Red Downs White in Five Sets

Saturday, August 18

Salt Lake City, UT

2:00 PM

University of Utah

Utah Volleyball Red/White Scrimmage

8/18/2018 4:55 PM | Volleyball

Dani Drews led the way with 24 kills

SALT LAKE CITY – The No. 19 Utah volleyball team held its annual scrimmage on Saturday, August 25 in the Huntsman Center and the red team was victorious in a thrilling five-set match.

"Today was such a great opportunity to get in a game like situation and go through all of the pre-match routines," head coach Beth Launiere said. "Every aspect of it is important to get under your belt before you come out for your first match when it counts. From that perspective, you just can't put a value on it. As far as the volleyball goes, I was pleased. I saw some things that we needed to see. Some players stepped up and it was about putting a little pressure on ourselves and realizing it's not practice. That's the beauty of the red/white match. It can't replicate exactly what next Friday will be like, but it's another layer of getting into game-like situations and getting a feel of being in the Huntsman Center. I told the team, still 29 years later I had little butterflies today. You know it's close to go time. Such a valuable experience to go through this match."

Playing four sets for the red team and one set for the white team, Dani Drews led the team with 24 kills. Lauga Gauta was right behind her finishing the match with 22 kills.

Overall, five Utes finished with double-digit kills. In addition to Drews and Gauta, Megan Yett finished with 16, Phoebe Grace had 14 and Lauren Sproule had 12.

The red team stormed out to an early lead in the first set and took the opener, but the white team bounced back to win the second set 25-22.

Both teams traded the third and fourth sets once again, so it came down to a decisive fifth set. With things tight in the fifth, the red team won five of the last six points to win the scrimmage.

Bailey Choy led the way in assists with 45.

Shelby Dalton and Kalee Kirby, two alumni, joined the action on the white team.

Now, the Utes will turn their attention to next weekend as they open their season in the Utah Volleyball Classic against UC Irvine on Friday, August 24 at 7 p.m. in the Huntsman Center.

Season tickets are on sale for the 14 home matches for just $15 and single-game tickets will go on sale on Monday, August 20. Fans can purchase tickets HERE.