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3:00 P.M.
Volleyball
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The University of Utah Athletics
Utah Volleyball Notes
9/13/2004 12:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 13, 2004
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What's on Tap?
The University of Utah women's volleyball team (4-2) will play host to some of the premiere college volleyball programs this weekend. Included on the docket are No. 6-ranked UCLA on Friday, Sept. 17 at 7 p.m., and Northern Colorado and Saint Mary's on Saturday, Sept. 18. The UNC match starts at noon on Saturday while the St. Mary's match begins at 7 p.m.
Scouting the Opposition:
UCLA (6-1) will wind down a 10-match, season-opening road swing when it comes to Utah to play the Utes and BYU. It chalked up six straight wins before dropping its first match to No. 11-ranked Hawaii last weekend. Among the Bruins' six wins are victories over No. 15 Texas A&M (3-0) and No. 17 Santa Clara (3-0). All starters return from last season and are led by Brynn Murphy with 3.61 kills per game and a .335 hitting percentage. Nana Meriwether has a team-high 2.0 blocks per game while Krystal McFarland's 12.61 assists and Chrissie Zartman's 5.5 digs per game are also tops. Andy Banachowski is in his 38th year at the helm of UCLA. He owns a 969-245 career record and has led the Bruins to six national titles.
Northern Colorado (4-3) snapped a two-match losing streak by topping Portland State in five games last Saturday. UNC plays Air Force on Tuesday and BYU on Friday before coming to Crimson Court. The Bears, who return four starters, are led by Erin Deffenbaugh and her 4.29 kills-per-game average. She is one of four Bears to average more than 2.0 kills per game. Danelle Angus leads the team in attack percentage (.388) and blocks per game (1.03), Corrine Chapin in assists (12.13) and Abby Mayne in digs (2.73). Ron Alexander is 67-8 for his career and is in his third season as head coach at UNC.
Saint Mary's is perhaps the hottest team coming in this weekend, opening action this week a perfect 7-0. Among the seven wins is a victory over then-No. 6 Stanford. They play at San Jose State and BYU before battling Utah. The Gaels return five starters from 2003. Lindsey Bogason is the top attacker among the Gaels' kill leaders. She averages 3.73 kills per game and is hitting .300. Stacey O'Connor's 1.48 blocks are tops, as are Melissa Stidham's 3.44 digs and Mandy Bible's 11.65 assists. Jon Stevenson is in his third year coaching at Saint Mary's. He brings a 65-63 career record into action this week.
Series Records:
The Utes are 6-10 all-time against their three opponents this weekend. Utah has yet to tap UCLA for a win, going 0-7 against the Bruins. But, Utah is 5-3 against Northern Colorado and 1-0 against Saint Mary's College. The Utes are 24-61 all-time against the PAC-10, 20-15 against the West Coast Conference and 8-3 versus Independents.
Quoting Head Coach Beth Launiere:
On UCLA, UNC and Saint Mary's: "This weekend is a great measuring stick for our team as we head into conference play. We got one of the top teams in the country in UCLA, a very solid Saint Mary's program and a Northern Colorado team that returns the Division II "Player of the Year." This is going to be a big weekend for our team."
On the Utah State match: "I was pleased with how well our team played defense against Utah State. It's always nice to attend to something like that in practice and then see it pay off in the match. We still need to work on ball control but as that gets better this season, so does our team."
Last Week:
The Utes got back into the win column cruising to a 3-0 win over intrastate rival Utah State in their only match last week. Game scores were 30-21, 30-25 and 30-23.
Utah's defense was stingy as it held its rivals to a .086 hitting percentage (35-26-105) and narrowly edged the Aggies in blocks, 8.0-7.5. The Utes hit .260 for the match (46-19-104) and were led by Lyndsey Henderson and her match-high 12 kills. She hit .384 for the match (12-4-21). Kindy Peterson led the Aggies with a team-high nine kills. Tracy Neumeier led all players with 27 assists while Liana Bortoto led with nine digs. Amie Toone led the way with five blocks.
