Upcoming Event: Volleyball at Arizona on October 2, 2025 at 7:00 PM
7:00 PM
Volleyball
at Arizona
Friday, December 2
Provo, Utah
5:00 PM
University of Utah
20-11, 11-9Pac-12
1
vs
3
UNLV
23-7, 12-6MWC
1
2
3
4
F
UNLV
27
25
19
25
3
Utah
25
21
25
20
1
Volleyball's Season Ends with Loss to UNLV
12/2/2016 8:31 PM | Volleyball
Anae and Trueman's combined 36 kills not enough in defeat
PROVO, Utah – The Utah Utes' 2016 season came to a close with a 3-1 loss (25-27, 21-25, 25-19, 20-25) to the UNLV Rebels in the first round of the NCAA Volleyball Championship Friday night at Smith Fieldhouse. The Utes, who were making its 13th NCAA Championship appearance, end the season with a 20-12 overall record.
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Junior Adora Anae led the way with 21 kills, while fellow junior Carly Trueman added 15 kills and a match-best .400 hitting percentage. Anae's 21 kills ranks second-most in school history for kills in a single match in the NCAA Tournament.
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Junior Tawnee Luafalemana chipped in with 10 kills (.316 hitting percentage) and led the Utes at the net with five total blocks. Freshman Bailey Choy led Utah with 29 assists, while sophomore Jessie Openshaw tallied 23 assists in a return to her hometown of Provo. Freshman Brianna Doehrmann led Utah with 18 digs and Anae tallied 13 digs on the evening for her 21st double-double of the season.
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Anae and Trueman combined for 15 of Utah's 19 kills in the first set, but UNLV countered with eight kills from Bree Hammel and a .425 team hitting percentage to take the first set 27-25. Utah trailed by as many as four points early in the set before chipping away and taking its first lead, 12-11, on a block from sophomore Emma Kirst. Both teams traded points throughout the remainder of the set but UNLV closed out the frame winning three of the final four points.
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Utah trailed by as many as six points, down 20-14 late in the second set, which forced the Utes to call what was its final timeout of the frame. Utah came out of the break with a pair of kills from Luafalemana and a service ace from freshman Bailey Choy, then later got back within two points of the Rebels on a kill from Anae. UNLV called timeout, up 22-20, and it was enough to stop the momentum as Utah registered a service error out of the break. Utah won the next point on a kill from junior Eliza Katoa, but the Rebels closed the set winning the final two points to take the frame 25-21 and go up 2-0 in the match.
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Despite UNLV opening the third set with a 6-3 run, the Utes managed to climb back into the set with a 10-4 run and following a service ace from Openshaw, Utah led 16-10 and forced the Rebels to call timeout. Both teams would trade points throughout the remainder of the set, but Anae helped close out the set registering three of Utah's final four points to take the set 25-19.
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Anae opened the fourth set with a kill for the Utes, but the two teams would trade point-for-point until a 3-0 run gave UNLV an 11-9 lead. Utah countered with a 3-0 run and later led 15-13 with a block from Luafalemana, but UNLV came back and after a 3-0 run, led 21-19 forcing Utah to call a timeout. The Utes tallied the next point with a kill from Trueman, but the Rebels closed out the set with a 4-0 run to take the frame 25-20 and the match 3-1.
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"I give UNLV a lot of credit," said Utah head coach Beth Launiere. "They blocked very well all night and did a great job of keeping us out of rhythm. They made plays. I thought we made a lot of plays as well, but there were a lot of little things that definitely caught us. I think the key thing was [UNLV] posed a lot of problems for us defensively."
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UNLV out-blocked the Utes 13.0 to 8.0 in the match. The Rebels hit .305 as a team and limited the Utes to a .253 hitting percentage. Utah had four service aces to UNLV's zero, but the Utes ended the night with six service errors.
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Hammel led UNLV with 18 kills, while Sadie Stutzman added 14 kills on the evening. Elsa DesCamps and Hammel paced the UNLV defense with seven total blocks each.
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Junior Adora Anae led the way with 21 kills, while fellow junior Carly Trueman added 15 kills and a match-best .400 hitting percentage. Anae's 21 kills ranks second-most in school history for kills in a single match in the NCAA Tournament.
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Junior Tawnee Luafalemana chipped in with 10 kills (.316 hitting percentage) and led the Utes at the net with five total blocks. Freshman Bailey Choy led Utah with 29 assists, while sophomore Jessie Openshaw tallied 23 assists in a return to her hometown of Provo. Freshman Brianna Doehrmann led Utah with 18 digs and Anae tallied 13 digs on the evening for her 21st double-double of the season.
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Anae and Trueman combined for 15 of Utah's 19 kills in the first set, but UNLV countered with eight kills from Bree Hammel and a .425 team hitting percentage to take the first set 27-25. Utah trailed by as many as four points early in the set before chipping away and taking its first lead, 12-11, on a block from sophomore Emma Kirst. Both teams traded points throughout the remainder of the set but UNLV closed out the frame winning three of the final four points.
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Utah trailed by as many as six points, down 20-14 late in the second set, which forced the Utes to call what was its final timeout of the frame. Utah came out of the break with a pair of kills from Luafalemana and a service ace from freshman Bailey Choy, then later got back within two points of the Rebels on a kill from Anae. UNLV called timeout, up 22-20, and it was enough to stop the momentum as Utah registered a service error out of the break. Utah won the next point on a kill from junior Eliza Katoa, but the Rebels closed the set winning the final two points to take the frame 25-21 and go up 2-0 in the match.
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Despite UNLV opening the third set with a 6-3 run, the Utes managed to climb back into the set with a 10-4 run and following a service ace from Openshaw, Utah led 16-10 and forced the Rebels to call timeout. Both teams would trade points throughout the remainder of the set, but Anae helped close out the set registering three of Utah's final four points to take the set 25-19.
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Anae opened the fourth set with a kill for the Utes, but the two teams would trade point-for-point until a 3-0 run gave UNLV an 11-9 lead. Utah countered with a 3-0 run and later led 15-13 with a block from Luafalemana, but UNLV came back and after a 3-0 run, led 21-19 forcing Utah to call a timeout. The Utes tallied the next point with a kill from Trueman, but the Rebels closed out the set with a 4-0 run to take the frame 25-20 and the match 3-1.
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"I give UNLV a lot of credit," said Utah head coach Beth Launiere. "They blocked very well all night and did a great job of keeping us out of rhythm. They made plays. I thought we made a lot of plays as well, but there were a lot of little things that definitely caught us. I think the key thing was [UNLV] posed a lot of problems for us defensively."
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UNLV out-blocked the Utes 13.0 to 8.0 in the match. The Rebels hit .305 as a team and limited the Utes to a .253 hitting percentage. Utah had four service aces to UNLV's zero, but the Utes ended the night with six service errors.
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Hammel led UNLV with 18 kills, while Sadie Stutzman added 14 kills on the evening. Elsa DesCamps and Hammel paced the UNLV defense with seven total blocks each.
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Team Stats
UNLV
UTAH
Kills
64
63
Errors
17
24
Attempts
154
154
Hitting %
.305
.253
Points
77.0
75.0
Assists
59
60
Aces
0
4
Blocks
13.0
8.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
21
Aces
1
Blocks
2
Kills
15
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
OH/RS
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
DS/L
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
OH
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
S
/ VolleyballOH/RS
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