Volleyball Set for Deseret First Duel Match at BYU

Thursday, September 15

Provo, Utah

7:00 PM

University of Utah

Brigham Young

Volleyball Set for Deseret First Duel Match at BYU

9/12/2016 5:45 PM | Volleyball

Complete Match Notes (PDF)Watch Live Live Audio Live Stats

Utes to play Cougars in Provo on Thursday

MATCH 10 \| UTAH (7-2) AT #9 BYU (9-0)
DATE	Thursday, Sept. 15 \| 7 p.m. MT
LOCATION	Smith Fieldhouse \| Provo, Utah
TELEVISION	BYUtv
LIVE STATS	Live Stats

FIRST SERVE
The Utah Utes (7-2) will head to Provo, Utah, this Thursday, Sept. 15, to face the No. 9-ranked BYU Cougars. First serve is set for 7 p.m. MT at Smith Fieldhouse.

DESERET FIRST DUEL RIVALRY SERIES
Thursday night's match-up between Utah and BYU will mark the 97th meeting overall and the 14th since the Deseret First Duel rivalry series was introduced in 2007. BYU leads the all-time series 69-27 and is 7-6 when facing the Utes as part of the rivalry series.

The Cougars have won five straight overall and two consecutive matches over the Utes at Smith Fieldhouse. Utah's last win over BYU was a five-set thriller in Salt Lake City back on Oct. 29, 2010. Utah's last win at Smith Fieldhouse was a straight-set victory over the Cougars back on Oct. 1, 2010. Utah is 9-33 all-time when facing the Utes in Provo.

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.

Heading into Thursday's match, Utah leads the 2016-17 series by a score of 5-3.

COVERING THE UTES
The Utah vs. BYU match will be televised live on BYUtv. Spencer Linton will provide play-by-play commentary, while Amy Gant serves as an analyst for the broadcast. Jason Shepherd will provide sideline commentary.

Thursday's match will also be simulcast on BYU Radio, which can be found on Sirius XM channel 143.

Live stats will be available for the match, with links found at either www.UtahUtes.com or www.BYUCougars.com.

ABOUT UTAH
Utah recorded its first 3-0 record in a regular-season tournament since going 3-0 at the Lipscomb Invitational back in 2014. The Utes notched wins over Texas State (3-0), CSU Bakersfield (3-1) and Portland (3-0) on the way to earning the North Marriott Harbour Challenge championship.

Junior Adora Anae was named the tournament's MVP after registering 52 kills (5.2/set), a .385 hitting percentage, 31 digs (3.1/set), nine service aces and nine total blocks on the weekend. Anae tallied a double-double in her final two matches, while also registering a career-high five service aces against the Pilots on Saturday night.

Junior Tawnee Luafalemana was named to the All-Tournament team after recording 23 kills (2.3/set), a .400 hitting percentage and eight total blocks. Freshman Bailey Choy was also named to the All-Tournament team after recording 95 assists (9.5/set), a pair of service aces and 17 digs (1.7/set).

SCOUTING THE COUGARS
BYU heads into Thursday's match undefeated on the season and currently ranked No. 9 in the latest AVCA Top-25 Poll. The Cougars went 3-0 at Idaho State Invitational this past weekend, notching wins straight-set-wins over Boise State, Missouri and ISU.

The Cougars have dropped just four sets overall on the season, defeating both Rice and then No. 11-ranked Ohio State in five sets. BYU has swept its way past the rest of their opponents so far this season.

McKenna Miller leads BYU and is currently ranked No. 45 in the nation with 143 kills on the season Her 4.61 kills-per-set average leads the West Coast Conference and ranks No. 15 in the nation. Amy Boswell (88 kills) leads BYU with a .383 hitting percentage, which ranks 51st-best in the nation.

Lyndie Haddock has a team-high 321 assists and a 10.7 assists-per-set average on the season. Mary Lake leads the team with 145 digs, while Boswell has registered a team-high 37 total blocks on the year.

BYU hits .290 as a team, while averaging 13.9 kills, 12.7 assists, 13.9 digs and 2.48 blocks per set.

UTAH PLAYER NOTABLES
• Junior Adora Anae currently ranks among the top-40 players in all of NCAA Volleyball in kills (146, 39th), kills/set (4.42, 23rd), aces (17, 28th) and aces/set (0.52, 26th). Anae leads the Pac-12 in all four of those categories, as well as points (174.5) and points per set (5.29).
• Anae registered a career-high five service aces in Utah's win at Portland on Saturday. She is the 12th Utah player to record at least five service aces in a single-match and first since Megan Shughrou did last season.
• Sophomore Berkeley Oblad ranks sixth in the Pac-12 and 28th in the nation with a .405 hitting percentage.
• Junior Tawnee Luafalemana ranks eighth in the league and 32nd in the nation with a .397 hitting percentage.
• Freshman Bailey Choy ranks fifth in the Pac-12 and 137th in the nation with 287 total assists. She has registered at least 35 assists in six of Utah's nine matches this season.

POINT UTAH
The Utes notched a .385 hitting percentage as a team this past weekend. It was Utah's highest cumulative hitting percentage for a three-match tournament and most accurate since collecting a .324 attack percentage at the Utah Classic back in 2006.

Utah currently ranks third in the Pac-12 and No. 10 in the nation with a .301 team hitting percentage so far this season.

HOW SWEEP IT IS
Utah recorded its fourth three-set victory of the 2016 season on Saturday, after recording just one win via a 3-0 sweep in all of 2015. The Utes posted 12 straight-set victories in 2014.

CLUB HOPPING
Junior Adora Anae is on pace to become the 17th player in school history to earn her membership into the 1,000-kill club. Anae has registered 927 kills in her three seasons donning the Red & White - just 73 kills shy of the 1,000 kill mark.

Senior Tess Sutton eclipsed the 750-dig mark this past weekend and with her 751 career digs, she is now just 249 digs shy of becoming a member of the 1,000-dig club. She would become just the 10th player in school history to collect 1,000 digs or more.

LEADING THE WAY
Utah has out-hit their opponents in all nine matches so far this season. The Utes are currently bettering its opposition with a .301 hitting percentage to just a .195 attacking percentage from opposing teams.

The Utes have also tallied more service aces in all of its matches this season. Utah has posted 52 service aces, while opponents have recorded just 26 aces on the year.

UP NEXT
Utah will close out the 2016 non-conference slate this Saturday, Sept. 17, hosting in-state rival Utah State. The Utes and Aggies are set to get underway with a first serve at 7 p.m. from the Huntsman Center.

The Utes will open Pac-12 play next week, heading to Colorado next Wednesday, Sept. 21and then returning home on Saturday, Sept. 24 to host Arizona State. Both matches are set to begin at 7 p.m. from Coors Events Center and the Huntsman Center, respectively.