It was a night of milestones for the Utah women’s volleyball team as it swept the UNLV Rebels in three sets.
Senior outside hitter Kathryn Haynie pounded down her 1,000th career kill and led the Utes to their 100th win on Crimson Court.
Haynie joins teammate Lori Baird as the 11th member of 1000-kill club. This is the first time in Utah volleyball history that two members of that prestigious club have played at the same time.
“It’s great, but honestly I couldn’t have done it with out a team,” Haynie said. “Someone has to pass it and set so I can get the kill. It is really a tribute to the whole team and how we’ve worked over the past four seasons.”
Utah earned its 100th win since 2000 at Crimson Court and has an overall record of 100-16 in eight seasons at HPER East-101.
“Crimson Court is really a special place,” said head coach Beth Launiere.. “I love it here and the players love playing here.”
After a week of working on little details to improve their game, the Utes looked better than ever in a dominating 25-13, 25-14, 25-22 win.
“We executed at an extremely high level tonight,” Launiere said. “We can always get better and more consistent, but I was pleased with our execution tonight.”
Utah’s offense proved to be too much for the Rebels’ defense to handle as six Utah hitters combined for 45 kills and a .368 hitting percentage.
Haynie led the Utes with 11 kills and a season-high .375 hitting percentage. Lori Baird and Karolina Bartkowiak also contributed, as both tallied nine kills apiece and had hitting percentages over .600. Emillie Toone added another eight kills.
“Our offense really clicked tonight,” Launiere said. “A lot of people had good offensive games.”
Launiere said that although offense played strong, it was the defense that really got things started for the Utes.
“Our defense disrupted UNLV early on and set up the rest of the game for us,” she said.
Utah’s defense blocked 11 balls and got another 35 up with digs. Utah was led on defense by Emillie Toone and Chelsey Sandberg who both tallied six blocks, while it was Cinthia Silva who led on the back row with 10 digs.
Utah puts up one of the best blocks in the country as it is No. 8 in the nation and first in the MWC in blocks per set.
“We have this huge block which makes it so much easier to play floor defense,” Haynie said. “We still have a lot to work on, but we have gotten a lot better from the first of the season.”
The Utes will look to go for win No. 101 at Crimson Court on Saturday as they take on the San Diego State Aztecs at 1 p.m.
San Diego State is currently sitting at next-to-last in the Mountain West Conference with a 1-3 record8212;its only win being over Air Force.
“They are a better team then there record indicates,” Launiere said. “They have good athletes on their team.”
The Utes are ahead of the Aztecs statistically as they dominate in kills, assists, digs, and blocks.
San Diego State is led by Lauren Salisbury who is averaging three kills and one block per set.
“It’s important that we approach every match the same and prepare how we always do,” Haynie said. “We are looking forward to another good game on Saturday.”
