Utah ends FIU Weekend with dominant victories over Southern Miss, Palm Beach Atlantic.

Saturday, March 1

Miami, FL

6:00 AM

University of Utah

Southern Mississippi

Photo by: Jackson Bilawa/Utah Athletics

Utah ends FIU Weekend with dominant victories over Southern Miss, Palm Beach Atlantic.

3/1/2025 12:16 PM | Beach Volleyball

Utah Beach Volleyball bounces back to get back in the win column

By: Andrew Fredericksen

MIAMI, Fla. — Utah Beach Volleyball got back in the win column on Saturday with two emphatic wins. Utah beat Southern Mississippi, 5-0, along with a 4-1 victory over Palm Beach Atlantic.

This moves the Utes season record to 6-2, making this only the second time the program has started the season with six victories in their first eight tries. Throughout the nine pair wins on Saturday, Utah was only brought to a third set twice.

Against Southern Miss, Utah delivered a dominant performance, sweeping all five flights. Sonja Wessel and Maeve Griffin set the tone early with a commanding 21-10, 21-11 win in the No. 4 pair. The win from Wessel and Griffin marked the most dominant pair win from the Utes on the season. Langley Griffin and Bella Vezzani followed with a hard-fought 21-19, 21-19 victory, marking their second win of the weekend. Lauren Sayre and Chloe Narancich secured the team win with a 21-16, 21-17 triumph in the No. 5 pair. Kylie Pitzak and Ellyn Collins battled back after dropping the first set to earn a 16-21, 21-13, 15-13 win—also their second of the weekend. Katie McAlister and Quincy Stephens closed out the sweep with a three-set comeback, winning 18-21, 21-17, 15-9.

Utah secured a 4-1 victory against Palm Beach Atlantic that began with Langley Griffin and Bella Vezzani collecting a dominant 21-10, 21-13 win in the No. 2 pair. Sonja Wessel and Maeve Griffin followed with a strong 21-13, 21-14 victory in the No. 4 spot and Kylie Pitzak and Ellyn Collins kept the momentum going, securing a 21-14, 21-16 win in the third flight. Lauren Sayre and Chloe Narancich fought through a close battle but fell just short in the No. 5 pair, 21-23, 19-21. Closing out the match, Katie McAlister and Quincy Stephens delivered a 21-19, 21-16 win in the top fight to seal Utah's 4-1 victory.

Comments from Coach Whicker

"I'm happy with how our team competed this weekend. They stepped up in the heat and early match times. Coming from the west coast, that was an added challenge. We had a couple nice wins and I'm proud of how we battled against a couple top ranked teams. As we gain the confidence to finish out those matches, I think we can get some big wins."

FINAL RESULTS

Utah 5, Southern Mississippi 0

Katie McAlister/Quincy Stephens (UTAH) def. Zuzanna Michalska/Madison Cassidy (USM) 18-21, 21-17, 15-9
Langley Griffin/Bella Vezzani (UTAH) def. Laurel Dennis/Sadie McAda (USM) 21-19, 21-19
Kylie Pitzak/Ellyn Collins (UTAH) def. Y-Nhu Do/Dylan Russell (USM) 16-21, 21-13, 15-13
Sonja Wessel/Maeve Griffin (UTAH) def. Jaden White/Carmen Sanc Delgado (USM) 21-10, 21-11
Lauren Sayre/Chloe Narancich (UTAH) def. Giovanna Gurg Bahia/Jessica Fairly (USM) 21-16, 21-17

Utah 4, Palm Beach Atlantic 1

Katie McAlister/Quincy Stephens (UTAH) def. Serena Baumgart/Anna Dunbar (PBA) 21-19, 21-16
Langley Griffin/Bella Vezzani (UTAH) def. Camdyn Albrecht/Katelyn Nadeau (PBA) 21-10, 21-13
Kylie Pitzak/Ellyn Collins (UTAH) def. Abby Plevin/Annika Huhtamaki (PBA) 21-14, 21-16
Sonja Wessel/Maeve Griffin (UTAH) def. Sydney Corbett/Savannah DeCarlo (PBA) 21-13, 21-14
Desi Waterman/Angela Goggin (PBA) def. Lauren Sayre/Chloe Narancich (UTAH) 23-21, 21-19

Up Next
Utah now heads from coast-to-coast this week where they will be competing in the CSU Northridge Weekend competition where they will get to compete against host CSU Northridge and get to rematch against Santa Clara.

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