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University of Utah
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UNLV
Utah Volleyball Sweeps UNLV
10/14/2010 12:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 14, 2010
SALT LAKE CITY - The University of Utah volleyball team held UNLV to a .048 hitting percentage on the attack in a three-set victory over the Rebels (28-26, 25-15, 25-17) Thursday in a Mountain West Conference match at Crimson Court.
Utah (8-10, 3-2 MWC) held UNLV to a .048 mark on the attack while going for a .295 hitting percentage as a team during its second three-set victory this season.
The Ute offense featured a balanced attack throughout the match, led by nine kills from Erin Redd on 13 swings and only two errors for a .538 hitting percentage. She also contributed a pair of blocks.
"[Redd] has been getting kills," Utah head coach Beth Launiere said. "She is a low-error, high-kill player for us. Her hitting percentage is second in the conference so she has been doing that pretty consistently. We have been working on her block too, and she did a lot better with it tonight."
Morgan Odale and Karolina Bartkowiak both pitched in eight kills apiece. Bartkowiak need just 13 swings and recorded a .385 hitting mark after committing just three errors on the attack. Odale took 21 attempts and had just three miscues for a .238 mark while also serving a pair of aces.
Danielle Killpack followed with six kills after taking just 10 attempts to record a .400 clip. Killpack turned in a match-high six blocks, followed by five from Bartkowiak. The Utes and Rebels tied in team blocks at nine apiece.
Senior setter Stephanie Neeley set up the Ute attack with 29 assists and also popped up four digs. She is fifth in school history with 2,558 career helpers.
"[Neeley] did a nice job moving the ball around and getting other people involved," Launiere said. "[Killpack] had a nice match for us, offensively and on the block."
Two Utes recorded 10 or more digs in the back row. Thanks to a match-high-tying 10 digs, Keisha Fisher has reached double figures in digs in Utah's last four matches. She now has 1,389 career digs, which is 187 shy of the school record, with 13 matches left on the regular-season schedule. Odale tied Fisher for match-high honors in digs with 10 for her second consecutive double-digit-dig performance and her seventh this season.
The first set of the match was by far the most competitive, featuring nine ties and four lead changes. With the set tied at nine points apiece, Utah scored four consecutive points and would hold the lead until UNLV put together a 6-1 spurt to finally re-tie the set at 23-23. The teams would be tied three more times before the Utes were finally able to close out the set after a UNLV attack error and a Redd kill. After the 28-26 victory, Utah is now 4-3 in sets that go into extra points this season. Utah outhit UNLV .219 to .132 in the opener, while Redd turned in five kills and Odale, Killpack and Bartkowiak all registered three kills apiece.
"We played really well during the first set," Launiere said. "We just have to get down to business and finish sets off. Once we did that, it gave us a bit more confidence. We played really well in sets two and three. I was most excited about our blocking and defense. We held UNLV to .048 on the attack. That is a good number to hold opponents to and that's what I was most pleased about. We have been working hard on that in practice."
In the following frame, the Utes raced out to a 6-1 lead and would never look back en route to a 25-15 second-set victory to assume a 2-0 edge in the match. The Utes would never lead by less than three points and were ahead by as many as 10 points in the set and limited UNLV to a -.057 hitting percentage. Utah hit for a .333 mark on the attack, led by three kills on three swings from Killpack.
Utah once again got out to a fast start in the third set, climbing to a 5-1 lead. The Utes would push their advantage to as many as 11 points, 22-11, before clinching the match with a 25-17 victory. The Utes held UNLV to a .065 mark on the attack in the set while going for a .360 mark themselves. Odale, Bartkowiak and Redd continued Utah's impressive balance on the attack, each recording three kills.
Sophomore Natalie Nichols made her first appearance this season in the third set.
UNLV (6-13, 2-4 MWC) was led by a match-high 10 kills by Makenzie Moea'i. Kela Lau Hee recorded a team-high eight digs while Candice Thomas and Amanda Alles both recorded five blocks.
The Utes continue MWC play at 1 p.m., on Saturday against Air Force at Crimson Court. It will be the team's annual `Power of Pink' match so anyone wearing pink will receive free admission to support breast cancer awareness.
"Come out and wear pink to our match on Saturday," Launiere said. "It is an important cause to support so show up and cheer on the Utes and wear pink for breast cancer awareness."
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