Utah Volleyball Earns Four-set Victory over UC Riverside

Saturday, September 10

Salt Lake City

12:00 PM

University of Utah

UC Riverside

Utah Volleyball Earns Four-set Victory over UC Riverside

9/10/2011 12:00 AM | Volleyball

Sept. 10, 2011

Box Score
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Freshman outside hitter Chelsey Schofield had her fourth double-figure kill performance of the season as the University of Utah volleyball team defeated UC Riverside in four sets (21-25, 25-10, 25-18, 25-13) Saturday at Crimson Court in the fourth match of the Utah Invitational.

Utah (5-3) held distinct advantages over UCR in two major categories: a .365 to .102 edge in attack percentage and a 12-5 advantage in team blocks. The Utes have outhit their opponents in all eight of their matches this season and have had more team blocks seven times.

"It took us a while to get into a rhythm," Utah head coach Beth Launiere said. "But once we got into it, we played really good volleyball and were very consistent. Obviously, the opponent had something to do with that both last night and today. But on our side of the net, we took care of business. We had pretty good energy and did a really nice job of getting it back together."

Schofield posted a team-high 13 kills on 23 swings with only two errors for a season-high .478 efficiency to go along with three digs and three blocks.

Senior middle blocker Danielle Killpack registered a season-high nine kills and a match-high seven blocks, while sophomore hitter Morgan Odale established a new career high .471 hitting percentage with eight kills on 17 attempts and no errors. Odale also added eight digs. Erin Redd pitched in seven kills on 13 attempts (.462) to go with five blocks.

In her first start this season, junior setter Abby Simmons set a new career high with 33 assists to go along with six digs and two blocks.

Defensively, sophomore libero Nikki Sim reached double-figures in digs for the seventh time in eight matches this season after posting a match-high 14 digs.

After Utah took the first two points of the match, UC Riverside went on a 4-0 run and extended their lead to as many as six points (12-6). The Utes took three unanswered points to cut their deficit in half (12-9) and closed within two points on a pair of occasions (17-15 and 18-16) but unfortunately could get no closer in a 25-21 first defeat. Schofield had six kills on 13 swings with two errors for a .308 percentage and Sim turned in five digs to lead the Ute defense in the first set.

The second set was tied four times early on (5-5) before the Utes took four consecutive scores to secure a 9-5 lead. Utah closed the set on a 15-4 run and extended its lead to as many as 15, which happened to be the final score, 25-10. Killpack only needed four swings for a team-high three kills, which gave her a .750 efficiency for the set. The Utes held the Highlanders to a -.080 hitting percentage while going for a .579 mark themselves.

The Utes started the third set strongly by assuming a 7-1 lead and they led by as many as nine (24-15) en route to a 25-18 third-set victory. The Utes outhit the Highlanders .348 to .192 as three different Utah players - Odale, Killpack and Schofield --- turned in three kills apiece.

There were three ties at the outset of the fourth frame before three consecutive Utah scores earned a 6-3 advantage. The Utes managed to continually push their lead the rest of the way and clinched the match with a 25-13 fourth-set win. Redd, Killpack and Schofield registered two kills apiece and the Utes hit .526 in the final frame, while holding UCR to .000 hitting as well as a 5-0 edge in team blocks during the finale.

The Utes improved to 1-2 this year after losing the first set of a match.

"It's a long season and we're developing as a team and each player has to figure out how to bring a high level of intensity to the court every night," Launiere said. "The learning curve is high for the young players but I'm watching them learn and develop every single time they play so that's good news." UC Riverside (1-8) was led by a 17-kill, seven-dig performance by Amanda Vialpando, while Shelby LeDuff added 12 kills and eight digs.

"There are a lot of things we have to improve on," Launiere said. "It's not just one thing, but tonight is about the match against BYU. We are going to have to play good volleyball. They're a very good team. They're big, athletic, and have a lot of things going right now."

The Utes conclude the Utah Invitational tonight with a Deseret First Duel match against BYU at 7 p.m.