Utes Fall to Utah State in Three Games

Tuesday, September 23

Logan, Utah

6:00 PM

University of Utah

Utah State

9/23/2003 12:00 AM | Volleyball

Sept. 23, 2003

Final Stats

SALT LAKE CITY - The Utah volleyball team was swept (30-32, 23-30, 30-32) by the Utah State Aggies in Logan, Utah, tonight, falling to 6-5 on the season. The Utes hit for .246 on the match, compared to the .303 of the Aggies. However, Utah out-blocked Utah State 8-7.5.

"I'm not surprised - this day was marked on their calendar for months," Head Coach Beth Launiere said. "We have no real back-ups, so no one can have an off night. It's hard to be on all the time, but they have to be. We had too many people that went in and out of playing well."

Sophomore Shelly Sommerfeldt led the Utes with 15 kills, while junior Lyndsey Henderson had 13. She also added six blocks.

Senior All-America candidate Kim Turner finished with nine kills, the first time she didn't reach double figures all season.

Senior libero Jackie Morrill finished with a team-high 11 digs. Junior setters Kelsie Kartchner and Tracy Neumeier both played. Kartchner finished with 25 assists, while Neumeier had 16.

Game one went back and forth. It started close until the Aggies scored seven straight points to take a 12-6 lead. The Utes battled back to tied it at 16, but Utah State responded with a 10-4 run to go ahead 26-20. However, Utah wouldn't give up, scoring seven consecutive points to take the lead, 27-26. Both teams then battled back and forth until the end, with the Aggies winning 32-30. The Utes hit for .333 on the game, led by Sommerfeldt, who had an amazing nine kills with just one error in 14 attempts (.571 hitting percentage).

In game two, things remained close until the Aggies jumped ahead 17-12, at which point Neumeier entered the game. Utah cut the Utah State lead to three (23-20), but the Aggies outscored the Utes 7-3 to close out the game. Utah was out-hit .308 to .125 and out-blocked 3.5-1 on the game. Utah State had 20 kills on the game, while the Utes had 11.

Game three was played tight throughout, with 16 ties. Utah served for game point twice, but the Aggies survived, scoring the last two points for the 32-30 win.

UP NEXT:
The Utes open conference play this Friday and Saturday, Sept. 26 and 27, hosting Wyoming and Colorado State. Both matches start at 7 p.m.

"Friday night starts a new slate for us," Launiere said. "Our goal is still to win the conference."