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Utah Volleyball Suffers Five-Set Defeat at UNLV
11/13/2010 12:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 13, 2010
LAS VEGAS - Both Morgan Odale and Karolina Bartkowiak surpassed the 10-kill mark but the University of Utah Volleyball team suffered a loss to UNLV in five sets (19-25, 25-20, 22-25, 25-19, 10-15) Saturday in the Cox Pavilion.
Utah (14-13, 8-4 MWC) held UNLV to a .096 hitting percentage, but was able to hit for only a .141 hitting percentage against UNLV. The Utes were also at a 20-12.5 disadvantage in team blocks. With the defeat, Utah is now 3-3 in five-set decisions this season.
Bartkowiak turned in a team-high 17 kills on only 39 attempts with only three errors and also contributed 19 digs and also had five blocks. Bartkowiak has 11 double-doubles this season and 24 over her career.
Odale added 15 kills to go with seven digs and two blocks. The Star, Idaho native has had 10 or more kills in 18 matches this season.
Senior setter Stephanie Neeley coordinated the Ute attack with 46 assists. Neeley also had seven digs and a pair of blocks. The Saugus, Calif., native is fifth in school history with 2,922 career helpers.
Ute libero Keisha Fisher dug up 23 Rebel attack attempts in the back row of Utah's defense. She has 84 double-digit-dig performances over her career and now has 1,540 career digs, which is 31 shy of the school record, with four matches left on the regular-season schedule. The Ririe, Idaho native needs to average 7.75 digs per match to tie the record.
Utah held a 7-6 lead in the first set before a 4-0 UNLV run would give the Rebels a 10-7 lead. UNLV would not relinquish its lead for the remainder of the set as it went on to a 25-19 win in the opener. Odale had three kills in the first set and Bartkowiak had four digs but the Utes could not pull out the victory.
The second set followed in similar fashion as the action was tied at seven points apiece, but it was Utah this time at took control of the set with a 6-2 spurt to climb to a 13-9 lead. The Utes would lead by as many as eight points (18-10) en route to a 25-20 win to even the match at one set apiece. Erin Redd turned in four kills while Fisher and Odale accounted for four digs apiece in Utah's first victory in the match.
UNLV stormed out to a 6-0 lead in the third set but Utah fought back to tie the set two more times, at 20 and 21 points apiece. Unfortunately, the Rebels held off the Ute rally by taking four of the last five points in the set for a 25-22 win. Bartkowiak and Odale combined for seven kills and Neeley doled out 10 assists for the Utes.
There were nine ties in the fourth set, with the last coming at 15 apiece, before Utah scored five consecutive points to jump to a 20-15 edge on its way to a 25-19 win to even the match for the second time, this time at two sets apiece. Odale and Bartkowiak turned in solid performances in the fourth frame as both turned in six kills apiece and Neeley distributed 13 assists.
The Rebels started the decisive fifth set by taking four of the first six points. Utah came back to tie the set on a pair of occasions, with the final instance coming at 6-6, but the Rebels closed the match with a 9-4 burst to claim a 15-10 win as well as a 3-2 victory in the match. In the final frame, Bartkowiak added three kills but it was not enough to get the Utes the win.
UNLV (9-19, 4-10 MWC) received a match-high 19 kills from Sarah Nehf, while Amanda Alles posted a match-high 11 blocks. The Rebels recorded 20 team blocks against the Utes.
The Utes return to Crimson Court to host New Mexico on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. MT. The match will be televised live on The Mtn.
Players Mentioned
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