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The University of Utah Athletics
Volleyball Hosts BYU in Deseret First Duel Match on Thursday
9/15/2015 12:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 15, 2015
Match 11: vs. No. 9 BYU (8-1)
When: Thursday, Sept. 17 | 7:30 p.m. MT
Where: Salt Lake City, Utah (Huntsman Center)
Live Stats: www.UtahUtes.com
Television: Pac-12 Network
Live Web-Stream: Pac-12 Network
All-Time Series: Cougars lead 60-29
- Utah Notes | BYU Notes
FIRST SERVE
Utah (6-4) returns home this Thursday, Sept. 17, to host No. 9-ranked BYU (8-1) in its final non-conference match of the regular season. First serve between the Utes and Cougars is set for 7:30 p.m. MT and the match will be televised live on the Pac-12 Network.
COVERING THE UTES
Thursday's match will be televised live on the Pac-12 Network with Thad Anderson calling play-by-play and Amy Gant providing color commentary for the broadcast.
Live stats will be provided for Thursday's match, as well, and can be found at www.UtahUtes.com.
LAST TIME OUT
Utah went 1-2 at the Louisville/Active Ankle Challenge this past weekend, falling in straight sets to both Louisville (19-25, 16-25, 12-25) and Ohio (16-25, 24-26, 17-25), but then rebounded for a five-set win over Seton Hall (25-16, 22-25, 24-26, 25-23, 15-6).
Sophomore Adora Anae was named to the all-tournament team after leading the Utes in kills (38), hitting percentage 9.262) and digs (53). Sophomore Eliza Katoa notched 33 kills for the Utes this past weekend, while Carly Trueman led the team with 15 total blocks. Redshirt freshman Jessie Jorgensen tallied a team-high 59 assists and redshirt freshman Caroline Sipiora recorded a team-best three service aces.
UTAH NOTES
The Utes wrapped up non-conference tournament play this past weekend in Louisville, finishing the tournament schedule with a record of 5-4 that included going 2-1 at the Utah Classic, 2-1 at the Gonzaga Invitational and 1-2 at the Louisville Invitational.
With its win over Seton Hall, the Utah volleyball team assured itself of a winning record in non-conference play for the fifth straight season and seventh of the previous eight seasons. The last time a Utah team had a sub .500 record against non-conference teams was back in 2010 (6-9).
Since joining the Pac-12 in 2011, Utah has went 41-14 against non-conference foes during the regular season, which includes marks of 15-5 at home, 10-3 on the road and 16-6 on a neutral court.
SCOUTING THE COUGARS
BYU went 3-0 last week, posting a home win over Idaho State (25-16, 25-12, 25-16) and then collecting a pair of wins against Oregon State (25-7, 20-25, 21-25, 25-14, 15-12 and 25-21, 23-25, 25-19, 25-15) in Provo.
Head coach Heather Olmstead is in her first season at the helm of the Cougar volleyball program after being promoted to the post earlier this year. Olmstead served as BYU's top assistant coach from 2010-2014. A former player at Utah State, Olmstead served as an assistant coach at Utah from 2006-10.
Alexa Gray leads BYU with 126 kills (4.34/set) and Amy Boswell leads the team with a .345 hitting percentage among players who have at least 100 attacks on the year. Camry Willardson leads the Cougar squad with 265 assists (9.14/set), while Ciara Parker has tallied a team-high 123 digs (3.97/set). Bowell leads BYU at the net with 43 total blocks (1.43/set).
The Cougars are hitting .265 as a team, while averaging 13.42 kills, 12.26 assists, 1.58 service aces, 13.90 digs and 2.58 blocks per set.
THE DESERET FIRST DUEL RIVALRY SERIES
Thursday night's match-up between Utah and BYU will mark the 88th meeting overall and the 13th since the Deseret First Duel rivalry series was introduced in 2007. BYU leads the all-time series 60-29 and the teams are tied 6-6 in the rivalry series.
The Deseret First Duel between Utah and BYU uses a system that awards points to the winner of each competition. A team trophy will be awarded to the individual winner in each sport. Points won by the individual sports will count toward each school's overall total. A granite-traveling trophy is awarded to the overall series champion each year.
