Utah Volleyball Concludes Road Trip Sunday at No. 17 Arizona State

Thursday, November 9

Tucson, AZ

7:00 PM

University of Utah

Arizona

Utah Volleyball Concludes Road Trip Sunday at No. 17 Arizona State

11/8/2023 1:28 PM | Volleyball

Match Notes - Arizona, #17 Arizona State

The Utes close out a four-match road trip with a visit to the desert.

Match 25: Utah (10-14) at Arizona (6-19)
Thursday, Nov. 9 | 7 p.m. MT
Tucson, Ariz. | McKale Center
Watch: Live Broadcast
Live Stats: StatBroadcast

Match 26: Utah (10-14) at #17 Arizona State (22-4)
Saturday, Nov. 11 | 6 p.m. MT
Tempe, Ariz. | Desert Financial Arena
Watch: Live Broadcast
Live Stats: StatBroadcast

MATCH WEEK
The Utes head to the Grand Canyon State to battle the Arizona Wildcats and the seventeenth-ranked Arizona State Sun Devils. The match with Arizona will be Thursday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. MT on Pac-12 Network at the McKale Center. The four-game road trip concludes with a visit to Desert Financial Arena in Tempe on Saturday, Nov. 11, with first serve coming against the Sun Devils at 6 p.m. MT. This is the final road weekend series of the season for the Utes.

QUICK HITS
• Utah collected a season-high 66 kills at Oregon State on Nov. 5, the most since connecting on 72 kills versus Milwaukee on Sept. 2, 2022
• Lauren Jardine accumulated 18 kills on Sunday against Oregon State, her fifth game of 15 or more kills this season
• Four different Utes have led the team in kills in the last six matches
• Utah has racked up 50+ kills in four of the last five matches
• Vanessa Ramirez is sixth in the Pac-12 in digs per set with 3.59
• Utah totaled 13 blocks against the Beavers, tying its third highest of the sea- son as six different Utes recorded a block
• The Utes defeated Arizona in five sets earlier this season in Salt Lake City. Utah has won nine consecutive matches against the Wildcats, including three on the road. The Wildcats lead the all-time series 28-16.
• Utah won at Arizona State in 2021 and lead the all-time series 20-16 with a 9-8 record in Tempe.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Arizona started the season 5-6 through the preseason, with a notable loss to #1 Wisconsin, but lost its first four conference matches before defeating UCLA in Tucson earlier this season. Since their lone conference win, the Wildcats have lost nine straight. The Wildcats have won four of their eleven matches at home. Sofia Maldonado Diaz leads the team in kills per set at a clip of 3.45.

SCOUTING THE SUN DEVILS
Arizona State and its first-year coach JJ Van Niel are off to a red-hot start in Tempe. Before finding a home at Arizona State, Van Niel spent time on Beth Launiere's staff at Utah from 2015-17. The Sun Devils started the season 14-0 and dominated four preseason tournaments. Arizona State dropped its first match at #3 Stanford early in Pac-12 play but won three straight following the loss with a win coming at #5 Oregon later in the season. The Sun Devils are coming off a loss against USC last weekend but had won three straight prior to the match. Marta Levinkski ranks second in the Pac-12 with total kills and third with 4.51 kills per set. Shannon Shields is fourth in the conference with 10.33 assists per set including 713 total assists this season while Mary Shroll is third in the conference with 3.75 digs per set.

TAKING A LOOK BACK
Earlier this season, Utah hosted both Arizona and Arizona State in Salt Lake City. The Utes fell to ASU in three sets to start the weekend but closed out the weekend with a win against Arizona. Utah battled adversity after taking the first two sets and then dropping the following pair of sets to the Wildcats. A strong fifth-set performance pushed Utah towards victory and a split of its
weekend matchups. Three different Utes collected double-digit kills as five Utes tallied at least one service ace.]

HIGH-POWERED OFFENSE
The Utes racked up a season-high 66 kills against Oregon State on Sunday, the most since totaling 72 versus Milwaukee on Sept. 2, 2022. Lauren Jardine led the way offensively, contributing 18 kills at a .304 clip. Kamryn Gibadlo added 16 of her own while Amelia Van Der Werff rounded out the players in double-digit figures with 10, hitting .474 with only one error. Viktoria Wahlgren dished out 41 assists as nine different Utes recorded a kill against the Beavers.

