Since the beginning of the season, Utah volleyball coach Beth Launiere knew that just reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament was no longer a sufficient goal for the team to accomplish, having reached and been knocked out of that round three years in a row.
“We set some lofty goals, like winning a conference championship, which we did, and getting to the Sweet 16,” Launiere said.
She got her chance to take the next step on Friday night when the Utah State Aggies came to Crimson Court to see who would advance to the Sweet 16.
After dominating the first and second games, Utah State fought hard to keep the match close, but could not hold back the Utes, who won the match in four games, 30-21, 30-18, 26-30, 30-22, and reached the Sweet 16 for the first time in team history.
Earlier in the season, the Aggies came to Crimson Court and defeated the Utes in Game 1 to take the early lead, but these Utes were anything but complacent on Friday.
“We played a very good match, and were on fire in the first two games,” Launiere said.
Game 1 was comprised of both teams hitting well, as Utah had an attack percentage of .514, while Utah State was at .351. However, the Utes pulled away by scoring 6 of the last 8 points.
The Utes then completely blew the doors open, as they overwhelmed Utah State in Game 2 with an attack percentage of .607, while the Aggies could not pull it together and could only muster up a percentage of .171.
“They were pretty tough to stop throughout the match and we knew we had to make adjustments,” said Utah State coach Burt Fuller.
And that is exactly what the Aggies did, as they came out of the break and won game three. Utah State setter Chelsi Neves was playing very aggressive as she repeatedly scored kills in the third game to lead the Ags.
“They really picked it up in Game 3, and we couldn’t figure them out for awhile,” Launiere said.
The adjustments only surprised the Utes for one game, though, as in Game 4, Utah came back to show the Ags who was the better team.
“We were able to wear them out with our blocking and defense, which is what we have been doing to teams all season,” Launiere said.
Adrianne Drake led the blockers with 4 solos, while Katrena Ellett added 3.
“I could not have blocked as well if it wasn’t for my teammates, like Kim [Turner], who helped me with the block,” Ellett said.
As a team, Utah outblocked the Aggies 14 to 7.
“We tried to serve tough, but they were too tough, and it was tough for us to have a good attack,” said Utah State middle blocker Michelle Matheson.
Turner was the Utes’ best offensive player, as she had match-highs with 16 kills and an attack percentage of .625.
“Kim had an All-American performance, and she has been doing it all year,” Launiere said.
Utah also saw great offensive play out of Ellett and Sylva Strzinkov who had 11 and 14 kills respectively.
“They just played better than us,” said Utah State outside hitter Heather Olmstead.
With the win, the Utes will advance to the Sweet 16 to battle Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif. Stanford has not lost a game in the tournament, and will try to avenge last year’s five-game loss at Crimson Court.