The run is over.
After winning 19 of their last 20 games, Utah’s win streak and hopes of getting to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history were crushed by No. 5 seed Washington Huskies as the Utes got swept for just the third time this season 25-16, 25-20, 25-16.
Former Ute, Airial Salvo, had 15 kills against her old teammates, as the Utes were unable to respond to the powerful Husky attack in their first loss in more than a month.
“I thought we competed well,” said Utah head coach Beth Launiere in a statement. “We had stretches of good aggressive volleyball. We battled all night. Obviously, we gave up some runs of points. You can’t do that against a good Washington team, but we did hit our average, and we did hit above what (Washington) was holding its opponents.”
The Utes knew going into the match that there defense would have to be at its best to slow down Washington’s offense, but the powerful Utah block that has been present all season was no where to be found.
Utah blocked just six balls in three sets, well below their average of three per set, and allowed 48 kills and Husky hitting percentage of .413.
Senior Emillie Toone led the team with five blocks in her last match as a Ute, while Keisha Fisher contributed 10 digs on the floor defense.
The Utes offense looked as good as it has all season as they hit .253 and pounded down 34 kills. Kathryn Haynie led Utah with 10 kills and ends her career at Utah with 1,173 kills, eighth all-time. Karolina Bartkowiak added in seven kills and a .667 hitting percentage.
Utah allowed Washington to go on runs of 3-0 and 5-1 to open up a 17-12 advantage and easily coasted to a one set lead. Utah managed to jump out to an early lead in the second and held a 11-9 advantage before the Huskies reeled off seven straight points to and eventually win the second set by five.
“Offensively, we did well,” Launiere said. “Obviously, we weren’t able to stop them, which was tough for us because that is something we have been able to do most of the season. I thought we battled hard, played hard. I was very proud of the effort we gave tonight.”
The third set was much of the same as Utah took an early lead before surrendering yet another seven point run to fall behind 13-8, effectively putting an end to Utah’s successful season.
Missing from the usually potent Utah attack were middle blockers Lori Baird and Emillie Toone as the pair earned only seven kills combined, in comparison with their usual 5.5 kills per set.
Utah seniors Haynie, Baird and Toone finished out their careers at Utah with a combined 915 kills, 370 blocks, and 422 digs on the season.
Baird and Toone finish second and third, respectively, in total blocks and block assists in Utah history, and Baird finishes seventh in total kills.
The Utes finish their season as just the second team in school history to make it to the Sweet 16 as they went 26-6 on the season and earned the school’s third regular season MWC championship.