Upcoming Event: Volleyball at Arizona on October 2, 2025 at 7:00 PM
7:00 PM
Volleyball
at Arizona
Friday, December 3
Los Angeles, Calif.
6:30 PM
University of Utah
0
vs
3
Long Beach State (NCAA Tournament)
Utah Volleyball Season Ends At NCAAs
12/3/2004 12:00 AM | Volleyball
Dec. 3, 2004
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The University of Utah volleyball season came to an abrupt ending when the No. 20-ranked Utes fell to Long Beach State in the first round of the NCAA tournament here this evening, 3-0.
The Utes finish the season 24-7, having dropped the three games on scores of 19-30, 25-30 and 31-33. LBSU ups its record to 24-6 for the year and will face the winner of the UCLA/Loyola Marymount match in the second round tomorrow night.
"We've won a lot of volleyball games with our block and defense this season," head coach Beth Launiere said after the Long Beach State match. "And, that just wasn't there in games one and two tonight. I think that if we were able to finish game three, that we could have made a match out it.
"When Long Beach State is in system, it's so athletic that it's a tough team to play against. But, there were times that it was out of system, when we could've gotten some points, and we didn't do that."
LBSU was able to cruise to game one and two victories by hitting better than .400 in each game. It also held Utah to a .214 average in game one and a .158 hitting percentage in game two.
The Utes rallied in game three, leading the entire match until LBSU came back to tie it at 29-29. It was all LBSU at the end of game three as it capitalized on Utah errors to complete the three-game sweep in extra points.
The Utes, who hit .200 for the match, were led by Shelly Sommerfeldt and her 16 kills. She hit a team-best .405 committing only one error on 37 attempts. Tracy Neumeier set the attack with 22 assists.
Defensively, Utah held the edge at the net, outblocking The Beach, 9-5. Lyndsey Henderson's three blocks were a team best as were Connie Dangerfield's nine digs.
LBSU hit .333 for the match had four girls tally double-digit kills. I was led by Makini Thompson's 16 kills, Jillian Mazzarella's 43 assists, Heather Laudato's 11 digs and saw two girls tally three total blocks.
Players Mentioned
L
/ VolleyballUtah Volleyball's Emrie Moea'i - ESPN+ Feature
Thursday, September 25
Hear It From Harlan featuring Utah Volleyball's Kamryn Gibadlo
Thursday, September 25
Crimson Corner with Bill Riley - Tony Caridi, voice of the West Virginia Mountaineers
Tuesday, September 23
Crimson Corner with Bill Riley - Urban Meyer
Wednesday, September 17