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The University of Utah Athletics
Volleyball Set to Open Pac-12 Play This Week
9/21/2015 12:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 21, 2015
UTAH (6-5, 0-0 vs. COLORADO (8-4, 0-0)
Date: Wednesday, Sept. 23
Time: 6 p.m. MT
Location: Salt Lake City | Huntsman Center
TV: Pac-12 Network
Live Stats: www.UtahUtes.com
Series | Streak: Utah leads 8-6 | Utah W, 1
Last Match: Utah 3, CU 1 (11/28/14)
UTAH (6-5, 0-0) at WASHINGTON STATE (11-1, 0-0)
Date: Saturday, Sept. 26
Time: 7 p.m. PT
Location: Pullman, Wash. | Bohler Gym
Live Stream: www.WSUCougars.com
Live Stats: www.WSUCougars.com
Series | Streak: WSU leads, 12-7 | Utah W, 1
Last Match: Utah 3, WSU 0 (11/13/14)
- Complete Match Notes
FIRST SERVE
Utah (6-5, 0-0 Pac-12) opens Pac-12 play this week, hosting the Colorado Buffs (8-4, 0-0 Pac-12) this Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 6 p.m. MT and then traveling to Pullman, Wash., this Saturday, Sept. 26, to take on the Washington State Cougars (11-1, 0-0 Pac-12) at 7 p.m. PT.
COVERING THE UTES
Wednesday's match between the Utes and Buffs will be televised live on the Pac-12 Network. Krista Blunk will provide play-by-play for the match, while Holly McPeak offers color commentary to the broadcast.
A live webstream will be available for Utah's match against the Cougars on Saturday, with links to the production found at www.WSUCougars.com.
Live stats will be provided for both matches this week by logging onto www.UtahUtes.com for Wednesday's match and then going to www.WSUCougars.com for a live stats feed on Saturday.
LAST TIME OUT
The Utes fell to BYU (16-25, 18-25, 22-25) in the team's final non-conference match at the Huntsman Center this past Thursday. Utah led the match with 42 kills to BYU's 36, but the Cougars finished the match outhitting the Utes, .284 to .094 and out-blocked the home squad, 14.0 to 4.0, in total team blocks.
Sophomore Adora Anae recorded a match-high 16 kills and 15 digs in the match to record her seventh double-double of the season. Redshirt freshman Jessie Jorgensen tallied a team-high 20 assists and senior Brenna DeYoung led the Utes at the net with three total blocks.
UTAH NOTES
The Utes wrapped up the non-conference slate going 6-5 overall and registered a winning record outside of conference play for a 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 41-15 against non-conference foes during the regular season, which includes marks of 15-6 at home, 10-3 on the road and 16-6 on a neutral court ... sophomore Adora Anae leads the team with 174 kills and sophomore Eliza Katoa follows with 129 kills on the season ... sophomore Carly Trueman leads the team with a .274 hitting percentage ... senior Kendall Cygan has a team-high 244 assists and redshirt freshman Jessie Jorgensen follows with 223 assists on the year ... Cygan also leads the team with 12 service aces ... junior Tess Sutton has a team-high 146 digs, while Anae follows with 138 digs ... senior Brenna DeYoung leads all players with 51 total blocks ... Utah is hitting .216 as a team, while averaging 13.07 kills, 12.40 assists, 1.36 service aces, 14.69 digs and 2.57 blocks per set ... Utah is 1-3 in three-set matches, 3-2 in four-set matches and 2-0 when matches have gone five sets.
SCOUTING THE BUFFS
Colorado improved to 8-4 on the season after going 4-0 this past weekend at the Omni Invitational in Boulder ... CU picked up wins against Montana State (25-18, 18-25, 25-21, 25-22), Weber State (27-25, 25-16, 25-18), George Mason (25-15, 23-25, 25-6, 26-24) and Air Force (25-19, 25-18, 25-23) ... The Buffs, who opened the season ranked No. 24 in the AVCA Preseason Poll, is 1-2 against ranked teams this season with a victory over No. Florida State and losses to No. 1 Penn State and No. 6 Illinois ... Austin Alexis (160 kills) and Gabby Simpson (137) kills leads CU offensively ... Nicole Edelman has a team-high 381 assists ... Cierra Simpson leads the team on the back row with 150 digs and Anna Pfefferle leads the team at the net with 49 total blocks ... CU is hitting .233 as a team, while averaging 12.98 kills, 11.98 assists, 11.52 digs and 2.48 blocks per set.
