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The University of Utah Athletics
Utah Volleyball Opens Season With Sweep Of Utah Valley
8/29/2008 12:00 AM | Volleyball
Aug. 29, 2008
SALT LAKE CITY - Behind the strength of a balanced offensive attack, the University of Utah volleyball team opened its season with a three-set sweep (25-17, 25-10, 25-22) of Utah Valley during the first night of the Ute Invitational Friday at Crimson Court.
Utah (1-0) featured a versatile offense throughout the match as both Lori Baird and Kathryn Haynie surpassed double digits in kills. Baird led the way with 13 kills and a .241 hitting percentage, while Haynie turned in 11 kills on 24 attempts for a .250 clip.
The Utes were successful on defense as well, holding Utah Valley to a -.051 hitting percentage (13-16-59) through the first two sets and a .035 mark (23-20-86) for the match.
Coordinating this diverse attack was sophomore setter Stephanie Shardlow, who started the match for the Utes and distributed a match-high 33 assists. Freshman Abby Simmons chipped in with the setting duties and was credited with four assists.
In its first appearance in the newly-installed 25-point, best-of-five set format, Utah started the match off right by getting a lot of different players involved on the offensive in the match's opening set. Four different players (Baird, Karolina Bartkowiak, Kathryn Haynie and Cinthia Silva) registered three kills apiece, while Emillie Toone came up with two and Sharlow even got in on the act with a kill of her own.
The Utes surged to a 6-0 lead in set one only to see the Wolverines came back with a four-point run to reduce their lead to 10-6 when a kill by Chelsey Garfield finally got UVU back on the board. The Utes wasted no time in building their lead back up with a 4-0 run to take a commanding eight-point lead that they would carry to a 25-17 game-one win.
In set two, Baird, Haynie and Bartkowiak pounded down three more kills apiece to help Utah open up a 13-3 lead. The Utes never looked back as their lead grew to as many as 15 points on three occasions with Utah taking leads of 23-8 and 24-9 before the final margin of 25-10. This was Utah's largest set win since beating TCU 30-15 in the first set of its 3-0 win on Nov. 22, 2007 in its first match at the Mountain West Conference Tournament.
The third set featured the Utes taking a lead early once again, but the Wolverines battled back from a 10-6 deficit to take their first lead of the match: a 14-13 advantage after a block by Jaicee Kuresa and Kristen Anderson. The Utes battled back by taking seven of the next 10 points to build a 20-17 cushion. The teams would split the next 10 points and Utah would get a pair of kills from Haynie to clinch a 25-22 set victory and the match.
Defensively, Baird and Bartkowiak were mainstays on the Ute block. They both totaled three blocks apiece through the first two sets, then Bird came up with her fourth block of the match to give the Utes a 24-22 edge in the third.
Utah moved to 6-0 all-time against Utah Valley and is now 7-3 when making its season debut at Crimson Court. The Utes also improved to 16-18 all-time in season-opening matches.
The Ute Invitational continues throughout the weekend as Utah hosts Santa Clara at 4 p.m. Sunday, while Utah Valley will face SCU at 4 p.m., tomorrow at Crimson Court.
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