Volleyball To Close Out Non-Conference Play This Week

Match 10: #16 Utah vs. #14 BYU
Thursday, Sept. 14 | 7 p.m. MT
Salt Lake City, Utah | Huntsman Center
Pac-12 NOW
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Match 11: #16 Utah at Utah Valley
Friday, Sept. 15| 5 p.m. MT
Orem, Utah | Lockhart Arena
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FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
• Utah is coming off its second consecutive 3-0 after winning the Utah Classic Championship in Salt Lake City this past weekend.
• Berkeley Oblad, Bailey Choy and Carly Trueman were each named to the Utah Classic All-Tournament Team. Oblad was named the tournament MVP.
• Utah picked up a win over then No. 15-ranked San Diego at the Huntsman Center this past Friday. It was Utah's first win over a top-25 ranked team at the Huntsman Center since downing No. 18 Colorado back on Nov. 28, 2014.
• Utah swept past both Green Bay and Missouri to take the Utah Classic Championship. The Utes have notched a total of six sweeps on the season.
• Junior Berkeley Oblad was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week on Monday. Oblad led Utah with 16 blocks over the weekend and was instrumental in limiting all three opponents to hitting just .145 overall.

FIRST SERVE
The No. 16-ranked Utah Utes (8-1) close out non-conference play this week, taking on a pair of in-state rivals this Thursday and Friday.

The Utes will match-up with No. 14-ranked BYU at the Huntsman Center on Thursday as part of the Deseret First Duel series. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. in Salt Lake City. Utah will close out the week taking on Utah Valley at Lockhart Arena in Orem on Friday. First serve is set for 5 p.m. (Friday's start time was changed from the original first serve time of 7 p.m.)

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
BYU Cougars
BYU traveled to Honolulu, Hawaii, to compete in the Outrigger Resorts Volleyball Challenge last weekend, where the Cougars finished 2-1 to improve their record to 8-1 overall. BYU opened the three-day tournament with a win over tournament host, Hawaii, in five sets. BYU also swept Nevada on the second day of action. The Cougars closed out play in Hawaii against Baylor and fell in five sets, 2-3. Junior Veronica Jones-Perry and sophomore McKenna Miller lead the Cougars on the year with 4.15 k/s and 3.45 k/s, respectively, while junior Lyndie Haddock runs the offense with 9.34 a/s. Defensively, sophomore Mary Lake averages 4.36 dig/s for BYU and senior Cosy Burnett totals 1.58 blk/s to control the net for the Cougars.

Utah Valley Wolverines
Utah Valley last saw action in the TCU Fight in the Fort tournament in Fort Worth, Texas. The Wolverines dropped to 5-7 on the season after going 0-3 in play last weekend. Utah Valley opened the tournament against Lehigh and fell in straight sets, 0-3. Utah Valley began the second day of competition against Duke, where the Wolverines dropped the match in five sets, 2-3. To close out the tournament, UVU was swept by the tournament host, TCU. Senior Sierra Starley runs the Utah Valley offense, totaling 9.73 a/s, while senior Lexi Thompson averages 3.09 k/s and senior Madison Dennison adds in 2.75 k/s and 1.48 blk/s. Freshman Seren Merrill also tallies 4.05 dig/s for the Wolverine defense.

SERIES HISTORY
Thursday's contest marks the 100th meeting between the Utes and Cougars. BYU comes in leading the all-time series 69-30, but Utah snapped a five-match losing streak to the Cougars with a 3-2 win in Provo last season. Utah led the match 2-0 before BYU came back to notch things at 2-2. Down 13-11, a kill from Tawnee Luafalemana, followed by a block from Berkeley Oblad and Adora Anae, tied the set at 13-all and BYU quickly called its final timeout. Anae did the rest, recording the set's final two points on the way to a school-record 31-kill effort and securing the win for the Utes.

Utah is 15-25 all-time when facing the Cougars at home, but BYU has won the previous three meetings in Salt Lake City. Utah's last win over BYU at home was a 3-2 victory back on Oct. 29, 2010.