SCOUTING THE COUGARS
Washington State went 11-1 in non-conference play, recording the program's second-best record over the past five seasons against non-Pac-12 teams ... WSU has tallied a 51-8 record against non-conference foes over the past five seasons, but the Cougars have followed going just 13-69 against the Pac-12 since 2011 ... the Cougars went 3-0 with victories against Northwestern State (25-23, 25-14, 25-22), Texas Tech (25-22, 25-14, 25-18) and Portland State 925-23, 25-23, 25-23) this past weekend in Lubbock, Texas ... WSU has won 11 straight matches and dropped just one set (33-1) during that span ... The Cougars are a perfect 10-0 in three-set matches ... Kyra Holt leads WSU with 173 kills and Taylor Mims has a team-best .329 hitting percentage ... Haley MacDonald has team highs in both assists (422) and service aces (20) ... Kate Sommer has a team-high 179 digs, while Claire Martin leads the Cougars at the net with 53 total blocks ... WSU is hitting .231 as a team, while averaging 13.47 kills, 12.39 assists, 14.29 digs and 2.83 blocks.
SERIES HISTORY
Utah leads Colorado 8-6 in the all-time series, which dates back to 1975. The Utes are 5-4 against the Buffs since both squads joined the league in 2011. Utah is 5-1 all-time when facing the Buffs in Salt Lake City and has a five-match home winning streak over Colorado that dates back to the 2001 season.
The Cougars lead the all-time series 12-7, but the Utes are 5-3 against Washington State since Utah joined the Pac-12. The Cougars have won three straight against and is 5-1 all-time when facing the Utes at Bohler Gym.
NEW ATTENDANCE MARK
A crowd of 3,056 fans were in attendance for Utah's match against BYU last Thursday, breaking the previous attendance record of 2,218 that was on hand to see Utah vs. Stanford back on Sept. 21, 2012.
Two of the top-three crowds to witness a volleyball match inside the Huntsman Center have come when Utah has hosted BYU.
COUNTDOWN TO WIN NO. 500
Utah head coach Beth Launiere is just three wins away from earning career win No. 500. The 26-year head coach enters the week with an all-time record of 497-308.
All 497 of Launiere's 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 in 2014.
NATIONAL RANKINGS
Among national statistic rankings, Utah ranks 128th in aces (1.36/set), 83rd in assists (12.40/set), 38th in blocks (2.57/set), 137th in digs (14.69/set), 109th in kills (13.07/set) and 145th in hitting percentage (.216).
Senior Brenna DeYoung ranks 26th in blocks-per-set (1.38) and 81st in total blocks (51), while sophomore Adora Anae ranks 37th in kills-per-set (4.14), 80th in total kills (174) and 77th in attacks-per-set (10.50).
LEADERS OF THE PAC
Utah ranks second in the league in team digs (617), while ranking third in service aces (57) and total blocks (108.0).
Sophomore Adora Anae ranks second among Pac-12 players with 174 total kills and fifth with 4.14 kills-per-set. Senior Brenna DeYoung ranks fourth in the league with 51 total blocks.
UTAH IN PAC-12 OPENERS
Wednesday marks the fifth-straight season that Utah will open-up the conference slate against Colorado. Utah is 2-2 in Pac-12 openers against the Buffs, with a 1-0 mark at home.
UTAH AGAINST THE PAC-12
The Utes are 29-53 in conference play since joining the league in 2011. Utah went 9-11 in Pac-12 play last season, which included a 7-1 mark in the final eight conference matches.
PLAYING IN FRONT OF A NATIONAL AUDIENCE
Utah is 0-1 when playing on television this season. The Utes went 7-6 in matches aired on the Pac-12 Network and 7-7 overall in TV matches last season. The Utes are 16-26 when playing on TV since 2012.
UTAH AT HOME
The Utes are 2-2 at the Huntsman Center this season and 17-8 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 43-30 in home contests played at both Crimson Court and the Huntsman Center dating back to the 2010 season.
NOTABLE
Senior Brenna DeYoung was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 7 ... It was DeYoung's first Pac-12 weekly honor and Utah's sixth ... DeYoung has recorded at least four blocks in seven of Utah's 11 matches this season ... Sophomore Adora Anae has recorded seven double-doubles this season, after collecting just four double-doubles during her freshman campaign in 2014 ... sophomore Eliza Katoa has registered double-figure kill efforts in four of her past eight matches ... Utah is 9-9 following a loss dating back to last season ... The Utes have totaled 50 digs or more in eight of 11 matches on the year ... Utah has recorded 10 or more total team blocks in four matches this season, including a season-high 18.0 blocks against Seton Hall (9/12).
SEEING 20/20
Sophomore Adora Anae recorded 21 kills and 25 digs in Utah's five-set win over Seton Hall (9/12), 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.
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 (9/5). The four-year veteran currently ranks seventh all-time in school history with 2,108 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 (8/29). 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.
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
The Utes remain on the road next week, completing a three-match road swing with games at Oregon State next Friday, Oct. 2 and at Oregon on Saturday, Oct. 3.
Utah returns to Salt Lake City to host the first of four consecutive home matches against UCLA on Friday, Oct. 9. The Utes will also face USC (10/11), Stanford (10/16) and California (10/18) during the home stand.
Players Mentioned
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