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The University of Utah Athletics
Utah Volleyball Notes
9/8/2003 12:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 8, 2003
SALT LAKE CITY -
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THIS WEEK:
Utah (4-2) travels to South Bend, Ind., for the Notre Dame Shamrock Invitational this Friday and Saturday. The Utes face South Carolina (2-3) at 4:30 p.m. (CDT) on Friday, Sept. 12. On Saturday, Sept. 13, Utah will play No. 15 Notre Dame (4-1) at 7 p.m. (CDT).
USA Today/AVCA Top 25 Sept. 8, 2003
Rank School Total 2003 Last (1st-place Votes) Points Record Week1 USC (65) 1,625 6-0 1 2 Hawai'i 1,544 7-1 2 3 Florida 1,511 6-1 3 4 Stanford 1,388 4-1 4 5 Nebraska 1,359 5-0 5 6 Northern Iowa 1,266 3-1 6 7 Pepperdine 1,216 5-2 8 8 Penn State 1,154 7-0 9 9 UCLA 1,112 5-1 11 10 Georgia Tech 1,008 5-0 12 11 UC Santa Barbara 902 2-2 7 12 Kansas State 886 6-2 14 13 Santa Clara 746 5-1 20 14 Arizona 625 4-3 10 15 Notre Dame 596 4-1 21 16 California 544 5-0 22 17 Michigan State 478 5-0 25 18 Washington 473 6-0 23 19 Long Beach State 429 3-1 15 20 Minnesota 348 2-4 13 21 Louisville 332 3-3 16 22 Loyola Marymount 294 7-0 NR 23 Missouri 274 5-1 T-18 24 Pacific 207 3-1 NR 25 Wisconsin 171 4-2 24
Others receiving points and listed on two or more ballots: Ohio State 167, North Carolina 127, Texas A&M 102, San Diego 54; Utah 45, Miami (Fla.) 29, Colorado State 28, Kansas 26, San Francisco 18, Eastern Washington 11, Fresno State 5, Southwest Missouri State 3, Western Michigan 3.
MWC STANDINGS
Conference Overall W L Pct. W L Pct.Wyoming 0 0 .000 5 1 .833 Air Force 0 0 .000 5 2 .714 Colorado State 0 0 .000 4 2 .667 UNLV 0 0 .000 4 2 .667UTAH 0 0 .000 4 2 .667 BYU 0 0 .000 4 3 .571 San Diego State 0 0 .000 4 3 .571 New Mexico 0 0 .000 3 3 .500
SHAMROCK INVITATIONAL SCHEDULE:
Sept. 12 (Fri.) UTAH vs. South Carolina 4:30 p.m. Notre Dame vs. Indiana 7 p.m.Sept. 13 (Sat.) Indiana vs. South Carolina 4:30 p.m. UTAH vs. Notre Dame 7 p.m.Sept. 14 (Sun.) Notre Dame vs. South Carolina 1:30 p.m.
A QUICK LOOK AT UTAH:
The Utes went undefeated (3-0) in their own Hampton Inn Volleyball Classic last weekend, defeating Washington State in five games (30-27, 25-30, 29-31, 34-32, 15-7) and sweeping Utah Valley State (30-19, 30-20, 30-21) and No. 18 Missouri (30-26, 30-21, 30-28).
Senior All-America candidate Kim Turner was named MVP of the tournament for the third year in a row after averaging 3.55 kills, 1.82 blocks, 2.82 digs and 0.36 service aces per game.
Joining Turner on the all-tournament team were sophomore Shelly Sommerfeldt and senior Jackie Morrill. Sommerfeldt averaged 3.27 kills, 0.64 blocks and 1.00 digs per game. Morrill, who was honored as the tournament's top libero, averaged 3.36 digs throughout the tournament.
On the season, the Utes are led by Turner, who averages 3.78 kills, 2.35 digs and 1.57 blocks per game. Sommerfeldt adds 3.39 kills per game, while Morrill boasts a team-high 3.00 digs per game average. Junior setter Kelsie Kartchner averages 10.43 assists per game to lead Utah.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION:
South Carolina The Gamecocks (2-3) went 1-1 for a second-place finish at the Carolina Classic last weekend, defeating No. 17 North Carolina (30-27, 25-30, 30-16, 30-27) after falling to No. 25 Michigan State (19-30, 30-24, 17-30, 28-30). Niece Curry and Lauren Ford were named to the all-tournament team. Curry averaged 3.62 kills per game and hit .440, while Ford averaged 1.00 blocks and 2.25 kills per game.
On the season, South Carolina has five players -- Currey, Ford, Sarah Morgan, Nicole Miller and Shonda Cole -- that average 2.00 or more kills per game. Setter Katelyn Panzan dishes out 10.26 assists per game, while Ford leads the team with a 1.05 per game blocks average.
Notre Dame
No. 15 Notre Dame (4-1) claimed the championship of the Longhorn Classic with victories over host Texas (30-20, 36-34, 30-24) and Houston (25-30, 25-30, 30-21, 30-21, 15-11) in Austin, Texas, last weekend.
The Irish's Emily Loomis and Lauren Kelbley were both named to the all-tournament team, with Kelbley also earning the tournament's MVP award.
On the season, Notre Dame is led by Loomis, Kelbley and Lauren Brewster. Loomis averages 3.55 kills and 1.05 blocks, Kelbley adds 3.45 kills and 1.30 blocks and Brewster averages 3.53 kills, 1.06 digs and 0.82 blocks per game.
SERIES SHORTS:
* This is the first-ever meeting between the Utes and the Gamecocks of South Carolina.
* Utah is 2-1 all-time vs. Notre Dame. In their last meeting on Oct. 20, 1999, Utah won 3-1 in Salt Lake City. The Utes are 1-0 at home, 0-0 away and 1-1 at a neutral site vs. the Irish.
QUOTING HEAD COACH Beth Launiere:
On the upcoming Shamrock Invitational - "This weekend will provide two more opportunities to play two really good teams. South Carolina just beat North Carolina (then No. 17) and Notre Dame is on a roll -- they are playing very good volleyball right now. We have to play well on the road. This will be a good test for us after playing well at home last weekend."
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 Hampton Inn Classic for the third straight season as she helped the Utes capture this year's championship with a 3-0 record. 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.
The All-America candidate notched 12 kills and six blocks vs. Utah Valley State and hit a season-high .579 with 12 kills in the three-game upset of No. 18 Missouri in the title match.
For the week, Turner hit .284 and averaged 3.55 kills, 2.82 digs and 1.82 blocks per game.
MWC LEADERS:
As a team, the Utes rank second in the MWC in blocks per game (2.87) and third in service aces (2.00).
Individually, Kim Turner leads the conference in blocks per game (1.57), is third in points (5.02) and eighth in kills per game (3.78). Sophomore Danielle Leichliter is third in services aces per game (0.50), while senior Jackie Morrill is fourth in digs per game (3.00). Junior setter Kelsie Kartchner is seventh in assists (10.43) and fourth in service aces (0.48).
CLOSING IN:
Senior All-America candidate Kim Turner currently has 1,217 kills on her career, good for fifth place all-time in the Ute record book. She needs 349 more kills to move into first place (1,566).
Turner already ranks first in both total blocks (536) and block assists (476), sixth in block solos (60) and eighth in attempts (2,538).
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. The only two-time MWC Tournament MVP in league history, Turner needs five block assists and 435 kills to move into first place all-time in both categories at Utah.
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.
NEXT WEEK:
The Utes host Nevada at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 19, and Weber State at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20.
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