The Utes and Wolverines will be facing off for just the 12th time in a series that dates back to 2003, but it will be the first meeting since 2014. Utah leads the all-time series 10-1, with its only defeat coming back on Sept. 4, 2009, in Orem. Utah has won the other three meetings played in Orem, which includes a 3-1 victory over the Wolverines back on Sept. 14, 2013. Utah has won four straight dating back to the 2010 season.

COVERING THE UTES
Thursday'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 Utah Valley on Friday will be web-streamed on the WAC Digital Network. Links to the broadcast can be found at www.UtahUtes.com or www.WACSports.com/watch.

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

LAST TIME OUT
Utah picked up a five-set victory over then No. 15-ranked San Diego and followed with three-set sweeps over Green Bay and Missouri, en route to winning the Utah Volleyball Classic in Salt Lake City this past weekend.

Senior Adora Anae led the way against USD, notching 19 kills, but freshman Dani Barton chipped in 15 kills and a team-best .464 hitting percentage. Senior Carly Trueman totaled 16 kills and junior Berkeley Oblad added 10 kills on the evening.

Senior Tawnee Luafalemana led the way with 10 kills and Utah made quick work of Green Bay in Utah's first match on Saturday. The Utes hit .390 as a team, while the defense limited the Phoenix to a negative hitting percentage (-.019). It marked the first negative hitting percentage from an opponent since Utah limited Prairie View A&M to a -.014 hitting percentage back on Sept. 7, 2013.

Anae tallied 15 kills and Oblad followed with 11 kills and a .562 hitting percentage to help lead the Utes to a three-set sweep over Missouri this past Saturday evening. Oblad added three blocks on her way to being named All-Tournament MVP. Sophomore Bailey Choy registered a double-double with 39 assists and 10 digs and she too was named to the all-tournament team. Trueman was also named to the all-tournament team for the Utes.

POLL TALK
Utah moved up two spots to come in at No. 16 in this week's AVCA Top-25 Poll. The Utes have been ranked inside the AVCA Poll for 13 straight weeks dating back to last season.

Utah's No. 16 ranking is the program's highest ranking since coming in at No. 16 back on Nov. 14 last season. It is the highest ranking this early in the season since donning the No. 10 ranking back on Sept. 16, 2002.

POLL TALK II
The No. 16-ranked Utes, who face No. 14-ranked BYU on Thursday and this will mark the ninth time in the series that both teams have faced each other when ranked among the AVCA's top-25 teams. The will meet as ranked teams for the first time since Oct. 27th, 2006, when Utah was ranked No. 9 and BYU was ranked No. 17. Utah won the contest 3-0 in Salt Lake City. Utah leads the series 5-3 when both teams are ranked, which includes a four-match winning streak that dates back to 2001. Here is a look inside the series when both team have been ranked:

DATE	Utah's Rank	BYU's Rank	Winner (Score)	Location
10/27/2006	#9	#17	Utah, 3-0	Salt Lake City
09/29/2006	#18	#16	Utah, 3-1	Provo
11/16/2001	#16	#18	Utah, 3-1	Provo
10/19/2001	#18	#13	Utah, 3-2	Salt Lake City
09/20/2001	#21	#14	BYU, 3-0	Provo
11/17/2000	#19	#13	BYU, 1-3	Fort Collins, Colo.
11/03/2000	#20	#14	BYU, 1-3	Provo
10/06/2000	#16	#13	Utah, 3-0	Salt Lake City

ANOTHER PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior middle blocker Berkeley Oblad was named this week's Pac-12 Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week.

Oblad helped lead then No.-18-ranked Utah to a 3-0 record this past weekend, which included the Utes upsetting No. 15-ranked San Diego and capturing the Utah Classic title. The Henderson, Nev., native totaled 16 blocks on the weekend, which included her tying a career-high with nine total blocks in Utah's win over Green Bay this past Saturday. She tallied 1.45 blocks-per-set and played a key role in Utah limiting opposing teams to a combined hitting percentage of just .145.

