Utah Beach Volleyball Opens 2023 Season With Four Matches in Texas

Friday, February 24

Kingsville, TX

10:15 AM

University of Utah

East Texas Baptist

Utah Beach Volleyball Opens 2023 Season With Four Matches in Texas

2/22/2023 10:52 AM | Beach Volleyball

Utes head to Kingsville, Texas for first weekend of competition.

Match 1: Utah vs. East Texas Baptist
Friday, Feb. 24 | 10:15 a.m. MT
Kingsville, TX | Javelina Beach Volleyball Courts

Match 2: Utah vs. Louisiana-Monroe
Friday, Feb. 24 | 2 p.m. MT
Kingsville, TX | Javelina Beach Volleyball Courts

Match 3: Utah vs. Corban
Saturday, Feb. 25 | 9 a.m. MT
Kingsville, TX | Javelina Beach Volleyball Courts

Match 4: Utah vs. Texas A&M-Kingsville
Saturday, Feb. 25 | 11:15 a.m. MT
Kingsville, TX | Javelina Beach Volleyball Courts

MATCH WEEK
The Utah Women's Beach Volleyball team begins its 2023 season with four matches in Kingsville, Texas this weekend. The Utes will be taking a trip to the Javelina Beach Volleyball Courts this Friday and Saturday, Feb. 24-25, competing against East Texas Baptist, Lousiana-Monroe, Corban, and host Texas A&M-Kingsville.

Utah opens competition against East Texas Baptist on Friday morning at 10:15 a.m. MT, while turning around to take on Louisiana-Monroe at 2 p.m. MT. On Saturday, the Utes begin the day at 9 a.m. MT versus Corban before closing out the opening weekend against Texas A&M-Kingsville at 11:15 a.m. MT. Live results will be available here.

QUICK HITS
• Brenda Whicker is entering her sixth season at the helm of the program. This is the second year Whicker will have a beach-recruited roster in Salt Lake City.
• Utah is scheduled to play 10 teams ranked in the top-20 of the AVCA preseason poll this season.
• Utah has 10 letterwinners returning from a year ago, while it welcomes five freshmen to the team and a redshirt sophomore from the indoor volleyball team.
• The Utes do not have a home competition this season and will travel to four different states this season, which includes six trips to California.
• In 2022, Utah picked up its first regular season Pac-12 win in program history after defeating Oregon 3-2 at the Pac-12 South Event. Utah also received votes in the AVCA poll for the first time in program history last season.

AT THE TOP
Utah returns three players who competed between the top two positions all of last season. Sophomore Amaya Messier played the first 10 matches of the 2022 season at the No. 2 spot before playing the remainder of the season on court one. Switching spots with Messier was Grace Andrews and Bella Vezzani, who partnered together the entire season between the top two spots. Vezzani and Andrews downed San Jose State's top duo to clinch the 3-2 season opening win for Utah last year, while the pair also clinched Utah's first-ever Pac-12 regular season win after taking a three-set victory over Oregon's No. 2 pair. Vezzani and Messier will look to continue their strong starts to their careers as sophomores, while Andrews will begin her third season with the program as the 'veteran' on the team.

RETURNERS RISING
Along with Amaya Messier, Bella Vezzani, and Grace Andrews, the Utes also return four athletes from the lineup that contributed heavily last year. Junior Marissa Koch was a starter on court three every match last season and earned a point for the Utes in the win over Oregon, as well as earning a win over Santa Clara to highlight the year. Joining Koch as a starter all season long is sophomore Lauren Sayre, who competed on court four in 2022. Sayre posted the team's best record last season (10-14), which included three Pac-12 wins. She ended the season by going undefeated at the Pac-12 Championships with straight-set wins over pairs from Oregon and Washington. Lastly, partners Kylie Pitzak and Sydney Jacinto recorded six wins on court five, which included a streak of five straight. The duo earned a win over No. 8 Stanford's fifth pairing for Utah's sole dual point. Sonja Wessel and Keira Sheehan also earned time on court five, while Camille Lee saw action in the exhibition spot last season.

NEW ON THE BLOCK
Utah welcomes a freshmen class of five looking to make contributions immediately, while being joined by Ute indoor player Abby Karich. Karich joined the team at the start of the spring semester after she played in 25 matches with four starts as outside hitter for the indoor team in the fall. She posted a career-high 17 kills against BYU, and recorded double-digit digs against Milwaukee and San Diego. The freshman class features three newcomers from California, one from Arizona, as well as a local addition from Salt Lake City. Katie McAlister, Chloe Narancich, and Siona Thompson join the Utes from California, while Azure McOmber comes from Arizona. Rounding out the newcomers, Savannah Cottam joins the team from right down the road at Brighton HS in Salt Lake City.

UP NEXT
Utah beach volleyball will head to Los Angeles next weekend to compete in the Pac-12 South Event at Mapes Beach and Merle Norman Stadium. The Utes will open conference action with Arizona State, California, UCLA and Stanford on Saturday and Sunday, March 4-5.