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The University of Utah Athletics
Utah Volleyball Falls in Four Sets at New Mexico
11/5/2009 12:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 5, 2009
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Karolina Bartkowiak and Cinthia Silva both recorded at least 10 kills but the University of Utah volleyball team dropped a 3-1 match at New Mexico (25-23, 13-25, 25-27, 19-25) Thursday in a Mountain West Conference match at the Johnson Center.
Utah (15-8, 8-3 MWC) has won nine of its last 12 matches but was outhit .189 to .107 in the match while the Utes did hold a 14-11 lead in team blocking. Utah held a 4-3 advantage in service aces but came up 58 digs, compared to 72 for New Mexico.
Bartkowiak hit 17 kills for her third straight double-figure-kill match and 16th this season. The Aurora, Ill., native now has 30 such performances in her career. She also added seven digs and three blocks in Thursday's match.
Silva came up with 12 kills and now has hit double-digits in kills in two straight matches and 20 times in her two-year career. Silva has had at least 10 kills in 11 of Utah's 23 matches this season. She also chipped in six digs and two blocks.
Chelsey Sandberg registered nine kills and tied for team-high honors by posting seven blocks in the match. Sandberg is now in ninth place on the school's all-time block assist list with 300. She also moved into 10th place in school history with 320 career total blocks.
Danielle Killpack tied Sandberg for the team lead at the net for the Ute defense with seven blocks. She now has tied for the team lead or led the team for the eighth time this season.
Setters Abby Simmons distributed a team-high 23 assists and Stephanie Neeley climbed to ninth place in the school's record book with 16 assists to improve her career total to 1,711. Freshman McKenzie Odale was credited with the first two assists of her career.
In the back row, libero Keisha Fisher registered her 17th straight double-figure-dig match to tie for match-high honors with 20 digs. The Ririe, Idaho native has had double-digit digs in 22 of 23 matches this season and now has 55 such performances in her career. Fisher has met or exceeded the 20-dig mark three times this season.
The first set was close throughout and featured 12 ties with neither team leading by more than three points. There were five ties early in the set and it was not until the teams were knotted at 16 when Utah took its first lead, 17-16. The Lobos came back to force seven more ties but when the score was 23-23, back-to-back kills by Silva and Jennifer Lanting gave the Utes the 25-23 first-set victory.
Utah outhit New Mexico .227 to .163 in the opener and Utes held a 4-2 advantage in team blocks. The trio of Bartkowiak, Sandberg and Silva totaled four kills apiece. Silva needed only six attempts and committing only one error for a team-high .500 hitting percentage in the set. In the back row, Fisher came up with nine digs in the first set alone.
The Utes are now 8-2 when taking the first set this year, including a 4-1 mark in conference matches.
The Lobos went on an 11-2 run to jump out to a 13-3 lead to start the second set. UNM would lead by as many 13 points. The Utes scored four consecutive points to cut their deficit to nine points but could not avoid a 25-13 second-set defeat. The Utes were outhit -.286 to .067 in the set while team blocks were even at five apiece.
Utah is now 7-3 when matches are tied at one set apiece this season.
The Utes took three of the first four points of the third set but the Lobos created the second tie of the set with a 3-1 run of their own. The set was tied seven more times before UNM took a 16-15 edge, but Utah responded with five unanswered points to assume a 20-16 lead. The Utes maintained their four-point spread, 22-18, before the Lobos tied the set with four unanswered points, including consecutive kills from Rose Morris. The set would be tied three more times, but unfortunately, the Lobos converted the final two kills to claim a 27-25 win in the third set and 2-1 edge in the match. Utah hit .167 in the frame, compared to a .211 mark for New Mexico, but the Utes did manage to outblock the Lobos, 3-2. Bartkowiak led the way with six kills and Silva contributed four.
The tight play continued into the fourth set as there were four ties in the first 10 points of the set. UNM managed the first spurt of the set, going on a 4-1 run, to inch out to a 9-6 lead. The Lobos went on to stretch their lead to as many as six points en route to a 25-19 match-clinching win in the fourth set. UNM held a .282 to .211 advantage in hitting with team blocks knotted at two points apiece. Bartkowiak registered six more kills in the fourth set.
New Mexico (17-8, 8-5 MWC) was led by a double-double by Morris, who posted a team-high 16 kills to go along with 10 digs.
The Utes still command a 42-29 in the all-time series.
Utah travels to Fort Worth, Texas to take on TCU Saturday at 1 p.m. CT. A live web cast of the match from the University Recreation Center can be found at http://all-access.cbssports.com/player.html?code=tcu&media=132057.
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