Three Matches in Week Three for No. 22 Utah Volleyball

SALT LAKE CITY- No. 22 Utah Volleyball has a quick turnaround this week hosting Utah Valley University on Tuesday, Sept. 9 at the Jon M. Huntsman Center with first serve set for 7 p.m. MT. Fans can catch the game on ESPN+ with Linda Byington and Mike Folta on the call.

Utah will have a few days to recuperate after taking on the Wolverines before boarding a plane for Lincoln, Neb. to take on No. 1 Nebraska and Drake on Sept. 12 and 13 in the Husker Invitational.

The Utes and Huskers will battle it out in front of a national audience on FS1 on Friday, Sept. 12 at 5 p.m. MT at Bob Devaney Sports Center. Utah will then look to the Bulldogs on Saturday, Sept. 13 at 12 p.m. MT, also at Bob Devaney Sports Center.

WEEK 3? ??#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/UFmunCUvvx
— Utah Volleyball (@UtahVolleyball) September 9, 2025

QUICK HITS

• Head Coach Beth Launiere enters her 36th season at the helm of the program. Utah Volleyball's winningest head coach currently holds a 678-426 record after going 1-1 against No. 10 Texas A&M and Utah State in week two of the 2025 season.

• 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.

• Utah had five different athletes improve career bests over the weekend in the Utah classic season opener. (Kamryn Gibadlo, Levani Key-Powell, Isabelle Marco, Leah Wilton-LaBoy, and Grace Moss.)

• This season, Utah is set to face eight opponents that started the season on the AVCA Top-25 Coaches Poll not including their exhibtion against No. 2 Texas on Aug. 15.

SCOUTING Utah Valley

Utah vs. Utah Valley: 17-2
H: 11-0 | A: 5-2 | N: 1-0

The Wolverines will visit the Jon M. Huntsman center for an early week matchup versus the Utes. Utah Valley comes into this match with a .500 record, starting off the year 3-3, after winning two out of three in the University of Hawaii OUTRIGGER Invitational. The Wolverines were picked by WAC coaches as the preseason favorite in the conference, with Junior Evalyn Chism being named the conference's top setter.

SCOUTING No. 1 Nebraska

Utah vs. Nebraska: 1-3
H: 0-1 | A: 1-2 | N: 0-0

Utah travels to Big 10 country this Friday for a match-up with the unanimously voted No. 1 team in the country in the last two AVCA Polls. Along with being voted as the Big 10 preseason favorite, four Cornhuskers were selected to the preseason all conference team. Nebraska comes into this match with a perfect 6-0 record, with half of those coming against Top 10 opponents. Nebraska started its season defeating No. 3 Pittsburgh and No. 4 Stanford, only giving up one set all weekend. The No. 7 Kentucky Wildcats gave Nebraska their best match, taking them to a fifth set where Nebraska won 15-8.

SCOUTING Drake

Utah vs. Drake: 1-0
H: 0-0 | A: 0-0 | N: 1-0

The Utes will matchup with Drake for the second time in program history on Saturday, as they play a neutral site match at Bob Devaney Sports Center. The Bulldogs are 3-3 on the season, coming off a 2-1 showing in the 305 Challenge in Coral Gables, Fla. Drake, who is on a two-game win-streak, looks to get their first win in program history over Utah.

REIGNING RETURNERS

• Kamryn 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, finishing second on the team in kills (284) and kills per set (2.61).

• Utah returns a strong defensive presence with Emrie 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. Moea'i led the Utes in blocks (123) and averaged 1.10 blocks per set.

• 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). She also set creer-highs for digs (17) and assists in a game (35).

• 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. Last season the outside hitter set career-highs for attacks (22), kills (10), digs (9), hitting percentage (.778), and blocks (3)

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 Lana Mijacic, MB DyBorrah Johnson, L/DS McKenna Payne, MB Katelynn Field, OH Devyn Wiest, and OPP Allie Grossenbach.

• Transfer Class of 2025: S Leah Wilton-LaBoy via Oklahoma and Utah State, OH Langley Griffin via Utah Beach Volleyball, and OH/OPP Neea-Maria 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

The Utes wrap up non-conference play on the road from Sept. 18-20 in San Luis Obispo, CA, where they will compete against California Baptist, Cal Poly, and Saint Mary's.

2025 Utah Volleyball Schedule, Roster, & Ticketing Information
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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Players Mentioned

Katelynn Field

Kamryn Gibadlo

Langley Griffin

Allie Grossenbach

DyBorrah Johnson

Neea-Maria Joki

Levani Key-Powell

Isabelle Marco

Lana Mijacic

Emrie Moea'i

Grace Moss

McKenna Payne

Briar Rose

Devyn Wiest

Leah Wilton-LaBoy