Utah Volleyball Defeats California in Pac-12 Home Opener

Sunday, September 24

Salt Lake City, UT

12:00 PM

University of Utah

6-6,1-1Pac-12

California

11-2,0-2Pac-12

California

Utah

Utah Volleyball Defeats California in Pac-12 Home Opener

9/24/2023 3:32 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Utes hold on for a five-set win on Sunday.

SALT LAKE CITY – Utah Volleyball held off the California Golden Bears on Sunday to pick up its first Pac-12 win of the season in a five-set battle (25-17, 25-23, 24-26, 17-25, 15-13) in Salt Lake City.

Utah broke open the first set after scoring four unanswered points to pull ahead 9-5. Cal earned a sideout, but the Utes continued the momentum and scored five of the next six points to lead 14-7. The Utes called a timeout after their lead was cut to 14-10 and Cal later trimmed the score to just 16-13, but a 3-0 run from Utah pushed the lead to 19-13 and the Utes rolled on to a comfortable first-set win, 25-17, behind a 4-0 run to end the frame. Lauren Jardine recorded six kills on .385 hitting to lead the offense in the first set.

Cal took the first punch in the second set as the Golden Bears jumped out to a 7-3 lead. Utah was able to pull back within one point four times before a 3-0 run from Cal extended the deficit, 13-9. Utah continued to play from behind and chip away at the lead again and again, until four straight points pushed the Utes ahead 19-17, forcing Cal to call a timeout.

Out of the break, the Golden Bears scored a pair of points to even the score, but Utah countered with consecutive points to gain the two-point lead back. Once again, Cal scored back-to-back points to tie the set at 21-21, and Utah responded yet again with a pair of its own points. A kill from Allie Olsen handed Utah set point (24-22) before a Cal block cut the score to one point. Emrie Satuala connected on a kill to end the competitive set, 25-23, and give Utah a 2-0 lead in the match. Satuala and Jardine each totaled five kills in the frame.

Utah and Cal traded runs to start the third set with the Golden Bears scoring five-straight points to lead 8-5 and force the Utes to burn an early timeout. Later, a 4-0 run from Cal pushed the visiting team ahead 15-10 as Utah would need to call its final timeout of the set. The Utes slowly chipped away at the lead like they had done in the second set, and eventually trimmed the score to one point after a 3-0 run, trailing 16-15.

From there, the two teams went point for point until Cal recorded consecutive points to lead 21-18. A block from Rianne Vos, followed by a kill from Viktoria Wahlgren trimmed the score to one point once again (21-20). The Utes and Bears again went point for point until the Utes saved two set points by collecting consecutive points from a Jardine kill and Wahlgren ace to tie the set 24-24. The comeback fell short as Cal picked up its third set point from a service error, followed by a set-winning block.

Cal used the momentum to take control of the fourth set as well after a 7-0 run set Utah in a 15-7 deficit, which proved to be too large to come back from. Utah cut the score to 22-16, but that was the closest it could get before Cal took the set 25-17 and forced a fifth set.

In the fifth, Utah stormed out to a 7-3 lead and was able to maintain a large lead for most of the frame. Leading 12-7, the Utes gave up six-straight points to suddenly trail Cal 13-12 as the set winded down. Kamry Bailey connected on a kill out of a Ute timeout to tie the score, while Olsen recorded an ace the next play to earn Utah its first match point. The Utes picked up the final point of the match on an attack error to win 15-13 and earn their first win of the Pac-12 slate in a five-set battle. Bailey posted five kills in the final set to lead the Utes.

Jardine led the team with 17 kills, while Satuala posted the first double-digit kills match of her Ute career with 11 kills. Amelia Van Der Werff recorded nine kills on .444 hitting to provide a spark off the bench for the Utes, while Bailey added nine kills and Olsen tallied eight kills on .438 hitting.

Wahlgren dished out 44 assists and added a team-best three aces. Satuala added a team-best seven blocks, while Vanessa Ramirez tallied 14 digs. Emily Smith also posted a season-high 11 digs for her first match of double-digit digs this year.

Utah Volleyball continues Pac-12 play on the road next weekend, traveling to Los Angeles to play at USC and UCLA. The Utes open action with a match at USC on Friday, Sept. 29, at 8 p.m. MT in the Galen Center on Pac-12 Mountain. Utah turns around to play at UCLA on Sunday, Oct. 1, at 1 p.m. MT in Pauley Pavilion. The match will be live streamed.