Utah Volleyball Focused on NCAA First-Round

Photo by: Anna Fuder/Utah Athletics

12/3/2025 7:25 AM | Volleyball

Utes are in Omaha preparing to face Northern Iowa on Thursday

OMAHA, Neb. – Utah Volleyball stamped its ticket to its 20th appearance in the NCAA Tournament last week after going 4-1 in their last five games with wins over No. 23 BYU and No. 13 Kansas to close out the 2025 regular season.

The Utes have been playing their best volleyball down the stretch, and are headed to Omaha, Nebraska where they will be tasked with taking on sixth seed Northern Iowa in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The match will take place on Thursday, Dec. 4 at 3:30 p.m. MT at D.J. Sokol Arena, home of host school, Creighton, and can be viewed on ESPN+.

If Utah advances, they will play the winner of Creighton vs. Northern Colorado on Friday, Dec. 5 at 5:30 p.m. MT.

CAREER MILESTONES ACHIEVED
• Junior outside hitter Kamryn Gibadlo reached 1000 career kills against TCU on Nov. 7, 2025, and is knocking on the door of 100 career aces (3 away).
• Senior middle blocker Moea'i earned her 1000th career kill against BYU on Nov. 14, 2025, and is 9 blocks away (491) from 500 career blocks.
• Senior setter Wilton-LaBoy hit 2000 career assists against TCU on Nov. 7, 2025.
• Sophomore setter Isabelle Marco hit 1000 assists for her career against Baylor on Nov. 9, 2025.

QUICK HITS
• Head Coach Beth Launiere is in her 36th season at the helm of the program, ranking as Utah Volleyball's winningest head coach, and currently holds a 689-439 record.
• Launiere has led the Utes to all 20 of their NCAA appearances and is responsible for 20 of Utah's 25 20-win seasons.
• Gibadlo and Moea'i were named All-Big 12 on Dec. 2, 2025, with Gibadlo taking first team honors and Moea'i taking second team honors.
•Moea'i set a career-high in aces against No. 24 BYU (8) that also set a new Utah record for aces by an individual in a five-set match during the rally era (2001-present) and service aces in a single-match for all sets in the rally era. (The previous records were five and seven respectively.)
• Utah's 13 total aces against BYU set a single-match team high-mark for five sets in the rally era, breaking the previous record of 11 set against Temple in September of 2018.
•Utah notched their third ranked win of the 2025 season against No. 13 Kansas on Nov. 19 in a 3-0 sweep of the Jayhawks. Previous ranked wins came against No. 23 BYU on Nov. 14 and No. 24 Dayton on Aug. 29.
• Gibadlo has 13 games this season where she has recorded double-digit kills and digs in the same match with her latest coming against Arizona (25 kills and 16 digs) on Nov. 21. Gibby's efforts against the Wildcats and No. 13 Kansas earned her Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week on Nov. 25.
•Utah set a new volleyball attendance record in the Huntsman Center hosting No. 23 BYU in front of 6,021 fans, smashing last year's record of 5,953 on Nov. 8, 2024, also against BYU.
• Utah faced 11 total opponents this season that made an appearance the AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll, including their exhibition against No. 2 Texas on Aug. 15.
• Utah returns nine players from last season's team that stamped the program's ticket to its 19th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Three of those returners were 2025 All-Big 12 selections (Kamryn Gibadlo, Emrie Moea'i, and Isabelle Marco).
• The Utes welcome nine newcomers to their 2025 squad that include six freshmen, three transfers, and the addition of nine-year-old "Ultimate Ute" Briar Rose.

TOP OF THE CLASS
• Team leaders in kills: Gibadlo (469), Moea'i (303), Joki (195), Levani Key-Powell (122), Katelynn Field (89).
•Team leaders in assists: Leah Wilton-LaBoy (737), Isabelle Marco (413), McKenna Payne (65), Iliana Linahan (21), Key-Powell (20).
• Team leaders in service aces: Moea'i (34), Key-Powell (31), Gibadlo (30), Wilton-LaBoy (23), Joki (16).
• Team leaders in digs: Gibadlo (265), Key-Powell (218), Payne (175), Wilton-LaBoy (170), Iliana Linahan (167).
• Team leaders in blocks: Moea'i (119), Field (83), Joki (55), Wilton-LaBoy (44), Gibadlo (43).

