Winning on the road is what makes a great team, as it requires tremendous will and determination. The test of a good road team will be put to the University of Utah?s volleyball team this weekend.
Utah will head out to face defending conference champ Colorado State on Oct. 5 and Wyoming on Oct. 6.
The Utes are 2-3 on the road this season, losing at Arizona, Louisville and BYU. And though the Utes have won two straight matches on the road, they were against mediocre teams (Idaho State and Loyola Marymount).
Consequently, Utah now has a chance to rebound and prove it is a good road team.
It won’t be easy, however.
Colorado State is undefeated, boasting a perfect record of 10-0, but that could change with weekend matches against the Utes and BYU?who are both ranked as well.
CSU’s success is not surprising, though, as the team is leading the conference in the majority of the statistical categories, including: hitting percentage, opponent hitting percentage, assists, kills and blocks.
The Rams are led by many players, though seniors Angela Knopf and Courtney Cox stand out as the best players on the team. Both players excel offensively and defensively.
Knopf is leading the conference with 4.55 kills per game, and is second in the conference in hitting percentage and blocks per game, at .522 and 1.76 respectively.
Cox is second in the conference in kills, with 4.29 per game. Defensively, she is fourth in the conference with 2.97 digs per game.
Allison Peckham will be the primary setter, and is leading the conference with 13.44 assists per game.
The Utes will then have to travel to face the Wyoming Cowgirls the very next day, but Wyoming is at least a little less challenging than the Rams.
Wyoming stands at 6-4 overall and 1-1 in conference play. The team is coming off a loss to the San Diego State Aztecs.
The Cowgirls are led by sophomore Michelle Rauter and senior Rachel Lue.
Rauter is third in the conference with 4.00 kills per game, while Lue is fifth with 3.76 per game. Freshman setter Amy Doman is second only to CSU?s Peckham in assists per game ,with 12.57.
Defensively, Wyoming will need great play out of freshman Sara Maytorena, who is third in the conference with 2.97 digs per game.
The Utes have a huge weekend and, if they come out undefeated, they will have proved that they are a serious contender for the MWC title. However, if the team goes 0-2, then it will have taken a major setback and might have killed its chances to win the conference title.
Either way, this will be a very telling weekend for the volleyball team.