Pair of Top-25 Matches on Tap for #25 Utes this Weekend

Friday, September 30

Salt Lake City, Utah

6:00 PM

University of Utah

UCLA

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Pair of Top-25 Matches on Tap for #25 Utes this Weekend

9/27/2016 9:45 AM | Volleyball

Complete Match Notes (PDF)Live Stats (vs. UCLA)Live Stats (vs. USC)

Utes to host #12 on Friday, #23 USC on Saturday at the Huntsman Center

MATCH 14 \| #25 UTAH (11-2, 2-0) vs. #12 UCLA (10-2, 1-1)
DATE/TIME	Friday, Sept. 30 \| 6 p.m. MT
LOCATION	Jon M. Huntsman Center \| Salt Lake City
TELEVISION	Pac-12 Networks \| Pac-12 LIVE
LIVE STATS	Live Stats
SERIES/STREAK	UCLA leads 18-2 \| UCLA, Won 2
LAST MATCH	Utah 1, UCLA 3 \| Nov. 6, 2016

MATCH 15 \| #25 UTAH (11-2, 2-0) vs. #23 USC (8-5, 2-0)
DATE	Saturday, Oct. 1 \| 7 p.m.
LOCATION	Jon M. Huntsman Center \| Salt Lake City
LIVE VIDEO	Utah Live Stream
LIVE STATS	Live Stats
SERIES/STREAK	USC leads 15-2 \| USC, Won 2
LAST MATCH	Utah 0, USC 3 \| Nov. 8, 2016

FIRST SERVE
The No. 25 Utah Utes (11-2, 2-0) will wrap-up its three-match home stand this weekend with a pair of Pac-12 Conference matches. Utah will host the No. 12-ranked UCLA Bruins (10-2, 1-1) this Friday, Sept. 30, at 6 p.m., before closing out the weekend against the No. 23-ranked USC Trojans (8-5, 0-2) on Saturday, Oct. 1, at 7 p.m. Both matches will be played inside the Huntsman Center.

COVERING THE UTES
Friday's contest will be televised live on the Pac-12 Networks with Thad Anderson calling play-by-play and Amy Gant providing color commentary.

Fans can also follow Friday'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.

Utah's match against USC on Saturday will be web-streamed on-line with links to the broadcast found at www.UtahUtes.com or www.Pac-12.com/live/university-utah.

Live stats will be provided for both contests this weekend, with links to these matches found at www.UtahUtes.com.

ABOUT UTAH
Utah brings in a seven-match winning streak into the week following wins over then No. 16-ranked Colorado last Wednesday and a victory over Arizona State this past Saturday.

The Utes came back from a 2-1 deficit to defeat the Buffs in five sets at Coors Events Center on Wednesday. Junior Adora Anae led the squad with 27 kills, while sophomore Megan Shughrou tallied a team-high 19 digs on the evening.

Utah erased another 2-1 deficit on Saturday, coming back to defeat the Sun Devils in five sets in its Pac-12 home opener. Anae again led the charge with 22 kills and Shughrou led the back row with 20 digs. Junior Tawnee Luafalemana led the Utes at the net with a new season/career-high nine total blocks and Utah finished the match out-blocking ASU 17.0 to 7.0 in total team blocks.

STAYING ALIVE AND WINNING IN FIVE
With a pair of five-set victories last week, the Utes moved to 4-2 overall in matches that have gone a full five sets. Utah ended last season with just a 3-4 record in matches that went five sets long.

Utah is 72-54 all-time in five-set matches in the 27 seasons that head coach Beth Launiere has been at the helm of the program. The four five-set victories so far this season are tied for second-most under Launiere; just one shy of the five wins Utah recorded in 2013 (5-1), 2009 (5-1) and 2001 (5-2).

STARTING STRONG IN PAC-12 PLAY
The Utes have opened Pac-12 play with two consecutive wins for the first time since joining the league and it marks Utah's best start to conference play since a 4-0 record when the team was a member of the Mountain West Conference back in 2009.

UTAH LEADERS
Junior Adora Anae continues to lead the team with 243 total kills and a 4.76 kills per set average. Junior Carly Trueman (140 kills), junior Tawnee Luafalemana (117 kills) and sophomore Berkeley Oblad (103 kills) also rank among Utah's top players with 100+ kills on the year.

Anae leads the team with 20 service aces and has also tallied a team-high 172 digs on the year. Sophomore Megan Shughrou follows with 127 digs and freshman Bailey Choy has registered 106 digs on the season.

Choy has recorded a team-best 469 assists (8.85/set) on the season and sophomore Jessie Openshaw follows with 146 assists on the season.

Luafalemana leads Utah at the net with 56 total blocks (1.06/set) and Oblad follows with 45 total blocks (0.96/set). Junior Eliza Katoa is next on the list with 32 total blocks.

CHOY NAMED PAC-12 FRESHMAN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Utah setter Bailey Choy has been named this week's Pac-12 Conference Volleyball Freshman of the Week after helping guide the Utes to a pair of conference wins this past week.

The Honolulu native registered a pair of double-doubles on the week, totaling 39 assists and 17 digs in the win over the Buffs, along with 40 assists and a career-high 18 digs against the Sun Devils. Choy averaged 7.9 assists to go along with 3.5 digs per set. She also managed to put down a career-high four kills in the win over ASU.

Choy is Utah's third Pac-12 Player of the Week so far this season, joining junior Adora Anae (Offensive) and Megan Shughrou (Defensive), who both earned Pac-12 weekly accolades last week. She is the third Utah player overall to earn Freshman Player of the Week honors and first since Anae was selected back on Nov. 17, 2014.

