No. 17 Utah Volleyball Earns 3-1 Win Over Mizzou

Saturday, September 5

Orem, Utah

4:30 PM

University of Utah

Missouri

No. 17 Utah Volleyball Earns 3-1 Win Over Mizzou

9/5/2009 12:00 AM | Volleyball

Sept. 5, 2009

Box Score

OREM, Utah - Sophomore outside hitter Sarah Hibbert registered a career-high 17 kills and Karolina Bartkowiak and Cinthia Silva had double-doubles to help the 17th-ranked University of Utah volleyball team to a 3-1 (21-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-20) win over Missouri Saturday in its final match of the La Quinta Inn & Suites Invitational at the Shurian Family Activity Center.

Utah (5-2) outhit Missouri .343 to .276 and managed a 10.5 to 6 advantage in team blocks over the Tigers.

"I was very excited that we were able to get 10.5 blocks," Utah head coach Beth Launiere said. "Our offense has been playing well and putting up pretty extraordinary numbers. When we get our block and defense going, we can have some good results. We just keep working to improve with each match and I'm very happy with how we responded [after the loss to Washington State this morning]."

Hibbert tallied her 17 kills on 35 swings with three miscues for a .400 hitting percentage. Jennifer Lanting also posted a new career high with 12 kills.

Silva and Bartkowiak both posted double-double performances in the match. Silva had 11 kills and 11 digs while Bartkowiak had 10 kills and 12 digs. This was the third double-double performance for Bartkowiak this season and the first for Silva.

Sophomore setter Abby Simmons dished out a season-high 30 assists to coordinate the Ute attack. Simmons' assist total falls just one shy of tying her career high. Junior Stephanie Neeley posted a season high as well, doling out 26 assists for Utah.

Defensively, Chelsey Sandberg came up with a match-high six blocks and three more Utes --- Danielle Killpack, Bartkowiak and Silva --- had four blocks apiece at the net for Utah.

Libero Keisha Fisher had a match-high 19 digs from the back row for the Utes.

The early portion of the first set featured 11 ties and neither team led by more than one point until a 7-1 Missouri run gave the Tigers a 19-13 lead. The Utes cut their deficit to as little as three points but Missouri prevailed with a 25-21 win in the opening set.

Bartkowiak connected for four kills and Lanting had three as the Utes hit .270 in the set as a team and outblocked Missouri, 2-1. Silva led the charge up front with a pair of blocks. Unfortunately, the Tigers were able to hit for a .378 mark on the attack.

The Tigers jumped out to a 4-1 lead as the second set began but Utah put together a 4-0 run to take its first lead of the set at 7-6. There were nine more ties before Utah took a 20-19 lead that prompted a Missouri timeout. A pair of Hibbert kills down the stretch helped the Utes capture a 25-23 win the second set to even the match.

Hibbert exploded for seven kills on just nine swings for a .667 hitting percentage during the second set to help the Utes outhit the Tigers, .375 to .371. Utah also outblocked Mizzou for the set, 3-1, and was led by a pair of blocks from Sandberg. Fisher turned in four digs in the back row of the Ute defense.

Utah opened up its largest lead of the match up to that point with a four-point advantage (14-10) in the third set. The Utes managed to extend that margin to six points as they took a 23-17 lead and eventually earned a 25-19 win.

Both Bartkowiak and Hibbert registered five kills each in the set as the Utes outhit the Tigers .366 to .208 and earned a 3.5-2 edge in blocking. Bartkowiak also added seven digs and tied for team-high honors in the set with Fisher, who also dug out seven Tiger attack attempts.

Three of the first four points of the fourth set came by a pair of service errors and a service ace as Missouri started the set by assuming a 4-1 lead. The Utes fought back to tie the set thanks to a 5-3 run, but the action was tied on seven more occasions before Utah surged its largest lead of the set at 18-15 after a Silva service ace. The Tigers eventually fought back to within one point (19-18), but the Utes finished off the victory by taking six of the last points in the match to clinch a 25-20 win.

Silva saved her best for last, turning in five kills on 10 swings as the Utes outhit the Tigers in the set, .364 to .156.

Missouri (4-2) was led by 15 kills from Julianna Klein. Klein needed 40 swings during the match, committing six errors for a .225 hitting efficiency, and also posted nine digs and four blocks.

The Utes continue their five-match road trip Tuesday at Utah State. First serve is slated for 7 p.m., in Logan, Utah.