Completed Event: Volleyball versus University of Northern Iowa on December 4, 2025 , Loss , 2, to, 3
Final Score
Volleyball
2
vs University of Northern Iowa
3
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The University of Utah Athletics
Position Breakdown: Middle Blocker
8/25/2019 10:00 AM | Volleyball
Oblad Returns for Redshirt Senior Season
SALT LAKE CITY – The final position breakdown for Utah is the middle blockers where they received a big boost when Berkeley Oblad announced she was coming back for a redshirt senior season.
Oblad earned AVCA honorable mention All-American honors after 2017 and had high hopes coming into her senior season, but it got cut short due to an injury after just six matches. In 2017, she had career highs with 300 kills and 142 blocks.
"I don't think we can categorize how important it is for us from so many vantage points to get Berkeley back," head coach Beth Launiere said. "She's obviously a great player and adds a lot to us in the terms of speed in the middle. She runs the slide attack and has tremendous vision of the game. Berk also has a complete understanding of our systems and she's a great leader. I don't know how you quantify that but it's pretty big."
She'll lead three other middles in Kennedi Evans, Phoebe Grace and Shkhinah Tindsley.
Evans and Grace both got a lot of experience last season in big matches in Oblad's absence. This year, Evans will redshirt, so Grace will look to build on her 159 kills and team-leading 117 blocks a season ago.
Grace enters her redshirt sophomore season and played in 27 matches while starting in 23.
Tindsley lettered two years at Merril F. West High School and played for the Pacific Coast Volleyball Club. For her career, she finished with 710 kills hitting .374, 137 blocks and 44 aces. Tindsley was named the Stockton Record Volleyball Player of the Year for her success her senior season.
The Utes held their annual Red/White scrimmage yesterday and are now excited to get the 2019 season going by hosting the Utah Volleyball Classic the first weekend beginning Friday, August 30.
Utah will play Saint Mary's, No. 7 Kentucky and No. 23 Cal Poly.
Oblad earned AVCA honorable mention All-American honors after 2017 and had high hopes coming into her senior season, but it got cut short due to an injury after just six matches. In 2017, she had career highs with 300 kills and 142 blocks.
"I don't think we can categorize how important it is for us from so many vantage points to get Berkeley back," head coach Beth Launiere said. "She's obviously a great player and adds a lot to us in the terms of speed in the middle. She runs the slide attack and has tremendous vision of the game. Berk also has a complete understanding of our systems and she's a great leader. I don't know how you quantify that but it's pretty big."
She'll lead three other middles in Kennedi Evans, Phoebe Grace and Shkhinah Tindsley.
Evans and Grace both got a lot of experience last season in big matches in Oblad's absence. This year, Evans will redshirt, so Grace will look to build on her 159 kills and team-leading 117 blocks a season ago.
Grace enters her redshirt sophomore season and played in 27 matches while starting in 23.
Tindsley lettered two years at Merril F. West High School and played for the Pacific Coast Volleyball Club. For her career, she finished with 710 kills hitting .374, 137 blocks and 44 aces. Tindsley was named the Stockton Record Volleyball Player of the Year for her success her senior season.
The Utes held their annual Red/White scrimmage yesterday and are now excited to get the 2019 season going by hosting the Utah Volleyball Classic the first weekend beginning Friday, August 30.
Utah will play Saint Mary's, No. 7 Kentucky and No. 23 Cal Poly.
Players Mentioned
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