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The University of Utah Athletics
Weekly Volleyball Notes
10/17/2006 12:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 17, 2006
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This Week - Two home matches are on the docket for the No. 10-ranked University of Utah volleyball team (17-2, 8-0 Mountain West). First up for the Utes is San Diego State on Friday, Oct. 20. They return to the court on Sunday, Oct. 22, to host UNLV. Both matches are at Crimson Court and start at 7 and 4 p.m., respectively. All home matches are played at Crimson Court, located in room 101 on the lower level of the HPER-East complex.
The Sunday night match against UNLV will air on the mtn. numerous times throughout the week. Check you local listings for the times and dates.
Quoting Head Coach Beth Launiere:
On This Week: "At this point in the season, every match is an important one. The interesting thing about this weekend's matches is that these two teams play contrasting styles of volleyball. San Diego State is a good blocking team and UNLV digs a lot of balls and has sustained rallies. The key for us will be to adjust to the different teams."
On Last Week: "We're not always going to go out and play our best volleyball. We definitely weren't firing on all cylinders at Wyoming, but our team found a way to win. As a coach, you're happy with that.
"This is the toughest part of the season and right now you do what you need to do to get the win."
More Digs Than an Insult Comic - The Utes finished the five-game Wyoming victory with the Mountain West Conference record for digs in a match. The 108 digs against the Cowgirls tops the MWC mark of 106, set by Wyoming back in 2005. Buoying the 100-plus dig effort were the 20-dig outings of Whitney Webb (26) and Connie Dangerfield (24). The 108 digs was one shy of the school record. Utah had 109 digs against Santa Clara back in 1996 when Utah was in the Western Athletic Conference.
More Blocks Than a NYC Road Map - Lori Baird came away from the five-game Wyoming match with a school record of her own. She tallied 13 block assists in the victory, setting the school mark for block assists in a five-game match. That mark one-ups the record set by Emillie Toone against Colorado State back in 2005. Baird is no stranger to the single-match record book, having etched her name in it by hitting .923 (12-0-13) against Missouri State earlier this season.
More Blocks Than a Lego Set - The Utes set the school record for block assists in a five-game match against Wyoming, tallying 50 such blocks in the win. More impressive is the fact that Utah's two middle blockers were the foundation for the record. Lori Baird had 13 block assists coupled with Emillie Toone's 12. The duo combined to account for half of the team's block assists that night.
More Blocks Than the Road Map and Lego Set Combined - If you're looking for a reason why opponents hit a meager .076 against Utah last weekend, look no further than its block. The Utes amassed blocks at an astounding 5.38 blocks-per-game clip. They had 16 team blocks in the three-game win over UVSC (5.33 per game) and 27 in the five-game victory over Wyoming (5.40 per game). The 16 team blocks against UVSC was a three-game high this year while the 27 blocks is a five-game season high. For the season, Utah averages 3.90 blocks per game.
You've Been "Whit" Washed - Whitney Webb almost had the coveted triple-double in the five-game win over Wyoming last weekend. The outside hitter collected 16 kills and 26 digs in the match. She missed the triple-double by one block, tallying nine block-assists. The nine blocks and 26 digs were a career high for Webb. But, career highs were nothing new to her this week. She hit a career best. .611 in the win over UVSC last week, netting 12 kills on 18 swings. Webb had just one hitting error against the Wolverines.
The Numbers Game - 46, the number days it's been since Utah lost a match; 15, the number of victories in Utah's current winning streak; 10, where Utah ranks in the coaches poll; 10, the number of games Utah has lost all season; 1, the number of five-game matches Utah has played this year; 0, the number of home losses.
A Catchy "Toone" - Emillie Toone returned to form last weekend, leading Utah's blocks and an efficient attack. Last week, the 6-7 middle averaged an eye-popping 2.50 blocks per game and collected 13 kills on .423 hitting (13-2-26). Her 2.50 blocks-per-game effort was buoyed by 14 total blocks at Wyoming. She had two block solos and 12 block assists. The 14 total blocks was two shy of the school's five-game record.
National Rankings - In the national rankings through Oct. 17, Emillie Toone is the No. 1 blocker (1.90 bpg) in the nation. Meanwhile, the team ranks first in blocks per game (3.87), 10th in win-loss percentage (.895), 12th in hitting (.282), 23rd in kills (16.30) and 26th in assists (15.02).
Poll Position - Utah is currently ranked No. 10 in the latest poll ... it has been ranked the CSTV/AVCA coaches poll a total of 68 times ... the highest-ever ranking was No. 8 on Sept. 9, 2002 ... the Utes have been ranked in the top 10 a total of four times ... the previous top-10 ranking was on Sept. 16, 2002 when Utah was ranked No. 10.
