The Utes won two matches at the Utah Classic, but couldn’t get the win they really wanted as they lost their first home match of the season to No. 15 Purdue.
Utah started off the tournament strong with a sweep over Utah State.
The Utes continued to show their offensive power as they had three hitters above the .500 mark to avenge last year’s lopsided loss: Emillie Toone and Chelsey Sandberg both had a .571 kill percentage, and Cinthia Silva had an even .500.
In the first set, Utah jumped out to an 8-3 lead and led by as many as six before Utah State went on a five-point run to tie the game at 17.
Utah regained the lead on a kill by Lori Baird and led the rest of the way. Back-to-back blocks from the Utes closed the game out at 25-21.
After losing easily in the second set, the Aggies came out fired up in the third, taking an early lead until Utah started to storm back down 20-23. Utah scored five consecutive points, including back-to-back kills from Toone and Kathryn Haynie and three hitting errors made by Utah State, to win 25-23.
“We do a drill in practice where the starters are down 22-20,” said Beth Launiere, head coach at the U. “I told them it was just like the drill, let’s go.”
In the first game on Saturday, Utah took on the St. Louis Billikens. The Utes fought their way through three tough sets to sweep St. Louis, 25-21, 25-23 and 32-30.
The Utes came out with an easy first set win, only to get pushed to the limit in the second set. After the halftime break, St. Louis and the Utes battled to 14 ties and six lead changes. Eventually, the Utes let three aces and a block from St. Louis tie the game at 24.
Utah committed three errors, delaying the sweep until a kill from Haynie and a hitting error from St. Louis gave Utah the 32-30 win.
“St. Louis is a good team and I am really pleased with the game,” Launiere said. “We came out and took care of business.”
Baird led the team with 13 kills and Toone drove down nine, hitting a .500.
In the third game of the Classic, the Utes were held to a .127 kill percentage, their lowest hitting percentage of the season, as the big Purdue block forced Utah to commit 33 errors.
“That’s a big as a block as we’ll see all season,” Launiere said. “It forces you to do things you don’t want to do.”
Utah led by as many as five in the first set but couldn’t hold off the Purdue offense as the Boilermakers eventually took a 20-19 lead.
Four hitting errors late in the game allowed Purdue to win 25-22.
Riding the win from the first set, Purdue jumped out to a 4-0 lead before the Utes came storming back to capture a 25-21 equalizer. The third set was another close game with four ties and three lead changes. Utah jumped out to an 18-11 lead, but Purdue scored six unanswered points, bringing them within one. The Utes eventually pulled away for a comfortable 25-19 win.
In the fourth set, the Utah volleyball team was nowhere to be found, as the team dropped the set 25-19 behind 14 kills and a .219 team hitting percentage.
After jumping out to a quick 4-1 lead in the fifth set, Purdue turned on the pressure and forced five hitting errors to win the deciding game 15-12.
“We fought hard but they just beat us in game five,” Launiere said.
Utah had four hitters in double digits, led by Haynie with 14. Silva and Karolina Bartkowiak both had 11 and Baird had 10 kills in the loss.
“Losses like this help us figure out where we need to get better,” Baird said. “You don’t ever improve if you win every game easily.”
Tyler CobbCinthia Silva had a .500 kill percentage in the game against Utah State Friday night.