Weekly Stats:
National Rankings: Lyndsey Henderson is sixth in blocks per game (2.0) and Amie Toone 30th (1.67); Danielle Leichlitier is 29th in aces per game (0.85).
As a team, Utah is third in the country in blocks per game (4.0).
Mountain West Individual Stats: Lyndsey Henderson is first in blocks per game (1.76), sixth in hitting percentage (.357) and ninth in kills (3.29); Danielle Leichliter is tops in service aces per game (0.72) and eighth in hitting percentage (.346); Amie Toone is third in blocks (1.53) and seventh in hitting percentage (.356); Connie Dangerfield is fourth in digs (3.05); Shelly Sommerfeldt is fifth in service aces (0.52) and 14th in kills (2.86); Kelsie Kartchner is ninth in assists (5.68), 13th in blocks (1.00) and 15th in hitting percentage (.290); Tracy Neumeier is eighth in assists (5.91), 13th in service aces (0.32) and 14th in digs (2.36); Emillie Toone is ninth in blocks (1.16).
Mountain West Team Stats: Utah is tops in opponent hitting percentage (.137), blocks (3.59) and service aces (2.59); it is fourth in hitting (.278); fifth in assist (13.00) and kills (14.45); sixth in digs (12.36).
The Dynamic Duo:
Lyndsey Henderson and Amie Toone are quite the tandem when it comes to blocking. Henderson is the league leader in blocks (1.76 per game) while Toone is third (1.53). In fact, they are the top blocking duo in the Mountain West. The two have combined for 66.0 total blocks and combine to average 1.65 blocks per game. Moreover, the two rank nationally with Henderson sixth and Toone 30th.
Triple Threat:
To go with Lyndsey Henderson and Amie Toone's blocking prowess is freshman Emillie Toone. Emillie's 1.16 blocks per game mean the Utes have three spikers that rank in the conference top 10. Utah is the only Mountain West school with three players in the top 10 and the only school with four blockers among the league leaders. Kelsie Kartchner and her 1.00 blocks rank 13th in the MWC.
Aces Away:
The Utes are tops in the conference in service aces per game (2.59). Danielle Leichliter has been the leader in that department during the season's first two weeks, tallying 0.72 per game. However, Lyndsey Henderson turned it up in the service department. Henderson recorded six aces between the two matches last week, including a career-high four against Utah State.
"D-Classified:"
The Utes' defense has been their crown jewel in the first six matches of the season. Utah's D has held its opponents to a league-low .137 hitting percentage and has out blocked opponents, 79.0-42.5. The Utes' 4.0 blocks-per-game rank third in the nation while its opponent hitting percentage is 24th. Wichita State's 4.33 blocks per game is tops in the country while this weekend's opponent, Saint Mary's, ranks second (4.18).
At The Helm:
Beth Launiere begins her 15th season as the mentor of the Utah women's volleyball program. She owns a 279-173 all-time record. She has led her squad to NCAA Tournament appearances the last six seasons, including a "Sweet 16" showing in 2001. Following the "Sweet 16" showing, Launiere was named the 2001 Tachikara/AVCA Division I West Region Coach of the Year. Launiere's Utes have recorded nine 20-win seasons, and last year, Utah posted a school-record 12 conference victories. A native of Grand Rapids, Mich., Launiere graduated from Aquinas College and was an assistant at Ferris State and Illinois before taking over the Ute program in 1990.
On the Air:
Radio broadcasts and live video streaming of home volleyball games will be available on the Internet at the official athletics Web site, www.UtahUtes.com. In addition, the Nov. 13 home match against Colorado State will be televised on College Sports TV (CSTV). It will air on tape delay on Nov. 14 at 2:30 p.m. (MST). Check with your local cable or satellite provider for more information on CSTV.
Up Next:
The Utes will hit the road and begin Mountain West Conference play at intrastate rival BYU on Friday, Sept. 24. They return to the court again on Tuesday, Sept. 28 to play at Weber State. Both matches are slated to start at 7 p.m.
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