Potent Notables - The Utes are 1-2 against nationally ranked teams this season. They beat then-No. 16 BYU, 3-1, and lost to then-No. 5 Florida and then-No. 14 USC also by 3-1 counts ... with 13 block assists last weekend, Emillie Toone moved into fifth place all-time in Utah's record book. She now has 353 career block assists and needs 18 more for fourth all-time ... Toone is nine blocks shy of 400 career total blocks ... setter Shannon Krug dished out her 1,700th career assist last weekend. With that, she moved into eighth all-time in Utah's career record book ... libero Connie Dangerfield is 17 digs short of tallying her 900th career dig ... the 75 kills against Wyoming were a season high, besting the 72-kill effort in the four-game win over BYU ... Utah's 108 digs and 27 team blocks against Wyoming were also a season-high marks ... the Utes' .189 hitting percentage against Wyoming was the lowest effort this season. It snapped a string of 14 matches that saw Utah hit no worse than .240 ... Utah is 14-0 in three-game matches, 2-2 in four-game affairs and 1-0 in five-gamers ... they are also 16-3 in games one and two, 17-2 in game three, 3-2 in game four and 1-0 in game five.
Scouting the Opponents:
San Diego State - The Aztecs own an 8-12 overall mark and are tied for sixth with a 2-6 league tally. SDSU has won in two of its last three but dropped a 3-1 decision to Colorado State in its last outing. Among the six conference losses was the 3-0 setback to Utah back on Sept. 23. With the win, the all-time series evens out to 17-17. Leading the team are Melanie Greene (3.77 kills), Lindsey Mehan (.229 hitting), Leah Lathrop (9.89 assists), Aime Cordeiro (5.55 digs) and Kelley Wahlin (1. 27 blocks).
UNLV - The Rebels enter the week with a 14-6 mark, checking in at fourth in the league with a 5-3 MWC record. The Rebels have won in two of their last three, topping Air Force in their last match, 3-0. Utah's 3-1 win over UNLV back on Sept. 21 upped Utah's all-time record to 21-1 against the Rebels. Leading the team are Maria Aladjova (3.76 kills), Erin Greenwood (.300 hitting), Melody Nua (10.00 assists), Jada Walker (5.04 digs) and Samantha Noland (1.22 blocks).
Last Week - The Utes raced their winning streak to 15 matches with a three-game win over UVSC (30-15, 30-25, 30-22) and a five-game victory over Wyoming (27-30, 28-30, 30-20, 30-26, 15-8).
Utah out-hit UVSC, .298-.066, in tallying its 14th straight win. Airial Salvo and Kathryn Lovell led the attack with 13 and 12 kills, respectively. The Utes held the 16-5 edge at the net as Whitney Webb's nine blocks led all Utes. Salvo and Connie Dangerfield led the Utes with 13 digs each.
It was a solid defensive effort that helped Utah erase a 0-2 deficit in the Wyoming victory. It held a 27-12 edge in team blocks, led the 13-block effort of Lori Baird and the 14-block outing of Emillie Toone. The Utes also held the 108-87 edge in digs as Webb (26 digs) and Dangerfield (24) each had 20-dig outings. Utah out-hit the Cowgirls, .189-.081, as Kate Robison's 17 kills led the offense.
Air Time - This fall, CSTV Networks and the Mountain West Conference kick off an unprecedented 14-year partnership designed to offer the most in-depth coverage ever centered around one Division I-A conference. The centerpiece of this historic relationship is the launch of The mtn. ("the mountain")--MountainWest Sports Network. The mtn. is the first-ever Super Regional Sports Network and will serve the Mountain West Conference 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Utah will be featured on The mtn. on Sunday, Oct. 22, when it hosts UNLV. That match will start at 4 p.m. It will be televised on delay at 7 p.m. Check local listings for future replay times. In addition, to regular season matches, the entire Mountain West Conference will be televised between The mtn. and CSTV.
In addition to CSTV's and the mtn.'s coverage of Utah volleyball, live audio and video of each home match is available for a nominal charge at www.utahutes.com.
At the Helm - Beth Launiere is in her 17th season as Utah's head coach. She has a 339-189 career record. She has led her squad to NCAA Tournament appearances the last eight seasons, including a "Sweet 16" showing in 2001. Following her "Sweet 16" run, Launiere was named the 2001 Tachikara/AVCA Division I West Region Coach of the Year. Launiere's Utes have recorded 10 20-win seasons, and in 2005, 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.
Upcoming - Mountain West Conference play continues for Utah when it hosts in-state rival BYU on Oct. 27. The Utes return to the road to play at TCU (Nov. 3) and New Mexico (Nov. 4) before it returns to Crimson Court to host Wyoming in the regular-season home finale (Nov. 9). The regular season will conclude on the road at Air Force (Nov. 17) and Colorado State (Nov. 18).
Players Mentioned
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/ VolleyballGet to know new Utah Volleyball Head Coach Alyssa D'Errico.
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