Oblad and the Utes registered totaled 39.0 total team blocks, recording 13.0 team blocks in all three matches this past weekend. The Utes have now posted 10.0 or more blocks in four straight matches dating back to last weekend's win at Hawaii. The last time a Utah team had double-digit total team blocks in four consecutive matches came back in 2014 (Sept. 25 – Oct. 5).

Senior Tawnee Luafalemana and freshman Dani Barton were both named Pac-12 Volleyball Players of the Week back on Sept. 4. Luafalemana was named Defensive Player of the Week, while Barton earned Freshman of the Week honors.

#BLOCKU
Dating back to the final match of the Rainbow Wahine Classic, when Utah faced Hawaii, the Ute defense has registered double-digit team total blocks in four consecutive matches. The Utes tallied a season-high 19.0 team total blocks against the Rainbow Wahine and then turned around to post 13.0 team total blocks in all three matches this past weekend.

Utah registered 10.0 total team blocks in four straight matches for the first time since the 2014 season (Sept. 25-Oct. 5), when Utah tallied 13.5 blocks against Colorado, 13.5 blocks against Oregon State, 11.5 blocks against Arizona and 14.5 blocks against Arizona State.

CLUB HOPPING
Utah senior Adora Anae became a member on not just one, not two, not three, but a total of four different statistical clubs this past weekend. Anae registered her 1,000th career dig in the first set against the Missouri Tigers on Saturday, becoming the 10th player in school history to become a member of the 1,000-dig club. In addition, she became just the fifth player to earn membership into the 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs club.

Not to be outdone, the four-year veteran collected her 1,500th career kill to become just the third player in school history to record at least 1,500 kills in a career. She is also just the second player that has totaled at least 1,500 kills and 1,000 digs while donning the Red and White.

HIGH FIVE FOR 25
Senior Adora Anae registered at least 25 kills in a single match for the 11th time in her career when she tallied 26 kills in a loss to Kentucky back on Aug. 25. Anae is the only player in school history to record at least 25 kills in a single match more than five times in a career.

Anae, who just snapped a 33-match streak of registering at least 10 kills or more, has gone onto collect 20 kills or more, 28 different times in her career. Overall, Anae has posted double-digit kill efforts in 79 of the 104 matches she has played in over the last four seasons.

MOVING ON UP
Senior Adora Anae continues to climb her way up Utah's all-time statistical leader boards. The four-year veteran moved up to No. 3 all-time in career kills. She now has 1,513 career kills and will head into the weekend needing 53 kills to move into the No. 2 spot and surpass Brenda Barton-Whicker's total of 1,565 kills. She is 108 kills away from taking over the top spot, which is currently held by Kim Turner, who totaled 1,620 kills.

Anae did move up to No. 4 all-time in career attempts (3,854) and also managed to move into the top-10 with 1,007 career digs. She is just 26 digs away from moving up to No. 9 and surpassing Jackie Morril's total of 1,032 digs.

SWEEPING EFFORTS
Utah registered its fifth and sixth three-set sweeps of the season this past weekend, collecting 3-0 wins over both Green Bay and Missouri.

UTES PICKED TO FINISH FOURTH IN PAC-12
Utah earned its highest preseason finish since joining the Pac-12 back in 2012, coming in at No. 4 in the 2017 preseason coaches' poll. The Utes garnered one first-place vote in the poll for a total of 88 points. Washington was picked to win the league, while Stanford and Oregon followed to round out the top-three.

ANAE NAMED TO ALL-PAC-12 PRESEASON TEAM
Adora Anae was named to the All-Pac-12 Preseason Team for a second straight season. Anae, who enters her senior season with the Utes, was an All-Pac-12 First Team selection following the 2016 season. She led the league in kills (592), kills-per-set (4.70) and points-per-set (5.22).

UP NEXT
The Utes open Pac-12 play next week, hosting Colorado next Friday, Sept. 22 and then taking on California at the Huntsman Center on Sunday, Sept. 24. Utah welcomes both Oregon schools to the Huntsman Center the following week.

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Adora Anae

Bailey Choy

Dani Drews

Tawnee Luafalemana

Berkeley Oblad

Carly Trueman