Volleyball Set for Road Trip to LA

MATCH 22 \| #21 UTAH (15-6, 6-4) at #24 USC (14-7, 6-4)
DATE/TIME	Friday, Oct. 28 \| 8 p.m. PT
LOCATION	Galen Center \| Los Angeles
TELEVISION	Pac-12 Networks \| Pac-12 LIVE
LIVE STATS	Live Stats
SERIES/STREAK	USC leads 16-2 \| USC, Won 3
LAST MATCH	Utah 2, USC 3 \| Oct. 1, 2016

MATCH 23 \| #21 UTAH (15-6, 6-4) at #12 UCLA (16-4, 7-3)
DATE	Sunday, Oct. 28 \| 8 p.m. PT
LOCATION	Pauley Pavilion \| Los Angeles
TELEVISION	Pac-12 Networks \| Pac-12 LIVE
LIVE STATS	Live Stats
SERIES/STREAK	UCLA leads 19-2 \| UCLA, Won 3
LAST MATCH	Utah 0, UCLA 3 \| Sept. 30, 2016

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
• Utah is ranked in the AVCA Top-25 poll for the third straight week and for the fourth time in the past five weeks. Utah earned 264 points in the poll and dropped one spot to No. 21 this week.
• Utah has registered a 7-1 record in true road games this season. The seven wins are tied for the most in school history since the Utes joined the Pac-12 Conference in 2011.
• The Utes are 6-4 through its first 10 matches of Pac-12 Conference play, which is tied for the second-best start in school history (6-4, 2013).
• Utah has played in 10 five-set matches on the season, which ranks most among schools from the Power-5 conferences (ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Pa-12, SEC).
• Junior outside hitter Adora Anae heads into the week with 1,166 career kills, needing just eight kills to move into Utah's all-time Top-10 career leaders.

FIRST SERVE
The No. 21-ranked Utah Utes (15-6, 6-4) are back on the road this weekend with a trip to SoCal, taking on the No. 24-ranked USC Trojans (14-7, 6-4) and the No. 12-ranked UCLA Bruins (16-4, 7-3).

The Utes will open the two-match road trip against the Trojans on Friday, Oct. 28, at the Galen Center (8 p.m. PT/9 p.m. MT). Utah will then closeout the weekend against the Bruins on Saturday, Oct. 29, at Pauley Pavilion (8 p.m. PT/9 p.m. MT).

COVERING THE UTES
Both matches will be televised live on the Pac-12 Networks this weekend. Kevin Barnett will call the action, while Kelli Tennant provides color commentary for both matches.

Fans can also follow Friday and Saturday's action on-line by logging onto Pac-12.com/live or watching via smart phones and tablets using the Pac-12 Now App, which can be downloaded at the Apple Store, Google Play Store or Amazon Apps Store.

Live stats will be provided for both contests this weekend, with links to Friday's match found at www.UCLABruins.com and links to Saturday's contest found at www.USCTrojans.com.

ABOUT UTAH
The Utes split home contests with both Oregon schools this past weekend, falling in five sets to then No. 23-ranked Oregon (27-25, 25-27, 25-22, 20-25, 11-15) on Friday, but then rebounding with a five-set victory over Oregon State (25-15, 23-25, 21-25, 27-25, 15-9) at the Huntsman Center on Saturday.

Utah had six players post double-digit kill efforts on the weekend, led by junior Adora Anae's 42 kills. Anae tallied 16 kills in the loss to the Ducks and followed with a 26-kill effort in the win over the Beavers. Sophomore Jessie Openshaw posted 32 assists against Oregon and followed with 30 assists against OSU, while freshman Bailey Choy notched 30-assists in both matches, respectively.

Freshman Brianna Doehrmann led the way with 31 digs on the weekend, which included a new season/career-high 16 digs against the Beavers on Saturday. Junior Tawnee Luafalemana collected four kills against both Oregon and OSU for a team-best eight total kills on the weekend.

POLL TALK
The Utes earned 264 total points in the week's AVCA Top-25 poll, dropping one spot from last week's ranking to No. 21. The Utes have been ranked for three straight weeks in the poll and four times in the past five weeks. Utah has received votes or been ranked for six straight weeks since earning votes in the poll back on Sept. 19.

#ROADWARRIORS
Utah registered its second-best record through the team's first eight road matches of the season, going 7-1 overall. Utah's only loss was a defeat to No. 7-ranked Washington. Utah went 8-0 back in 1997 - the program's only perfect record through the first eight road matches.

Utah's seven road victories already matches 2013's seven-win mark - the program's most wins on the road since joining the Pac-12 back in 2011. The Utes will look to register another road win this weekend when the team travels to Los Angeles to face UCLA and USC. The last time a Utah team had at least eight road wins came back in 2010 (8-5).

UTAH THROUGH FIRST HALF OF CONFERENCE PLAY
The Utes have won six of 10 matches through the first half of Pac-12 play, which ties the best 10-match opening stretch (6-4, 2013) in conference play since Utah joined the Pac-12 in 2011.