UTAH MAKES DEBUT IN AVCA TOP-25 POLL
Fresh off its seventh straight win, Utah made its 2016 debut in the AVCA Top-25 Poll, coming in at No. 25 this week. This marks Utah's first AVCA ranking since earning a No. 23 ranking in last year's preseason poll. It is the program's first non-preseason ranking since coming in at No. 20 back on Dec. 1, 2014.

Utah, who garnered a pair of votes in last week's poll, is 2-0 to open Pac-12 play and 11-2 overall. The Utes have won seven straight with its last loss coming back on Sept. 3.

SCOUTING THE BRUINS
UCLA opened Pac-12 play with a win over USC last Wednesday, but then fell to Washington State in five sets on Friday. The Bruins snapped a three-match losing streak with the loss in what was the team's first home contest of the season. The Bruins are 5-1 in road matches this season, with its only loss coming to No. 15 San Diego.

BRUIN LEADERS
Statistical leaders for the Bruins heading into the week include: Kills: Reily Buechler (159); Hitting percentage: Jennie Frager (.377); Assists: Ryann Chandler (433); Aces: Buechler (7); Digs: Taylor Formico (214) and Blocks: Frager (56).

SCOUTING THE TROJANS
USC snapped an eight-match winning streak, while falling to 0-2 to open Pac-12 play last week. The Trojans opened league play with a loss to UCLA and then fell to Washington in straight sets this past Friday.

The Trojans have played in just one true road match this season, notching a win in Houston against Rice.

TROJAN LEADERS
Statistical leaders for the Trojans heading into the week include: Kills: Khalia Lanier (169); Hitting percentage: Elise Ruddins (.448); Assists: Reni Meyer-Whalley (257); Aces: Lanier (14); Digs: Taylor Whittingham (175) and Blocks: Ruddins (48).

SERIES HISTORY
UCLA leads the all-time series 18-2 and have won two 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 2-4 all-time when facing the Bruins at home.

USC leads the all-time series 15-2 and the Trojans have won the previous two meetings. Utah's last win over USC was a 3-0 win over the Trojans in Salt Lake City back on Nov. 9, 2014. It is Utah's only win over the Trojans in seven tries at home.

BEATING RANKED TEAMS
Utah has now knocked off a pair top-25 team so far this season with its 3-2 win at No. 9-ranked BYU on Sept. 15 and a 3-2 victory at No. 16 Colorado back on Sept. 21.

Utah's win at BYU was the program's first victory over a ranked opponent on the road since defeating then No. 16-ranked Oregon back on Oct. 28, 2011.

ATTACKING THE OPPOSITION
The Utes have posted better hitting percentages than all 13 of its opponents so far this season. Utah is hitting .275 as a team, while limiting opposing squads to just a .185 attack percentage.

Despite losses to Gonzaga and Illinois State, the Utes managed to out-hit those teams .246 to .216 and .218 to .181, respectively.

Utah limited Arizona State to just a .099 hitting percentage on Saturday. It was the lowest hitting percentage from an opponent since Kansas State hit just .072 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament back on Dec. 5, 2014.

#BLOCKU
Utah registered a season-high 17.0 total team blocks in the win over Arizona State on Saturday. Junior Tawnee Luafalemana led the Utes at the net with nine total blocks and sophomore Berkeley Oblad added a career-high eight total blocks.

It was Utah's most blocks in a match since totaling 17.5 total team blocks against Seton Hall last season.

DIG THIS
Utah registered a season-high 86 digs in its win over Arizona State on Saturday. It is the first time that a Utah squad posted 80 digs or more since collecting 80 digs at California last season (Nov. 19, 2015).

Utah had four players with 10 digs or more, which included sophomore Megan Shughrou's team-high 20 digs and freshman Bailey Choy's career-high 18 digs. Junior Adora Anae added 12 digs and freshman Brianna Doehrmann totaled a career-high 11 digs on the evening.

The last time a Utah team had four players with 10 digs or more came in the same contest at California on Nov. 19, 2015. Shughrou tallied 29 digs, Kendall Cygan added 12 digs, Anae collected 11 digs and Jessie Openshaw posted 10 digs in the match.

ANAE EARNS MEMBERSHIP INTO 1,000-KILL CLUB
Junior Adora Anae became just the 17th player in school history to earn a membership into the 1,000-kill club after collecting her 1,000th career kill at Colorado back on Sept. 21. Anae needed 25 kills in the match against the Buffs and managed to collect a total of 27 kill on the night. Her 25th kill tied the match 16-all in the fifth set and the Utes went onto defeat the Buffs, 20-18, and take the match.

ANAE SETS NEW SCHOOL RECORD
Junior Adora Anae set a new school record for most kills in a match during the rally-scoring era (2001-present) with 31 kills against BYU back on Sept. 15. Anae broke the previous mark of 28 kills, which she set twice last season. In addition, Anae becomes just the second player in school history to become a member of the 30-kill club, joining Mailee Gee-Merrill, who holds the all-time school record with 33 kills that was set back on Oct. 27, 1984.

UP NEXT
The Utes open a four-match road swing through the Bay Area next week, with matches at California on Friday, Oct. 7 and at Stanford on Sunday, Oct. 9. Utah continues the road swing in the Pacific Northwest the following week playing at Washington (Oct. 14) and at Washington State (Oct. 16).