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The University of Utah Athletics
Utah Volleyball Notes
9/15/2003 12:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 15, 2003
SALT LAKE CITY -
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THIS WEEK:
Utah (5-3) hosts Nevada-Reno (5-6) and Weber State (3-6) this weekend at Crimson Court. The Utes face Nevada on Friday, Sept. 19, and Weber State on Saturday, Sept. 20. Both matches start at 7 p.m.
A QUICK LOOK AT UTAH:
The Utes went 1-1 at the Notre Dame Shamrock Invitational last weekend, sweeping South Carolina before dropping a tight, five-game match to No. 15 Notre Dame. Junior setter Kelsie Kartchner and sophomore outside hitter Danielle Leichliter were named to the all-tournament team. Kartchner averaged 12.14 assists, 2.14 digs, 2.00 kills, 0.57 blocks and 0.43 service aces on the tournament. She also posted a team-high .545 hitting percentage over the two matches. She also posted a triple double - 60 assists, 13 digs and 11 kills - in the loss to No. 15 Notre Dame. Leichliter averaged 3.43 kills, 0.71 digs, 0.57 blocks and 0.29 service aces at the tournament.
On the season, the Utes are led by senior All-American candidate Kim Turner, who averages 3.77 kills, 1.52 blocks and 2.42 digs per game. Sophomore Shelly Sommerfeldt adds 3.68 kills per game, while senior libero Jackie Morrill averages a team-high 3.23 digs per game.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION:
Nevada
The Wolf Pack (5-6) went 1-2 at the Cal Tournament last weekend, losing 3-2 to Cal Poly and being swept by Cal before defeating New Hampshire 3-0. Christine Harms was named to the all-tournament team after averaging 3.82 digs and 3.18 kills per game.
On the season, Nevada is led by Harms, who averages 2.91 kills and 2.86 digs per game. Setter Tristin Adams averages 10.53 assists per game, while Carly Sorensen adds 2.80 kills per game.
Weber State
The Wildcats (3-6) defeated Utah Valley State in five games at home last Tuesday before dropping two matches at the Hawaii Tournament over the weekend. Weber State lost to No. 4 Stanford 3-1 on Friday, before falling to Utah State 3-1 on Saturday.
The Wildcats are led on the season by Stephanie Birch and Kris Hollingsworth, who average 3.50 kills per game, and 1.81 and 1.92 digs per game, respectively. Freshman Jamie Kartchner, the younger sister of Utah's Kelsie Kartchner, averages 10.36 and 1.78 digs per game. Lindsay Harris boasts a team-high 1.75 blocks per game average.
SERIES SHORTS:
* Utah leads the all-time series vs. Nevada 2-0, with both meetings coming at a neutral site. The last time the two teams met, on Sept. 8, 2000, Utah won 3-2 in San Luis Obispo, Calif., at the Cal Poly Tournament.
* The Utes are 39-19 all-time vs. Weber State. In their last meeting on Sept. 17, 2002, the Wildcats won 3-1 in Ogden. Utah is 20-8 at home, 16-8 away and 3-3 at a neutral site vs. Weber State.
QUOTING HEAD COACH Beth Launiere:
On this weekend's matches - "I'm glad to return to Crimson Court this weekend for a couple more home matches before we start conference play."
USA Today/AVCA Top 25 Sept. 15, 2003
Rank School Total 2003 Last (1st-place Votes) Points Record Week1 USC (65) 1,625 9-0 1 2 Hawai'i 1,547 9-1 2 3 Florida 1,507 8-1 3 4 Stanford 1,406 6-2 4 5 Georgia Tech 1,286 8-0 10 6 Northern Iowa 1,242 7-1 6 7 Pepperdine 1,230 8-2 7 8 Nebraska 1,211 8-1 5 9 UCLA 1,161 8-1 9 10 Kansas State 987 10-2 12 11 Penn State 908 8-1 8 12 California 848 8-0 16 13 UC Santa Barbara 773 4-3 11 14 Washington 754 9-0 18 15 Michigan State 672 5-2 17 16 Arizona 620 6-4 14 17 Santa Clara 591 5-4 13 18 Notre Dame 501 7-2 15 19 Louisville 367 5-3 21 20 Pacific 259 5-2 24 21 San Diego 246 7-2 NR 22 Minnesota 236 3-5 20 23 Long Beach State 218 5-2 19 24 Wisconsin 188 6-2 25 25 Loyola Marymount 181 10-1 22
Others receiving points and listed on two or more ballots: Texas A&M 133, BYU 106, Missouri 50, North Carolina 49, San Francisco 47, South Carolina 39, Utah 36, Colorado State 31, Ohio State 21, Cincinnati 17, Northwestern 9, Ohio 9, Western Michigan 6, Southwest Missouri State 2, St. Mary's (Calif.) 2.
MWC STANDINGS
Conference Overall W L Pct. W L Pct.Air Force 0 0 .000 8 2 .800 BYU 0 0 .000 7 3 .700 Colorado State 0 0 .000 7 3 .700 Wyomin 0 0 .000 7 3 .700 UNLV 0 0 .000 6 3 .667 San Diego State 0 0 .000 7 4 .636UTAH 0 0 .000 5 3 .625 New Mexico 0 0 .000 3 6 .333
MWC LEADERS:
As a team, the Utes rank second in the MWC in blocks per game (2.87) and fourth in opponent hitting percentage (.188).
Individually, Kim Turner ranks second in blocks per game (1.52), third in points (4.95) and eighth in kills per game (3.77). Junior Kelsie Kartchner is third in hitting percentage (.318), fifth in service aces (0.46) and seventh in assists (10.86). Senior Jackie Morrill is second in digs per game (3.23), while sophomore Danielle Leichliter is sixth in services aces per game (0.45). Sophomore Shelly Sommerfeldt is ninth in kills per game (3.68) and junior Lyndsey Henderson is eighth in blocks per game (1.13).
CLOSING IN:
Senior All-America candidate Kim Turner currently has 1,247 kills on her career, good for fifth place all-time in the Ute record book. She needs 319 more kills to move into first place (1,566).
Turner already ranks first in both total blocks (547) and block assists (486), sixth in block solos (61) and eighth in attempts (2,612).
Junior setter Kelsie Kartchner has moved into fourth place all-time in assists at Utah. She now has 2,347 on her career.
TURNER SELECTED AS PRESEASON MWC PLAYER OF THE 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 NAMED MWC PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR SEPT. 1-7
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.
NEXT WEEK:
The Utes travel to Logan, Utah, for a 6 p.m. match at Utah State next Tuesday, Sept. 23. On Friday and Saturday, Sept. 26-27, the Utes open conference play with 7 p.m. matches against Wyoming and Colorado State.
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