PACKING THE GYM
A Utah vs. BYU volleyball match has always been one the program's most-watched contests during the regular season. Dating back to the 2000 season, Utah vs. BYU has averaged 1,419 fans in attendance at either Crimson Court or the Huntsman Center.
The last time Utah and BYU met inside the Huntsman Center back on Sept. 17, 2013, a record crowd of 2,123 fans was in attendance for the event. Thursday's match marks just the second meeting between the two teams inside the JHC.
Nine of the top-10 crowds to ever witness a Utah volleyball match inside Crimson Court has come when the Utes were facing the Cougars, while the crowd of 2,123 fans back in 2013 ranks No. 2 all-time for a volleyball match played at the JHC.
BYU/UTAH CONNECTIONS
Sophomore Adora Anae's uncle, Robert Anae, is BYU's offensive coordinator and assistant head coach ... Redshirt freshman Jessie Jorgensen, a native of Provo, has a brother, Colby, on BYU's current football roster and her other brother, Austen, played at BYU from 2010-13 ... BYU head coach Heather Olmstead was an assistant coach at Utah under head coach Beth Launiere from 2006-10 ... Sophomore Eliza Katoa is married to Rhett Nelson, a former BYU baseball player back in 2014.
COMPLETE WEEK
The Pac-12 Conference has declared the week of Sept. 14-19 as "Complete" Week. The goal is to raise public awareness that student-athletes are complete students, who not only participate in athletics, but also represent their institutions well in the classroom and in the community. The first two pages of press releases from all Pac-12 schools this week will feature the off-the-court accomplishments of their teams. A social media campaign has also been launched.
COUNTDOWN TO WIN NO. 500
Utah head coach Beth Launiere is now just three wins away from earning career win No. 500. The 26-year head coach is 497-307 all-time heading into Thursday's contest with the Cougars.
All 497 of her career wins have been recorded at Utah since she took over the program in 1990. During that stretch, Launiere has tallied 15, 20-win seasons, which included 21 victories in 2013 and 20 wins last season.
SEEING 20/20
Sophomore Adora Anae recorded 21 kills and 25 digs in Utah's five-set win over Seton Hall on Saturday, becoming just the second player to notch 20 or more kills and digs in a single match in the rally-scoring era.
Anae is the first player to accomplish such a stat since Shelly Sommerfeldt registered 24 kills and collected 20 digs against UNLV back on Nov. 18, 2005.
NATIONAL RANKINGS
As a team, the Utes rank among the top-50 squads in three different statistical categories heading into this week. Utah ranks No. 10 nationally in team total blocks (104.0), No. 26 in blocks-per-set (2.67) and No. 49 in team kills (507).
Senior Brenna DeYoung ranks No. 24 overall in total blocks (48) and No. 26 in blocks-per-set (1.41). Sophomore Adora Anae rank No. 25 in the nation in total kills (158), No. 40 in total attacks (407) and No. 47 in kills-per-set (4.05).
LEADERS OF THE PAC (12)
Utah ranks first among Pac-12 teams in four different categories, including team digs (572), team kills (507), total attacks (1,349) and total team blocks (104.0).
Sophomore Adora Anae leads the conference in total attacks (407) and ranks second in kills (158), while senior Brenna DeYoung tops the league in total blocks (48). Junior Tess Sutton ranks third in the Pac-12 in digs (138).
UTAH VS. THE WEST COAST CONFERENCE
The Utes are 56-80 all-time against teams under the current West Coast Conference alignment. The record includes a 27-60 mark against BYU heading into Thursday's match and a 6-1 record against Gonzaga following Utah's 3-2 win over the Bulldogs earlier this season.
PLAYING IN FRONT OF A NATIONAL AUDIENCE
Thursday will mark the first of 13 matches to be televised live on the Pac-12 Network this season. Utah went 7-6 in matches aired on the Pac-12 Network and 7-7 overall in TV matches last season.
The Utes went 7-8 overall in TV matches back in 2013 and are 16-25 when playing on TV since 2012.
