All-America candidate Kim Turner currently has 1,517 kills on her career, good for second place all-time in the Ute record book. She needs 49 more kills to move into first place (1,566). Turner already ranks first in both total blocks (638) and block assists (563), third in block solos (75) and fifth in attempts (3,098).
STEADY SOMMERFELDT:
Sophomore Shelly Sommerfeldt has posted double-digit kills in 21 of 25 matches this season. Her 15-match streak was ended in Utah's three-game win over Air Force on Oct. 31.
BLOCKING MACHINE:
Kim Turner, the all-time Utah blocks leader, has recorded at least one block in the last 119 matches, dating back to her freshman year in 2000. In fact, the senior has at least one block in 121 of the 122 matches of her career at Utah. The only match in which she didn't record a block was Sept. 2, 2000, against New Hampshire, in just the third match of her career.
TURNER 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.
KARTCHNER MWC CO-PLAYER OF WEEK FOR NOV. 2-8:
Utah's Kelsie Kartchner was named MWC Co-Player of the Week for Nov. 2-8. She shared the honor with CSU middle blocker Katie Jo Shirley. Kartchner is a first-time award winner. Kartchner showed her versatility by playing outside hitter and setter in Utah's 6-2 offensive scheme last week. She posted her second triple-double of the season with 11 kills, 25 assists and 12 digs in a 3-1 victory over BYU, marking the Utes' seventh straight win over the Cougars. Kartchner also posted four blocks, including two solos, and hit .381 (11-3-21). She averaged 2.75 kills, 6.25 assists, 3.0 digs and 1.0 blocks per game.
TURNER MWC PLAYER OF WEEK FOR OCT. 27-NOV. 1:
Middle blocker Kim Turner was named MWC Player of the Week for Oct. 27-Nov. 1. Turner helped the Utes to a pair of wins over Air Force and New Mexico last week. She hit more than .200 above her season average last week as she put away 25 kills in 40 attempts for a .525 efficiency. She was hitting .319 entering last week's competition. The All-America candidate hit .647 (12-1-17) with five digs and five blocks vs. the Falcons, followed by a .435 mark (13-3-23) with eight digs and six blocks vs. the Lobos. For the week, Turner averaged 4.17 kills, 2.17 digs and 1.83 blocks per game.
TURNER MWC PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR OCT. 12-18:
Senior captain Kim Turner was named MWC Player of the Week for Oct. 12-18, after helping the Utes to wins over UNLV and San Diego State. After dropping the first game of the UNLV match, Turner paced a Utah rally by recording her second triple-double of the year with 20 kills, 13 digs and 10 blocks, including three solo blocks, while hitting .467 vs. the Rebels. In the victory over San Diego State, she hit .500 with 14 kills, six digs and eight blocks. For the week, Turner hit .480 (34-10-50) and averaged 4.86 kills, 2.71 digs, 2.57 blocks and .43 aces per game.
TURNER MWC PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR SEPT. 1-6:
Kim Turner was named MWC Player of the Week for Sept. 1-6. 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 Eastern Michigan at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 29, in Crimson Court. Utah's three seniors -- Taryn Horner, Jackie Morrill and Kim Turner -- will be honored prior to the match as it is Senior Night.
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