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University of Utah
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Purdue
Ute Volleyball Drops 3-2 Decision To No. 15 Purdue
9/13/2008 12:00 AM | Volleyball
SALT LAKE CITY - Kathryn Haynie had 14 kills and 13 digs but the University of Utah volleyball team dropped a five-set decision to No. 15 Purdue, 3-2 (25-22, 21-25, 19-25, 25-19, 15-12) in the final match of the Utah Classic Saturday at Crimson Court.
Utah (7-2) finished the Utah Classic with a 2-1 record and featured a balanced attack with four players reaching double-figures in the final match. Haynie led the way with 14 kills, while Karolina Bartkowiak and Cinthia Silva tallied 11 apiece. All-tournament selection Lori Baird totaled 10 to go along with three blocks. Emillie Toone came through with nine kills, three digs, and a pair of blocks.
"It was just a good, well-fought match out there tonight," head coach Beth Launiere said. "There were a lot of ups and downs with two good teams playing really hard. [Purdue] just beat us. It was a good match and we were happy with how we played in the tournament, overall."
The Utes took a 4-1 lead at the beginning of the fifth set, featuring a key kill and block by Toone. Purdue battled back to take a 7-5 advantage, and extended its lead to 12-8. Utah worked to cut the deficit to two points on two separate occasions (13-11 and 14-12) but could not come up with the fifth-set victory.
"We need to figure out how to be more consistent in many areas of the game," Launiere said. "I am confident that we will do that. It's still early in the season, so we have some time to work on those things."
Utah's first home loss of the season snapped its five-match win streak. This was also Utah's second five-set match, as the Utes pulled out a 3-2 win against Santa Clara on Aug. 31.
The Utes are now 0-2 against top-25 teams this season.
"[Playing quality opponents like No. 15 Purdue] just gives us a lot of different challenges," Launiere said. "Good, solid teams like that show you where we need to get better. If we rolled through the early season with easy victories, we would not know what we have to work on heading into our [Mountain West Conference] schedule."
The Utes were outhit by the Boilermakers, .154 to .127.
"[Purdue] just has a really big block up front," Launiere said. "They forced us to do a lot of things we didn't want to do so we got a little predictable. The only thing we can do is just work to get a little better in a lot of areas."
The first set was tied at 22 points apiece when the Boilermakers' started their set-clinching 3-0 run, which ended in a 25-22 victory. Haynie led Utah in the set with a team-high six kills on 16 attempts with only one attack error. Haynie's .312 hitting percentage was bested on the Ute squad only by Baird, who had four kills on 11 attempts without an error for a .364 mark. Despite Haynie and Baird, the Utes were outhit .231 to .163 for the set.
The Utes fell behind 4-0, but roared back for an 11-8 edge midway through the second set. The Boilermakers came back to tie the set on four different occasions, but with kills by Bartkowiak and Baird along with four Boilermaker attack errors, the Utes built their lead back up and earned a 25-21 win.
In the third set, Utah led by as many as seven points at an 18-11 margin, but a 6-0 run got the Boilermakers within a point. Then a key junction followed, fueled by a Purdue attack error and a block by Baird and kill from Haynie, the Utes gained a 22-18 advantage they would carry to a 25-19 third-set victory.
Purdue took a 6-1 lead to begin the fourth set and eventually held on for a 25-19 win to tie the match.
Along the back row, Stephanie Shardlow and Keisha Fisher both had 19 digs. The 19-dig mark was a career high for Shardlow, who also coordinated the Ute attack with 36 assists. Fisher registered a new season high with 19 digs.
No. 15 Purdue won the Utah Classic title with a 2-1 record. The Boilermakers are now 8-1 overall, while Utah State (1-9 overall) and Saint Louis (6-3 overall) both finished the tournament, 1-2.
The Utes begin their Mountain West Conference slate on the road against Colorado State at 7 p.m., Thursday, then at Wyoming at 7 p.m., next Saturday.
2008 Utah Classic All-Tournament Team
Melissa Osterloh, OH, Utah State
Kelli Miller, DS, Purdue
Jaclyn Hart, S, Purdue
Lori Baird, MB, Utah
Emillie Toone, OH, Utah
Whitney Behrens, L, Saint Louis
2008 Utah Classic Most Valuable Player
Stephanie Lynch, MH, Purdue
Players Mentioned
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