Upcoming Event: Volleyball versus Weber State (Exhibition) on August 15, 2026 at 3:00 P.M.
3:00 P.M.
Volleyball
vs Weber State (Exhibition)
.png&width=31&height=31&type=webp)
The University of Utah Athletics
Utah Volleyball Notes
9/12/2005 12:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 12, 2005
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
This Week: The University of Utah volleyball team (5-3 overall) hosts the Hampton Inn Utah Classic at Crimson Court this week. Idaho and Santa Clara are the other two teams participating in the annual event. The Utes will battle Idaho on Thursday, Sept 15, and return to the court to play Santa Clara on Saturday, Sept. 17. Idaho and Santa Clara will tangle on Friday, Sept. 16. All three matches will start at 7 p.m.
Quoting Head Coach Beth Launiere:
On This Week: "We have two big matches on our home court this week. Both Idaho and Santa Clara are experienced NCAA Tournament teams. I expect two great matches heading into conference play and it should help us prepare for the Mountain West."
On Last Week: "I think our team came together last weekend. We played four good teams and we showed up and fought each one. This was very good experience for such a young team."
Scouting the Opponent:
Idaho - The Vandals come to town with a 7-2 mark and have won four straight. This is the seventh meeting between Utah and Idaho with Utah owning the all-time series lead, 5-1. Kati Tikker is one of two Vandals averaging more than three kills-per-game. She tallies them at a 3.61 clip. Saxony Brown sets the attack in averaging 12.26 assists per game while Andrea Fox (2.32 digs per game) and Sarah Loney (1.12 blocks) lead the defense.
Santa Clara - The No. 17-ranked Broncos are 6-0 and have left two ranked teams (No. 15 Arizona and No. 18 UC-Santa Barbara) in their wake. SCU owns the all-time series lead with Utah, 3-2. Kim McGiven is the offensive leader, collecting kills at an astounding 5.79 clip. Crystal Matich leads the team with 13.74 assists while Caroline Walters leads the team in digs (4.81) and Cassie Perret in blocks (1.19).
Weekend Recap: The Utes went 3-1 in action last week, beating Utah State, 3-2, Iowa State, 3-1 and Missouri State, 3-1. The only loss came against Arkansas, 3-2.
After leading 2-0 against Utah State, Utah held on for the five-game win. The Utes held on to the momentum as they went on to win the Results Advertising Missouri State Classic. They went 2-1 in the tournament and won the title on a tie-breaker.
The Utes outhit all three of their opponents in their victories but saw Arkansas best them in the loss, .207-.158. For the week, Utah hit .210 to its rivals' .152 and held the edge at the net, 55-43.5.
Shelly Sommerfeldt led the way last week in collecting 3.44 kills per game. Her average included two 19-kill outings (vs. Utah State and Iowa State). Sommerfeldt also led the team in digs with a 3.06 average. She scooped a career-high 19 in the five-game win over USU. Lori Baird was the most efficient hitter, netting a .284 average in racking up 2.56 kills. Shannon Krug had a career-high 55 assists against Utah State and led the team in assists in all four matches as she averaged 11.17 per game. Defensively, Emillie Toone shined in racking up 1.78 blocks per game. She also had career highs in bagging a pair of 10-block outings (vs. Iowa State and Missouri State).
"A" For Effort: Three Ute volleyball players were honored for their performances at the Results Advertising Missouri State Classic last weekend. Leading the way was freshman standout Airial Salvo who was tournament MVP. Classmate Lori Baird and sophomore Emillie Toone won all-tourney acclaim as well.
"A" for Airial: Freshman Airial Salvo has become a dependable offensive option in only in the first eight matches of her collegiate career. Her 3.30 kills per game this season lead the team and she also averages 2.63 digs and nearly one block per game at 0.80. Last week, Salvo had double-doubles in all four matches and tallied a career high 19 kills against Arkansas and twice recorded a career-best 14 digs (against Iowa State and UA).
Nipping it in the Bud: Emillie Toone gave opponent attackers fits last week. The 6-7 sophomore played in all 18 games and averaged 1.78 blocks per game. She had 32 total blocks, including a career-high 10 in each the Iowa State and Missouri State wins. She also chipped in on offense in hitting .272 over the four matches. Her efforts also included a career-high 13 kills against ISU.
Grin and "Baird" it: Freshman Lori Baird recorded double-digit kills in each match last week, and turned in her first career double-double. She bagged 11 kills and a career-high 15 digs in the four-game win over Missouri State. Moreover, she tied her career best of 12 kills in two matches last week, netting a dozen kills against Utah State and Arkansas.
Back in the Mix: Shelly Sommerfeldt has returned from injury to assume her role as one of the top attackers. Last week, the outside hitter had two 19-kill matches, recorded a career high-19 digs and turned in three double-doubles in the four matches. She averaged 3.44 kills and 3.06 digs in playing in all 18 games last week. Those numbers are well above her season averages of 3.04 kills and 2.73 digs.
Fountain of Youth: All four freshmen have seen considerable action in the young season. Three of them (Airial Salvo, Lori Baird and Shannon Krug) have played in all 30 games thus far while the fourth, Kathryn Lovell, has taken the court in 22.
News and Notes: The Utes are 0-2 against opponents mentioned in the CSTV/AVCA coaches poll. Utah dropped 3-0 decisions to No. 21 Missouri and No. 9 Tennessee ... Utah only lost three games last year by a 3-0 count. This year, it has lost two ... Utah is 1-1 in five-game matches this season ... it is also 1-1 in extra-point games ...Utah has played five state schools, going 5-0 in those matches (Idaho State, Weber State, Utah State, Iowa State and Missouri State) ... the Utes held Missouri State to .101 hitting, the lowest for an opponent thus far ... Utah has held its opponents to less than .200 hitting in all of its victories. In it's three losses, all of its opponents hit better than .200 ... the Utes have not been outblocked by an opponent yet this season ... Utah is 4-0 when it hits better than .200 and 1-3 when it hits worse than that. The lone victory came when Utah hit .172 in the Weber State win ... Utah has trailed in each of the last three matches, rallying to win in two of them. Those were the first two come-from-behind victories of the season ... the Utes began the 2005 season receiving votes in the first two CSTV/AVCA Coaches Polls of the season ... Utah was picked to finish second in the MWC preseason coaches poll. It received three first-place votes and finished two points behind the preseason favorite, Brigham Young.
At the Helm: Beth Launiere is in her 16th season as Utah head coach. She has a 304-181 career record. She has led her squad to NCAA Tournament appearances the last seven seasons, including a "Sweet 16" showing in 2001. Following her "Sweet 16" run, Launiere was named the 2001Tachikara/AVCA Division I West Region Coach of the Year. Launiere's Utes have recorded nine 20-win seasons, and last year, Utah posted a then-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.
See Red: There are 12 home matches at Crimson Court this year. To see some of the best volleyball in the nation, contact the Utah ticket office at (801) 581-UTIX or by visiting www.UtahTickets.com.
On the Air: Fans can follow the Utes on the internet this season. By going to volleyball Web page at www.utahutes.com, you can watch and listen to Utah matches as they are streamed live across the Web. In addition to the internet, the Sunday, Nov. 9, match at Colorado State will be televised live on CSTV as part of its Sunday Night Spikes programming.
Up Next: The Utes begin a four-match road swing that sees them begin Mountain West Conference play. Next week are three road matches. Utah will play at Utah Valley State on Tuesday, Sept. 20, before playing at Air Force (Friday, Sept. 23) and at New Mexico (Saturday, Sept. 24).
Players Mentioned
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