Utah Volleyball Wins Five-Set Thriller at Oregon State

Sunday, November 5

Corvallis, OR

1:00 PM

University of Utah

10-14,5-9Pac-12

Oregon State

9-15,4-10Pac-12

Utah

Oregon St.

Photo by: Kane Nguyen/OSU Athletics

Utah Volleyball Wins Five-Set Thriller at Oregon State

11/5/2023 5:02 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Lauren Jardine tallied 18 kills as the Utes collected a season-high 66 kills.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Utah volleyball team rallied from behind late in the fifth set to close out the weekend with an electric five-set win in Corvallis on Sunday afternoon (20-25, 25-19, 25-23, 14-25, 15-13).

"I couldn't be more proud of our team today," said head coach Beth Launiere. "This group has continued to work hard every single day. There's not one day that they let up and don't strive to get better. It was nice to get this payoff. They came through in clutch situations which should give us a much needed confidence boost. We had contributions from so many players. It was truly a team win!"

Both teams split the first four sets at Gill Coliseum on Sunday as the Utes battled to climb out of a 13-11 deficit in the fifth set to win their 10^th consecutive victory against Oregon State. There were minimal lead changes throughout the match, as only one lead change occurred in the first, second, and fourth sets and two lead changes in the third set. This is Utah's third five-set victory of the season.

Lauren Jardine shined offensively, piling up 18 kills at a .304 clip as Kamryn Gibadlo collected 16 of her own. Amelia Van Der Werff also added double-digit kills, totaling 10 with one error, leading the team with a .474 hitting percentage. Dishing the ball, sophomore setter Viktoria Wahlgren assisted a Ute 41 times.

Leading the defense, Vanessa Ramirez captured 14 digs, leading the Utes in digs for the 23rd time this season and reaching double-digit digs for the 21st time. Wahlgren also contributed 12 digs to the team's total. Utah totaled 13 blocks against the Beavers, tying its third highest of the season. Six different Utes recorded a block as Allie Olsen and Emrie Satuala led the team with five blocks each. Jardine and Wahlgren added four.

The first set began with the Beavers jumping out to a quick 7-3 lead, but the Utes managed to close the deficit to just two points at 16-14 after a solo Wahlgren block. The Beavers maintained an advantage of three or more points throughout most of the set until a kill from Olsen brought the Oregon State advantage back down to two points at 21-19, forcing a timeout. The Beavers went on to win four of the next five points to take the set.

The second set began tight as neither team could extend their lead through the first few points. Gibaldo gave Utah a lead with three consecutive kills, 4-2. The Utes grew their advantage to three points and never let it slip for the entirety of the set. Leading 17-14, Gibadlo recorded two kills and a block from Olsen, and Gibadlo stretched the lead to five points. The Beavers responded with a 3-0 run, but Utah won five of the next six points to tie the match. Kills from Satuala, Kamry Bailey, Gibadlo, and Jardine with an ace contributed to the strong finish.

The third set followed the same narrative as the second set, as the set was even at 12-12. The Beavers used two sets of 3-0 runs to extend their lead to 18-14, but the Utes responded with a 5-1 run, and an ace from Ramirez tied the set. Oregon State and Jardine matched point-for-point over the next four points to continue the race to 25. Utah claimed the final four of five points including a pair of kills from Van Der Werff to take a 2-1 set advantage. The Utes collected 21 kills in the set to take the third set.

Oregon State held onto a slight one-point edge early in the fourth set, taking a 10-9 lead. The Beavers took a grasp of the set with a 7-1 run to extend their lead to seven points but a kill from Rianne Vos brought the advantage down to six. Oregon State controlled the final stretch of the set, going on a 7-2 run to force a fifth and final set.

The final set began back-and-forth as the Beaves claimed a 5-3 lead but didn't have an answer for Jardine as she recorded a kill for each of the first three Utah points. The Utes tied the set with a kill from Gibadlo and an ace from Jardine. Satuala tied the set 7-7 with a kill and an ace from Emily Smith and a kill from Gibadlo concluded a 3-0 run and gave Utah a two-point advantage. Utah captured its largest lead of the set after a block from Sataula and Wahlgren but the Beavers responded with five consecutive points to take a 13-11 lead. The Utes catapulted their way back into the lead, finishing the match on a 4-0 run with Jardine leading the way with two additional kills.

UP NEXT
The Utes start the second half of the road trip with a visit to Arizona to face the Arizona Wildcats and the Arizona State Sun Devils. Utah challenges Arizona on Thursday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. MT at the McKale Center. The matchup in Tucson will be available to watch on Pac-12 Network. To wrap up the long road trip, the Utes battle Arizona State on Saturday, Nov. 11, at 6:30 p.m. MT on the ASU live stream. The Utes battled both teams earlier this season in Salt Lake City, falling to the Sun Devils in straight sets and defeating the Wildcats in five sets.