SCOUTING Northern Iowa
Utah vs. UNI: 1-0
H: 1-0 | A: 0-0 | N: 0-0
The Utes and Panthers have only met one time before at the Huntsman Center on Aug. 31, 2013- a win 3-1 win for Utah. UNI has had another strong season (25-5) under the leadership of Bobbi Petersen (634-222) who is in her 26th season as the Panther's head coach. Northern Iowa's offensive attack is led by Cassidy Hartman in kills (428) and Jadyn Petersen in aces (24), while defensively Petersen holds down the fort in digs (453) and Maryn Bixby stands at guard on blocks (113).

REIGNING RETURNERS
• Gibadlo returns to the Utes as an AVCA 2025 Division I Player of the Year to watch after becoming Utah's 24th AVCA All-American (honorable mention) in her sophomore year. Gibadlo was also an AVCA All-Region honoree and was named an All-Big 12 First Team selection after leading the Utes in kills/set (3.43), kills (370), and aces (38). Over the summer, Gibadlo sharpened her skills competing with the U21 National Team, winning gold in the PanAm Cup. In her first season at Utah (2023), Gibadlo earned Pac-12 All-Freshman Team honors. Gibadlo upped her kills career-high to 28 against West Virginia and has since locked in 13 matches this season with double-digit kills and digs and earned Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week.
• Utah returns a strong defensive presence with Moea'i (formerly Satuala) who earned AVCA All-Region honors and a spot on the All-Big 12 Second Team for her solid junior year. In 2024, Moea'i posted double-digit kills in nine matches, setting her season-high against BYU (14) while tying her career-high in total blocks (11) against Utah State. So far this season, Moea'i notched a career best in aces (5) while matching career-bests in assists (1), and digs (4).
• Isabelle Marco made a splash in her first season at Utah in 2024, earning a spot on the All-Big 12 Rookie Team after leading the Utes in assists per set (5.74) and total assists (625). Marco has started 2025 where she left off in 2024 posting career-bests in kills (4), attempts (6), assists (50), and blocks (3).
• Levani Key-Powell is expected to make a bigger impact for the Utes in 2025 after getting her feet wet in 2024 as a freshman. So far, Key-Powell has met those expectations setting new career-highs in kills (13), attempts (27), assists (4), aces (5), and digs (23).

WELCOME TO UTAH
• Along with some seasoned vets, the Utes are welcoming a total of nine newcomers (six freshmen, three transfers, and one "Ultimate Ute") to their 2025 squad.
• Freshman Class of 2025: MB Mijacic, MB DyBorrah Johnson, L/DS Payne, MB Field, OH Devyn Wiest, and OPP Grossenbach.
• Transfer Class of 2025: S Wilton-LaBoy via Oklahoma and Utah State, OH Langley Griffin via Utah Beach Volleyball, and OH/OPP Joki.
• Wiest spent the summer competing with USA Volleyball's U19 Girls' National Team that took silver in the World Championship, while Joki, a reigning ACC All-Freshman Team selection at Clemson went home to Finland to compete with the Finish Senior National Team for the European Championship.
• Utah Volleyball made a last-minute move to sign nine-year-old Briar Rose to their "Ultimate Ute" position through Team IMPACT ahead of the 2025 season. Briar Rose will be with the Utes for two seasons, and will be responsible for teaching Swoop new cheers and keeping team morale high through the competitive year.

UP NEXT
If Utah advances over Northern Iowa in round one, they will be slated to play the winner between Creighton and Norther Colorado in round two on Friday, Dec. 5 at 5:30 p.m. MT.

2025 UTAH VOLLEYBALL SCHEDULE, & ROSTER
View full schedule here. | Check out Utah Volleyball's full 2025 roster here.

FOLLOW THE UTES
For an inside look at the Utah Volleyball program, including tournament, roster and news updates, fans can follow the Utes on social media (Twitter: @UtahVolleyball | Instagram: @utahvolleyball).

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