Utah Volleyball Falls To Washington In NCAA Tournament Sweet 16

Friday, December 12

Seattle, Wash.

8:00 PM

University of Utah

Washington

Utah Volleyball Falls To Washington In NCAA Tournament Sweet 16

12/12/2008 12:00 AM | Volleyball

Box Score

SEATTLE -The No. 12 seed University of Utah volleyball team got a team-high 10 kills from senior outside hitter Kathryn Haynie but lost to Washington in three sets (16-25, 20-25, 16-25) in a Seattle Regional semifinal match Friday at Bank One Arena.

"I thought we competed well," Utah head coach Beth Launiere said. "We had stretches of good aggressive volleyball. We battled all night. Obviously, we gave up some runs of points. You can't do that against a good Washington team, but we did hit our average, and we did hit above what [Washington] was holding its opponents."

The Utes were outhit .413 to .253 for the match, but held a 6.5 to 4.5 edge in blocks. Senior Emillie Toone posted a match-high five blocks, while three others had a pair of blocks.

Haynie had 10 kills on 24 swings with four errors for a .250 hitting percentage to go along with nine digs and two blocks.

Karolina Bartkowiak hit for seven kills on just nine swings for a .667 hitting percentage. The Aurora, Ill., native committed only one attack error to go along with a pair of blocks.

"Offensively, we did well," Launiere said. "Obviously, we weren't able to stop them, which was tough for us because that is something we have been able to do most of the season. I thought we battled hard, played hard. I was very proud of the effort we gave tonight."

Senior Lori Baird and junior Chelsey Sandberg came up with five kills apiece, while Stephanie Shardlow set up the Utes with 21 assists. Abby Simmons contributed 10 assists, as well.

Utah libero Keisha Fisher had 10 digs to lead the Utah back row. Fisher had 20 double-figure-assist matches.

In the first set, Washington used a 3-0 run to take a 9-6 lead and extended its lead to five points at 17-12 thanks to a 5-1 run, then UW scored five of the next seven points to extend its lead to 22-14 before taking a 25-16 first-set win. Haynie totaled three kills on seven swings for a .286 hitting percentage, while Bartkowiak had two kills on three swings for a .667 clip. Fisher came up with a set-high-tying five digs in the back row. The Utes were outhit by the Huskies, .387 to .226, and outblocked 2.5 to 1.5 in the set.

The Utes got out to a 5-3 lead early in the second set thanks to two more kills from Haynie. Utah maintained its two-point spread at 11-9, but Washington stormed back to score seven consecutive points en route to a six-point lead, 19-13. Utah responded with a 4-1 stretch that saw it cut the deficit to 20-18, but could not prevent Washington from taking the 25-20 second-set victory.

Bartkowiak led the Utes in the set with four kills on five swings with attack error and a .600 hitting percentage. Haynie totaled three kills on seven more attempts, while Sandberg added three kills on four more attempts. The Utes hit .345 as a team in the second set, but could not slow down the Huskie attack. UW converted 15 kills on 27 attempts with just two errors for a .481 hitting percentage. Both teams registered two team blocks apiece.

Utah gained a two-point advantage at 8-6 to begin the third set, but Washington used a 7-0 run to gain a 13-8 edge. The Utes then pieced together three consecutive points to assume a 21-13 edge and take a 25-16 win to clinch the match. Toone turned in three blocks in the final set, while Simmons was credited with her third kill of the season

Washington (27-4) hit .413 in the match and had three players hit for at least 12 kills. Setter Jenna Hagglund distributed a match-high 36 assists to go along with six digs.

"... It took us a little while to get the pieces in the right place and get people in the right seats on the bus," Launiere said. "Once we switched to the 6-2 [after a loss at Wyoming], we felt like that was the key for us. We were able to get more offense from the right side. Obviously, had a lot of options and take a little pressure off of our young setters."

This was the final game for three Utah seniors: Baird, Haynie and Toone.

"Our team is really tight knit," Haynie said. "Sometimes, seasons get long with teams going on the road a lot. With this team, we just loved every minute being together. It's been really a fun experience and it hasn't hit yet that it's over."

Utah finished its season 26-6 overall and won the 2008 Mountain West Conference title, while earning its second NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearance in school history.