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University of Utah
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TCU
Utah Volleyball Racks Up Fifth Straight Win
10/29/2005 12:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 29, 2005
FORT WORTH, Texas - The University of Utah volleyball team reeled off its fifth straight win as it jockeys for position at the top of the Mountain West Conference. The Utes (16-6 overall, 8-3 MWC) raced past conference newcomer TCU tonight, 3-0.
Game scores were 30-22, 30-18 and 30-18. TCU falls to 15-11 on the year and to 3-7 in league play.
"It was a total team effort tonight," head coach Beth Launiere said. "I also think this was one of our best serving matches of the year. It was something we had worked on this week in practice and we had eight aces to only six errors tonight.
"But, it was a complete team effort. We came in focused and prepared and played well because of it. We got a tough conference road victory against a team that plays well on its home court."
The Utes' defense paved the way for the victory as they held the Horned Frogs to a .008 hitting efficiency. TCU racked up 34 kills on 118 swings but had almost as many errors as kills in racking up 33 miscues. Emillie Toone and Lori Baird were the defensive standouts for Utah, which out-blocked TCU, 15-5-6. They each led the way with a match-high six total blocks.
The visitors finished hitting .275 for the match, thanks to hitting .367 and .333 in games two and three, respectively. Airial Salvo was the lone player to tally double-digit kills. She had 12 on the night in hitting .216. Toone was the match's best hitter. She knocked down seven kills on .636 hitting.
Shelly Sommerfeldt had a standout all-around match as well. In addition to her nine kills on .300 hitting, she also had nine digs and three blocks.
Shannon Krug ran the attack in dishing out 34 assists. She helped out on defense too with seven digs and three total blocks.
Danielle Leichliter led the Utes from the back row. She had a team-high 14 digs. Sommerfeldt's nine and Salvo's eight rounded out the team's digs leaders for the night.
Utah also benefited from eight aces, led by Baird and Whitney Webb. They each had two aces on the night.
Devon Kirk led the way for TCU with eight kills in hitting .105 on the night. Nirelle Hampton set the offense and had a team-best 29 assists. Defensively, Talaya Whitfield led all players with 17 digs while LeMeita Smith had a team-best four total blocks.
The Utes return to action on Friday, Nov. 4, when they host nationally-ranked and undefeated Brigham Young. The match will be at Crimson Court where Utah is 9-0 and it will begin at 7 p.m.
Players Mentioned
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Hear It From Harlan featuring Utah Volleyball's Kamryn Gibadlo
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Crimson Corner with Bill Riley - Tony Caridi, voice of the West Virginia Mountaineers
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