Most volleyball teams consider themselves lucky if they have one or two go-to power hitters. For head coach Beth Launiere and the Utah women’s volleyball team, they have six.
After opening the season at the Ute invitational last weekend with games against Utah Valley University and Santa Clara, Utah has a team kill percentage of .281.
“We have a lot of weapons on our team,” Launiere said. “We can go to anyone at anytime.”
Seniors Lori Baird, Kat Haynie and Emillie Toone spearhead the Utes’ powerful offense. The trio is averaging eight kills per set and have combined for 69 of Utah’s 109 kills thus far.
Toone, who didn’t receive a lot of sets in the opening weekend, has the second-highest hitting percentage on the team at .407.
“Emillie is always a threat, even if she doesn’t get as many sets,” Launiere said. “She always has a high hitting percentage.”
Despite having three experienced hitters on the team, younger members are stepping up and making themselves known.
Junior Chelsey Sandberg leads the team with a .417 hitting percentage and came up with huge kills when the team needed it most during the intense Santa Clara game on Sunday. Sophomore Karolina Bartkowiak, who started both games for the Utes, is another player Launiere expects to come up huge for the team this season.
“Karolina will be big this season with her running the slide out of the middle,” Launiere said.
Cinthia Silva, a transfer student from Salt Lake Community College, is another young player making big plays for the Utes. Silva tallied 17 kills in her first two games as a Ute and earned her first career double-double in only her second game.
The return of Toone to the middle blocker position in addition to Sandberg and Bartkowiak allowed the Utes to move Baird to the right side, where she will get more sets.
“With three legitimate middles we have the luxury of moving Lori to the right side,” Launiere said, “She’ll get a lot more swings in the position.”
Launiere said having so many talented hitters will allow them to exploit other teams’ defense and weaknesses.
“Based on the opponent, different people will get more sets,” she said. “That’s the nice thing about having so many weapons, we can change what we do to exploit other teams.”
In addition to the powerful offense the Utes are looking to continue running their traditional stifling defense.
“We’ve always been a strong defensive team,” Launiere said, “Nothing is going to change this season.”
The Utes will be on the road to the New Mexico state tournament this weekend.
Lucas IsleySalt Lake Community College transfer Cinthia Silva has added to Utah?s powerful attack scoring 17 kills in her first to games.