MAKING A CASE IN THE MIDDLE
Utah has received contributions from its middle blockers on a nightly basis. Emrie Satuala and Allie Olsen lead the team with 84 and 72 blocks, respectively. Satuala has exploded since the beginning of the season. The transfer didn't record a match of double-digit kills until the eighth match of the season but has since posted double-digit kills in seven of last 13 matches, including hitting over .250 in all but two matches during the stretch. Satuala holds a team-best 1.08 blocks per set. Olsen has posted 10 matches of .350 hitting or above, which includes five at a .500 clip or better. Olsen captured 14 kills on the road trip while hitting above .400 in each match. Former middle blocker Amelia Van Der Werff has made the move to the right side and provided a spark on the outside. Van Der Werff totaled 10 kills with just one error along with two blocks against the Beavers on Sunday, her second game with double-digit kills. On the road in Los Angeles, she led the team with 13 kills (no errors) on .650 hitting against the Bruins and added eight kills at USC off the bench. Van Der Werff tied her career-high of six digs against USC earlier this year. Olsen, Van Der Werff, and Satuala are the top three Utes in hitting percentage this season.

CAN'T SEE IT, CAN'T BEAT IT
The Utes put on a clinic against Arizona earlier this year, recording 17 service aces, the most in program history during the rally-scoring era. Utah was led by Emily Smith and Vanessa Ramirez as Smith collected a career-high six aces while Ramirez added a career-high five aces. Viktoria Wahlgren leads the Utes with 32 aces and totaled a career-high 10 aces at UCLA. It marks the most aces by a Ute in a single match since 2018. She has posted nine matches with at least two aces this season to lead the team. The Utes posted nine aces against Oregon last Friday and four against Oregon State on Sunday.

RAMIREZ RUNNING THE BACK ROW
Starting libero Vanessa Ramirez is leading the Utah defense once again as she has done since day one in Salt Lake City. She is sixth in the Pac-12 with 3.59 digs per set and has recorded double-digit digs in all but three matches this season. The California native recorded a season-high 24 digs in just four sets against Weber State for her second match of 20-plus digs this season. Ramirez tallied 22 digs against NC State earlier this year and has 11 matches of 20 or more digs in her career. Last year, Ramirez led the team in digs in 27 of the 31 matches, while she finished third in the Pac-12 with 4.04 digs per set. She has led the team or tied for the lead in digs in all but one match this season so far. Behind the line, Ramirez had a stellar match against Arizona, racking up 5 service aces, setting her new career high. Ramirez totaled 14 digs against both Oregon and Oregon State last weekend. She is now fourth all-time in program history with 1,367 total career digs.

THE FRESHMAN FINISHER
Outside hitter, Kamryn Gibadlo has shined so far in her first season with the Utes. The Cave Creek, Ariz., native leads the team with 13 matches of 10 or more kills during her true freshman season. She posted eight kills off the bench at UCLA on .412 hitting, while recording 11 kills at Colorado in her first conference match. Gibadlo dominated the floor vs. UC Santa Barbara during the Utah Classic, capturing 17 kills. Gibadlo saw near perfection against San Francisco earlier this season as she accumulated 11 kills on 16 total attacks with zero errors. In October, she totaled 17 kills against Oregon and Oregon State combined. The freshman has posted double-digit kills in four of the last five matches. In her most recent bid, Gibadlo had a strong weekend against Oregon and Oregon State, finishing with 7 kills versus Oregon and 16 against the Beavers

SETTING IT UP
Sophomore setter Viktoria Wahlgren has earned the start in every match this season and has recorded 9.11 assists per set. Wahlgren also recorded a career-best 51 assists with six digs and four blocks at Washington. This is the first time a Utah setter recorded over 50 assists in a match since Stef Jankiewicz racked up 50 assists versus Colorado on Nov. 27, 2021. Wahlgren has posted eight matches of 40 or more assists and has recorded two double-doubles this season. Against Oregon State, Wahlgren compiled 41 assists and tied her second-highest dig total with 12.

AUTOMATIC ALLIE
Starting middle blocker Allie Olsen is coming off a season where she recorded a .363 hitting percentage, which ranked as the sixth-best percentage in a single season in program history. Olsen has hit above .500 in six matches so far, while she has hit above .400 in half of the matches so far this season. At the Utah Classic, she earned All-Tournament Team honors after hitting at a blazing .419 clip through three matches. Olsen recorded a season-high .692 hitting percentage against Tennessee State from nine kills and no errors while hitting .538 against San Francisco. The middle blocker totaled 14 kills this past weekend and hit .455 against the Ducks and .444 against the Beavers. The senior from Great Falls, Mont., is hitting .305 this season.

UP NEXT
The Utes travel back home to Salt Lake City for a series with Washington and Washington State. The matchup with the Huskies for military appreciation is set for Friday, Nov. 17, 2023, at 7 p.m. MT in the Jon M. Huntsman Center. First serve with the Cougars is at 12 p.m. MT on Sunday, Nov. 19, with the match available to watch on Pac-12 Mountain.