No. 20 Utah Volleyball Shows Resolve in Five Set Battle

Saturday, September 20

San Luis Obispo, CA

12:00 PM

University of Utah

8-3,0-0Big 12

Saint Mary's

2-9,0-0WCC

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Utah	25	20	20	25	15	3
Saint Mary's (CA)	21	25	25	23	5	2

Photo by: University of Utah Athletics

No. 20 Utah Volleyball Shows Resolve in Five Set Battle

9/20/2025 3:05 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Utes prevail over the Gaels, 3-2

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Cali. – The No. 20 Utah Volleyball was pushed to their limits Saturday afternoon against St. Mary's, battling with the Gaels through five sets for a 3-2 win.

Hi ??? for the win!#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/M8Nz9jYOns
— Utah Volleyball (@UtahVolleyball) September 20, 2025

The Utes got off to a fast start in the first set (25-21), but St. Mary's made it interesting in sets two and three (25-20, 25-20). Utah made a comeback in set four (25-23) and finished the job in set five, getting to 15 first, (15-5).

SET ONE
St. Mary's jumped to 8-0 lead, but Utah scored four straight to make it and 8-4 affair early in the set.

Utah gets within one on a Kamryn Gibadlo ace and later ties game 11-11 on Langley Griffin kill.

Allie Grossenbach gave the Utes the lead, 12-11, which Utah never relented taking the first set 25-21.

SET TWO
Much like the first set, St. Mary's jumped out to an early lead, 8-3.

Grossenbach and Emrie Moea'i attempted to get the Utes back on track with three kills between the two, 12-6. An Iliana Linahan ace and Moea'i block a little later get the Utes within three, 12-9, but despite Utah's best efforts, the Gaels force at the very least a fourth set, 25-20.

SET THREE
Set three started tight with the Utes taking a one-point lead after a Moea'i ace, 6-5.

Utah and St. Mary's continued to go back-and-forth through the third set racking up eight ties and five lead changes before the Utes took a 15-13 lead.
St. Mary's eventually regained control of the set, winning it, 25-20.

SET FOUR
It was Utah's turn to jump out to a quick start in the fourth set, 5-2, aided largely by four St. Mary's errors in a row.

Utah continued to build a lead forcing a Gaels timeout, 12-6.

Four straight errors by the Utes opened the door for St. Mary's to make it a two-point game, 16-14. Utah hung tight however, and forced set five, 25-23.

SET FIVE
The Utes came out strong against the Gaels to start set five, 4-1

Utah rattled off five scores in a row (two errors from the Gaels, and three kills from Levani Key-Powell, Gibadlo, and Moea'i) forcing a St. Mary's timeout, 9-3.

Led by a Key-Powell ace, the Utes finished the job and took the match, 15-5.

STANDOUT STATS

Utes Total Stats: 62 kills, six service aces, 15 blocks, 46 digs.
Gibadlo led the Utes in kills (19), total attempts (50) which was also a career-high for the outside hitter.
Moea'i was second in kills (16), posted the best hitting percentage of the day (.375) and posted a team-high in blocks (9).
Wilton-LaBoy was the assists leader (45) and McKenna Payne earned the team-high in digs (12).

UP NEXT
Utah turns their attention to Big 12 Conference play, hosting Iowa State on Thursday, Sept. 25 at 7 p.m. MT for '90s Night, and welcoming Colorado on Saturday, Sept. 27 at 1 p.m. MT for Youth Day and the Kid's Clinic.

Both games will be available on ESPN+.

2025 UTAH VOLLEYBALL SCHEDULE, ROSTER, & TICKETING INFO.
View full schedule here. | Check out Utah Volleyball's full 2025 roster here.
Season tickets are available here. | Single game tickets are available 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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