Utes Down Wildcats To Wrap Up Non-Conference Play

Friday, September 15

Salt Lake City, UT

7:00 PM

University of Utah

5-5,0-0Pac-12

Weber State

7-4,0-0Big Sky

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Weber St.	18	20	25	16	1
Utah	25	25	15	25	3

Utes Down Wildcats To Wrap Up Non-Conference Play

9/15/2023 9:42 PM | General, Volleyball

Box Score

Ramirez records season-high 24 digs in win.

SALT LAKE CITY – Utah Volleyball ended its non-conference slate with a four-set win (25-18, 25-20, 15-25, 25-16) over in-state opponent Weber State. The Utes had three athletes record double-digit kills in the win, while the defense was led by an impressive 24 digs from Vanessa Ramirez.

After a slow start, Utah caught fire as the first set progressed and used a 7-0 run to take a commanding 17-9 lead. The Wildcats chipped away at the lead, but the Utes were there to stop momentum every time as Weber State could only pull within six points a handful of times. Utah went on to win the first set 25-18 behind a .395 hitting percentage. Rianne Vos led the group with six kills (.462), while Kamryn Gibadlo (.714) and Kamry Bailey (.400) each added five kills.

Weber State came out with a 6-1 lead to start the second set, but Utah battled back and later scored five straight points to take a 9-8 lead. The Wildcats ended the run, however, Utah continued pushing and scored another five unanswered points to extend the lead, 14-9. Later on, Weber State put together a 6-1 run to cut the gap to just 18-17 in Utah's favor. After swapping points, Utah went on a 3-0 run to pull ahead 22-18 and later finished the set 25-20 after scoring three of the final four points.

The Wildcats took control of the third set immediately after jumping out to a 7-0 lead. Utah managed to cut the lead to four points after a pair of attack errors from the Wildcats (14-10), but Weber State rebounded and took a 25-15 win to push the match to a fourth set. Ramirez recorded a whopping eight digs in the third set.

Utah responded immediately and wasted no time as it led 10-4 in the fourth set. Although the momentum looked to be on Utah's side, Weber State scored four in a row later on to cut the lead to just 12-9. A kill and block from Allie Olsen got the team back on track. A 3-0 run for Utah later extended the lead to 22-15 as the Utes would use consecutive kills from Vos, and a block from the combination of Vos and Olsen to finish the set 25-16.

Vos and Gibadlo each recorded 13 kills on Friday night, while Bailey added 11 kills. Vos recorded her second straight double-double after adding 12 digs as well tonight. Amelia Van Der Werff tallied eight kills on a team-best .375 hitting, while also adding a match-high seven blocks. Ramirez's 24 digs were a season high, along with Kaieva Johnson's 11 digs. Viktoria Wahlgren tallied 37 assists to lead the offense.

Utah begins Pac-12 play with a trip to Colorado next Thursday, Sept. 21. First serve for the Utes and Buffs will be at 7 p.m. MT with the match televised on Pac-12 Mountain. Utah returns home that weekend to host the California Golden Bears on Sunday, Sept. 24. The conference home opener is set for 12 p.m. MT on Pac-12 Mountain as well.