Just a week after playing long-time rival BYU, the Utes faced off against their in-conference rival Colorado in the Pac-12 opener. The match against the Cougars was hyped up to be a big one, but the Colorado contest had more meaning because it meant starting off Pac-12 play on a high note, and Utah did just that.
Despite dropping a single set, the Utes used consistency and a strong attack to push past the Buffaloes for their first Pac-12 win of the season with a 3-1 match victory over Colorado.
With just 617 fans in attendance for the game against Colorado, the noise level was at a minimum. But that didn’t faze the Utes, as they came out energized to immediately go on a 6-2 run to start the match. One of the main reasons for this quick run was freshman Berkeley Oblad, who was inserted into the starting lineup and brought a fire to the team to start out the game.
However, the Utes did falter after their run, going down 11-9 in the first set. They came back to tie it at 13 apiece, and then Utah didn’t fall behind again in the set. The Utes won the first set 25-17, ending on a 6-1 run and showcasing a consistency that head coach Beth Launiere stressed after last week’s loss.
The Buffs came out looking for revenge in the second set. They started off on a 5-0 run, refusing to let the Utes score. Finally, Utah got on the board after a service error by Colorado and a kill by Oblad, and the Utes fought back to an 11-11 tie.
The contest remained close for the entire set, with the Utes finally pulling out the win, 26-24, to take the 2-0 advantage heading into set three. Adora Anae scored six kills and six digs in the set, coming alive after a rather quiet first set where she only had one kill and two digs.
The third set remained very back-and-forth for the first portion. The two teams stayed within two points of each other, until Alexis Austin scored a kill for the Buffs and brought the score to 13-10, in favor of Colorado.
Utah couldn’t seem to fight back from that deficit, with nobody stepping up for the Utes. They couldn’t string together any long runs, and that eventually lead to a dropped set, 25-21.
The fourth set started almost identical to the third with the teams remaining close in score to one another for a good portion of the set. But the Utes kept up their attack and took an 18-17 late lead after a kill by Oblad. This proved to be the final lead change of the match, as Colorado couldn’t fight back, and the Utes took the set 25-21, securing their first Pac-12 win of the season.
Launiere was please with what she saw from her team on defense.
“We did a nice job of holding an opponent down on hitting percentage,” Launiere said. “Ours wasn’t great, but we gave ourselves a chance because our defense was better.”
Offensively, the two teams differed greatly in their attacks. For Colorado, Alexis Austin tallied 19 of the team’s 51 kills. But for the balanced Utah attack, Oblad, Anae and DeYoung all scored 11 kills, with Katoa close behind with 9. Anae contributed in more ways than one, as she also recorded 15 digs for her fourth consecutive double-double.
After last week’s loss, Launiere stressed that her team needed to find consistency and intensity, and she saw them accomplish that this week.
“Our first two sets, we carried out exactly what our gameplan was against them” Launiere said. “We stayed consistent. I was really pleased that the things we worked on we got better at.”
Winning the Pac-12 season opener was important to this team. The Pac-12 is a tough conference, and the Utes needed this win to set the tone for the rest of the conference season. Brenna DeYoung, who was awarded Player of the Game, knows this win was huge for her team.
“It’s huge. It goes to show what we can do this season,” DeYoung said. “We have so much to give and so much to offer. This is just the beginning.”
The Utes will continue Pac-12 play as they travel on Saturday to Washington State to play the Cougars.
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