Upcoming Event: Volleyball versus Weber State (Exhibition) on August 15, 2026 at 3:00 P.M.
3:00 P.M.
Volleyball
vs Weber State (Exhibition)
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The University of Utah Athletics
Flashback Friday: Launiere's 30th Celebration was one to Remember
4/3/2020 3:26 PM | Volleyball
Utah Celebrated Beth Being in Her 30th Season and Retired Kim Turner's Jersey
Through 30 seasons, head coach Beth Launiere has seen a little bit of everything or at least she had thought.
Launiere finished her 30th season in 2019 and took her team to its second Sweet 16 in three years with four All-Americans and was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year for the first time.
When she started at Utah in 1990, she inherited a team that was 1-32 the season before. Thirty years later when she started thinking back on the journey, she thought about what she has preached to every team and student-athlete that she's ever had to be successful.
"Something I always try and teach my players and is important to me is how you respond to adversity," Launiere said. "That's how you grow. You're always going to have challenges, but how you respond to that challenge is what matters."
"I just talked to the team about this today in regards to the challenging global situation we're experiencing right now. We do hard things all the time, and this is a hard thing. It's how we respond and keep a positive attitude through it that will determine how we come out on the other end. We're meeting probably the biggest challenge of our lives right now, and what we learn every day through athletics will help us get through it."
Her Pac-12 Coach of the Year honor was her first, but she had been named Mountain West Coach of the Year three times before the Utes joined the Pac-12. Launiere also earned her fourth AVCA West Region Coach of the Year award. This all came after a big reunion in the middle of the season to celebrate her 30th season and to retire Utah volleyball's first jersey as Kim Turner's jersey was hung in the rafters with other Utah greats.
Former student-athletes returned to campus for a big reunion and to cheer on the current team as they took on UCLA and USC. With all the memories shared, it was a special weekend for a lot of people.
"What stands out the most about that weekend is it truly was a celebration of the program in my opinion," Launiere said. "It was celebrating my 30 years, but it was the program that was ultimately celebrated. So many players came back, and it really was about the alumni and their experiences. Everyone loved Kim when she was here, and she's such a great representative of our program. More than even the success of the program was just the ability to come together and celebrate to remember and keep the stories and folklore of Utah volleyball alive."
Launiere and Turner were both honored against UCLA on Friday, Oct. 11 along with the current Utes sweeping the Bruins in impressive fashion, but the next day there was a banquet for all the former players to reminisce on some great memories.
"It was unbelievable the stories that came up at the banquet and I remembered every single one of them," Launiere said. "We had an open mic, and what was profound for me was hearing from the alumni and the impact their time at the University of Utah and playing in the volleyball program had. It was great seeing the program have such an influence on their life in a positive way. It wasn't always that everything was positive while they were here, but what they gained from it. What was also cool is that our alumni spoke to the current team a lot during the open mic about the value of this experience. It was a celebration of the program, Kim Turner and for all of the alumni for the experience that they had. Then, to be able to have an event where people were able to share, that was the most special thing of the weekend."
Even though the weekend was already special and a major success, the 2019 team had one more way to make it even better.
"The last thing that stood out was how the current team showed up," Launiere said. "They understood the significance of the weekend. They really wanted to play well for the alumni and do their part for the program on that weekend and boy did they show up. We played great against UCLA and beat them in three. Then after a long, emotional weekend going down 0-2 to USC and coming back and winning that match, that was just the current teams understanding of the significance of that weekend and celebration of our program."
Along with that weekend, the 2019 team will be remembered after taking the program to their fourth Sweet 16 and second in three years as well as having their most Pac-12 wins since joining the league. The Utah volleyball program is showing no signs of slowing down.
"There is some significance that we've been to the Sweet 16 in two of the last three years," Launiere said. "The two previous Sweet 16's were spread out. You have that one good team that you build for and get good experience on and then you have to kind of go into rebuild mode. For us to do it two out of three years is a significant step for our program. There is no question and then on top of that you add in being able to return a lot. It's a significant step for our program to try and be one of those teams that is relevant on the national scene and in the Pac-12 year after year."
Launiere finished her 30th season in 2019 and took her team to its second Sweet 16 in three years with four All-Americans and was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year for the first time.
When she started at Utah in 1990, she inherited a team that was 1-32 the season before. Thirty years later when she started thinking back on the journey, she thought about what she has preached to every team and student-athlete that she's ever had to be successful.
"Something I always try and teach my players and is important to me is how you respond to adversity," Launiere said. "That's how you grow. You're always going to have challenges, but how you respond to that challenge is what matters."
"I just talked to the team about this today in regards to the challenging global situation we're experiencing right now. We do hard things all the time, and this is a hard thing. It's how we respond and keep a positive attitude through it that will determine how we come out on the other end. We're meeting probably the biggest challenge of our lives right now, and what we learn every day through athletics will help us get through it."
Her Pac-12 Coach of the Year honor was her first, but she had been named Mountain West Coach of the Year three times before the Utes joined the Pac-12. Launiere also earned her fourth AVCA West Region Coach of the Year award. This all came after a big reunion in the middle of the season to celebrate her 30th season and to retire Utah volleyball's first jersey as Kim Turner's jersey was hung in the rafters with other Utah greats.
Former student-athletes returned to campus for a big reunion and to cheer on the current team as they took on UCLA and USC. With all the memories shared, it was a special weekend for a lot of people.
"What stands out the most about that weekend is it truly was a celebration of the program in my opinion," Launiere said. "It was celebrating my 30 years, but it was the program that was ultimately celebrated. So many players came back, and it really was about the alumni and their experiences. Everyone loved Kim when she was here, and she's such a great representative of our program. More than even the success of the program was just the ability to come together and celebrate to remember and keep the stories and folklore of Utah volleyball alive."
Launiere and Turner were both honored against UCLA on Friday, Oct. 11 along with the current Utes sweeping the Bruins in impressive fashion, but the next day there was a banquet for all the former players to reminisce on some great memories.
"It was unbelievable the stories that came up at the banquet and I remembered every single one of them," Launiere said. "We had an open mic, and what was profound for me was hearing from the alumni and the impact their time at the University of Utah and playing in the volleyball program had. It was great seeing the program have such an influence on their life in a positive way. It wasn't always that everything was positive while they were here, but what they gained from it. What was also cool is that our alumni spoke to the current team a lot during the open mic about the value of this experience. It was a celebration of the program, Kim Turner and for all of the alumni for the experience that they had. Then, to be able to have an event where people were able to share, that was the most special thing of the weekend."
Even though the weekend was already special and a major success, the 2019 team had one more way to make it even better.
"The last thing that stood out was how the current team showed up," Launiere said. "They understood the significance of the weekend. They really wanted to play well for the alumni and do their part for the program on that weekend and boy did they show up. We played great against UCLA and beat them in three. Then after a long, emotional weekend going down 0-2 to USC and coming back and winning that match, that was just the current teams understanding of the significance of that weekend and celebration of our program."
Along with that weekend, the 2019 team will be remembered after taking the program to their fourth Sweet 16 and second in three years as well as having their most Pac-12 wins since joining the league. The Utah volleyball program is showing no signs of slowing down.
"There is some significance that we've been to the Sweet 16 in two of the last three years," Launiere said. "The two previous Sweet 16's were spread out. You have that one good team that you build for and get good experience on and then you have to kind of go into rebuild mode. For us to do it two out of three years is a significant step for our program. There is no question and then on top of that you add in being able to return a lot. It's a significant step for our program to try and be one of those teams that is relevant on the national scene and in the Pac-12 year after year."
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