It’s going to take a much different performance than what the team showed last weekend, but the U volleyball team (1-2) looks to get back on track when it returns home to host the Utah Classic at Crimson Court this weekend.
The tournament kicks off Friday, as the Utes open up against Washington State. Saturday afternoon, the team will take on in-state foe UVSC (1-3) before facing No. 18 Missouri (3-0) in the nightcap.
The Utes, who are favored to win the Mountain West Conference for the third consecutive year, didn’t get their season off on the right note last weekend, dropping two of three matches at the Sun Devil Classic in Tempe, Ariz.
But despite the two losses, head coach Beth Launiere and the rest of her staff did see some positives near the end of the weekend set. Their two losses-against Arizona State and San Diego-came in the team’s first two matches.
But they closed the weekend on a strong note, sweeping the Ohio Bobcats last Saturday night to salvage an otherwise disappointing weekend.
“With the quality of competition we faced [last] weekend, we saw a lot of things that we need to work on,” Launiere said. “Our weaknesses were exposed. But there were a ton of good things that can come out of a weekend like that. We know where we need to improve.”
Improve is just what the Utes will have to do this weekend as they prepare to take on some pretty stiff competition once again.
The WSU Cougars, Utah’s first opponent, are in the same boat as their counterparts. The Cougs came into the 2003 season ranked No. 19 in the USA Today/AVCA preseason Top 25 poll.
But the team suffered losses at the hands of both San Francisco and Wichita State in their first weekend set of the season, dropping them to 1-2 and out of the national polls.
Both Washington State and Utah will look to rebound from surprisingly slow starts to the new season.
UVSC has stumbled through the beginning of the year as well. The team is just coming off a loss to BYU-Hawaii earlier in the week and has fallen in three of its four matches this season.
Only the Missouri Tigers, Utah’s third and final opponent this weekend, have performed well thus far.
Mizzou swept the field at the Tiger Invitational last weekend, bursting out to an early 3-0 start following victories over Montana State, Toledo and Arkansas.
So the Utes will have their hands full at this year’s annual tournament, and getting off to a solid start will likely make a huge difference.
The team started slow in both of its losses last weekend and, as the Utes languished through a pair of losses, their confidence was noticeably hurt.
But they got back on their feet for the win over Ohio, and they hope to carry over the improvements and adjustments they made to this weekend’s Classic.
“Playing in Tempe was just a brutal way to open a season. That competition was just really tough,” Launiere said. “It’ll be nice to get back home.”