UTAH AT HOME
The Utes are 2-1 at the Huntsman Center this season and 17-7 since the JHC became Utah's permanent home in 2013. Utah went 7-1 inside the JHC last season, with its only loss coming against No. 1-ranked Stanford.
Utah is a combined 43-29 in home contests played at both Crimson Court and the Huntsman Center dating back to the 2010 season.
CYGAN JOINS 2,000 ASSIST CLUB
Senior Kendall Cygan became just the seventh player in school history to record at least 2,000 career assists when she posted 28 assists in Utah's match against Wyoming back on Sept. 5. The four-year veteran currently ranks seventh all-time in school history with 2,091 career assists with the Utes.
ANAE SETS NEW SINGLE-MATCH MARK FOR KILLS
Sophomore Adora Anae set a new school record for kills in a single match during the rally-scoring era, registering 26 kills in Utah's match against Lipscomb, back on Aug. 29. Her 26 kills, which also ranks first all-time for kills recorded in a four-set match, broke former All-American Kim Turner's previous mark of 25 kills that was set against UNLV back on Nov. 15, 2003.
NOTABLE
Senior Brenna DeYoung was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 7 ... It is DeYoung's first-ever weekly honor and Utah's sixth all-time honoree ... Sophomore Eliza Katoa is averaging 13.4 kills (3.35/set) over the last five matches ... Redshirt freshman Jessie Jorgensen set a new career-high with 32 assists against Seton Hall ... Freshman Berkeley Oblad set a new career-high with 11 kills against Seton Hall ... Sophomore Adora Anae has tallied 158 kills in 10 matches this season and is on pace to finish the regular season with 489 kills - one kill shy of the school record of 490 kills set by Kim Turner in 2003.
FOLLOWING UTAH VOLLEYBALL
Make sure to "Like" Utah Volleyball on Facebook to receive inside information from the Utes, as well as updates during matches. Fans can also stay connected with the Utah Volleyball program by following @UtahVolleyball on Instagram and Twitter, with live in-match updates available on Utah's Twitter feed.
UTES PICKED 10TH IN PAC-12 PRESEASON POLL
The Pac-12 coaches voted Utah to finish 10th overall in the conference this season, according to the preseason poll that was released on Aug. 11.
Stanford received 11 of 12 first-place votes for a total of 121 points to take top honors in this season's poll. Arizona State followed in second with 99 total points, while Washington rounded out the top three spots, earning the league's final first-place vote for a total of 97 points.
Oregon (94 points) was tabbed fourth in the poll and USC (84) was voted fifth. Colorado (61), Arizona (60), UCLA (57) and Oregon State (35) were picked ahead of Utah, while California (28) and Washington State (22) completed the preseason poll, respectively.
ANAE NAMED TO ALL-PAC-12 PRESEASON TEAM
Sophomore outside hitter Adora Anae was one of 14 players named to the Preseason All-Pac-12 Volleyball Team. She becomes the first Ute player to be named to the preseason squad since Utah joined the conference in 2011. Anae was a Pac-12 All-Freshman Team selection in 2014.
UTES ON THE PAC-12 NETWORK
Utah will have 13 of its 31 regular-season matches aired live on the Pac-12 Network in 2015. Home contests scheduled to be televised include: BYU (Sept. 17), Colorado (Sept. 23), UCLA (Oct. 9), Stanford (Oct. 16), Oregon (Oct. 30), Oregon State (Nov. 1) and Arizona (Nov. 12).
Road matches scheduled to be televised live include: at Oregon State (Oct. 2), at Arizona State (Oct. 23), at Arizona (Oct. 25), at USC (Nov. 8), at Stanford (Nov. 20) and at Colorado (Nov. 27).
A LOOK AHEAD
Utah will have the upcoming weekend off and will return to court next Wednesday, Sept. 23, hosting Colorado in both team's Pac-12 opener. First serve between the Utes and Buffs is set for 6 p.m. MT inside the Huntsman Center.
The Utes will then travel to Washington State on Saturday, Sept. 26, to face the Cougars in the two squad's meeting this season. Utah will remain on the road for contests at Oregon State (Oct. 2) and Oregon (Oct. 3).
Players Mentioned
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