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Saturday, September 10
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University of Utah
0
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3
BYU
Utah Volleyball Falls in Deseret First Duel
9/10/2011 12:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 10, 2011
SALT LAKE CITY - Sophomore outside hitter Morgan Odale put together a solid effort with 10 kills and six digs but the University of Utah volleyball team fell to BYU in three sets (25-20, 25-17, 25-14) during a Deseret First Duel match Saturday at Crimson Court in the sixth and final match of the Utah Invitational.
"[BYU] was a better team tonight, there's no question about it," Utah head coach Beth Launiere said. "They are playing really good volleyball. They're experienced. They have good size and are playing like a well-oiled machine right now and they were tough to go up against tonight."
Utah (5-4) was led by Odale, who posted a team-high 10 kills to go along with six digs.
Freshman outside hitter Chelsey Schofield was selected to the 2011 Utah Invitational All-Tournament team after contributing eight kills to go with two digs and a block against the Cougars. Sophomore middle blocker Erin Redd added seven kills and a team-high four blocks.
Junior setter McKenzie Odale distributed 14 assists, while classmate Abby Simmons contributed 12.
In the back row of the Ute defense, sophomore libero Nikki Sim had a match-high 16, the sixth consecutive match this season and the eighth time of her career.
"I don't want to make excuses," Launiere said. "But we are young in some key positions and we have some things to figure out. I know we'll do that. We have the athletes but there are some things we just have to get better at."
This was Utah's first loss to BYU at Crimson Court since Oct. 12, 2007.
There were seven ties in the opening set before BYU strung together three consecutive points to assume a 16-13 edge over Utah. The Utes clawed within a point on six separate occasions, the last coming at 21-20, before the Cougars closed the set on a 4-0 run en route to a 25-20 first-set victory. McKenzie Odale had six kills on nine swings for a .667 efficiency and Utes hit for a .300 percentage as a team, but the Cougars managed a .583 clip.
The Cougars took four of the first five points in the second set and jumped out to a 10-point lead (17-7). The Utes managed to cut their deficit to seven four times en route to a 25-17 victory in the second set. Utah limited BYU to a .133 hitting percentage in the set, but were held to a -.028 clip themselves.
The Utes took four of the first five points of the third set, but the Cougars quickly responded with an 8-0 run to take a 9-4 lead. Utah cut its lead to three points two times before BYU was able to build a six-point advantage at 16-10 and go on to claim a 25-14 match-clinching victory.
Utah was outhit for the second time this season (.297 to .093) and outblocked for the first time (12.5 to 6).
BYU (9-2) was led by 15 kills on 22 swings from Jennifer Hamson, who only committed two errors on the attack for a .591 hitting percentage.
The Utes have won 20 of the last 23 meetings with the Cougars since Oct. 19, 2001, including six of the last seven.
The Deseret First Duel is back for its fifth year as BYU and Utah compete against in an all-sports competition. After wins in women's soccer and women's volleyball, BYU currently leads this season's competition, 6-0.
"We are going to have to move on from this quickly," Launiere said. "We're heading into the Pac-12 and it's now about Colorado so we're going to let this go and focus on our new conference."
The Utes will play their inaugural Pac-12 Conference contest at Colorado. First serve from the Coors Events Center is set for 7 p.m. MT. The match will be televised by Fox Sports Net on a tape-delayed basis.
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