UTAH IN FIVE-SET MATCHES
Utah leads the Pac-12 having played in 10 matches that have gone a full five sets this season. The 10 five-set matches also rank the most among Power Five conference schools. Alabama (SEC), Boston College (ACC) and Wake Forest (ACC) rank second with eight five-set matches so far this season. Colorado (Pac-12) and Mississippi State (SEC) rank third with seven five-set matches on the year.

Utah has won six of its 10 matches that have gone to five sets, which ranks most among teams in the Power Five conferences. Auburn (SEC), Colorado (Pac-12), Mississippi (SEC) and TCU (Big 12) have all tallied five wins in matches that have gone to five sets.

ANAE TRENDING TOWARD RECORD BOOKS
Junior Adora Anae heads into the week with 1,166 career kills, which currently ranks 11th most in school history. The third-year letterwinner is eight kills shy of moving into 10th all-time, which would surpass Kathryn Haynie (2005-08) who tallied 1,173 kills in her career with the Utes.

SCOUTING THE TROJANS
USC is coming off a three-set loss to No. 14-ranked Stanford, but has won six of its past eight matches dating back to Sept. 30. The Trojans are a perfect 7-0 on the road this season, but are just 7-7 overall inside the Galen Center, which includes a 2-4 record at home against Pac-12 foes.

Khalia Lanier leads USC in kills, having posted a team-best 299 kills and a 4.99 kills per set average. Lanier ranks second on the team with 17 service aces, just one shy of Taylor Whittingham who has a team-high 18 aces on the season. Whittingham also leads the team with 324 digs (4.91/set). Reni Meyer-Whalley has posted a team-best 443 assists, while Elise Ruddings leads the team at the net with 82 total blocks (1.09/set).

SCOUTING THE BRUINS
UCLA is coming off a pair of wins against California and No. 14-ranked Stanford this past weekend. The Bruins have won four straight and five of its past six matches. The Bruins are just 2-3 overall at home, with all five matches coming against Pac-12 competition.

The Bruins have two players with 200-plus kills on the season, but Jordan Anderson leads the way with 242 kills (3.32/set). Reily Buechler is second on the team with 233 kills (3.07) on the season. Jennie Frager (173 kills) leads UCLA with a .365 hitting percentage. Frager leads the team at the net as well, with 85 total blocks (1.16). Ryann Chandler has a team-high 633 assists (8.44/set) and Taylor Formico leads all players with 378 digs (4.97/set).

SERIES HISTORY
USC leads the all-time series 16-2 and the Trojans have won the previous three meetings after taking the first match this season, 3-2 in Salt Lake City back on Oct. 1. Utah's last win over USC was a 3-0 win over the Trojans in Salt Lake City back on Nov. 9, 2014. The Utes are 1-5 all-time when facing the Trojans on the road, with its only win coming back on Sept. 9, 1986.

UCLA leads the all-time series 19-2 and have won three straight against the Utes. Utah's last win was a 3-0 victory over the Bruins in Salt Lake City back on Nov. 7, 2014. Utah is 0-7 all-time when facing the Bruins on the road.

RPI TALK
Utah is ranked No. 20 in this week's set of RPI standings. The Utes have been ranked among the top-30 teams in the nation since the initial set of RPI rankings were released back on Oct. 3. Utah opened at No. 27 before moving to No. 21 (Oct. 10). Last week the Utes were ranked No. 16 overall in the RPI standings.

Utah is currently 4-3 overall against teams ranked 1-25 in the RPI, 1-1 against team ranked 26-50, 2-1 against teams ranked 51-100, 7-1 against teams ranked 101-150 and 1-0 against teams ranked 150 or more.

The Utes already have four wins over teams ranked in the top-25 RPI rankings. The last time a Utah team went to the NCAA Tournament, back in 2014, the squad had registered just five wins overall against teams ranked 1-25. The Utes finished that season ranked No. 37 in the final RPI standings.

The Pac-12 is well represented with nine teams ranked inside the top-40 RPI standings. Along with Utah at No. 20, the Pac-12 has Washington (7), UCLA (10), Stanford (12, Oregon (13), Washington State (23), USC (28), Arizona (36) and Colorado (40) among the top-40. Rounding out the Pac-12 teams is Oregon State (105), Arizona State (116) and California (132).

UTAH REGISTERS ONE OF NATION'S TOUGHEST SCHEDULES
Heading into the week, Utah ranks 12th among the toughest schedules in the nation with a .633 percentage. Stanford leads the Pac-12 with a .664 percentage, which ranks sixth overall. Oregon (.641) follows with a .641 percentage and Arizona (.640) is ranked just ahead of the Utes with the 11th toughest schedule.

The Utes also post the 17th toughest schedule with matches still left to be played throughout the remainder of the season.

UP NEXT
Utah returns home next weekend to host California (Friday, Nov. 4) and Stanford (Saturday, Nov. 5). The Utes will be back on the road the following week with matches at Oregon (Nov. 9) and Oregon State (Nov. 10).

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Adora Anae

Bailey Choy

Brianna Doehrmann

Tawnee Luafalemana

Jessie Openshaw

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