The Utah volleyball team earned its fourth consecutive win against rival BYU in a come-from-behind victory.
For the first two sets and most of the third, it looked as if Utah was destined to fall Friday night. But despite trailing two sets to none, the Utes rallied to beat the Cougars in five sets, 19-25, 26-28, 25-23, 25-15 and 15-6 at Smith Fieldhouse in Provo.
“I didn’t feel like we were out of it,” said head coach Beth Launiere. “I felt like if we could just stick with it, we could win it.”
Early on, it didn’t look that way. After taking its first lead of the opening game 12-11, BYU controlled the set the rest of the way. The Cougars extended their lead to four points to make it 16-12. The Utes didn’t get closer than three points the rest of the way, dropping the set 25-19.
The second set was more closely contested, but the end result was the same for Utah. Despite vaulting out to a 14-8 lead, the Utes fell victim to a 10-1 BYU run, which gave the Cougars a 18-15 lead. Utah tied the set and then took a 26-25 lead but succumbed to BYU 28-26.
“In set one, I thought we played real well and dug a lot of balls,” Launiere said. “In set two, I thought we shot ourselves in the foot with five missed serves.”
Late in the third set, the Cougars led 23-21 and were just two points away from sweeping the Utes. But back-to-back kills by outside hitter Jennifer Lanting and middle blocker Chelsey Sandberg tied the set. After two more kills by outside hitter Cinthia Silva, Sandberg and the Utes won the set and found themselves with new life in the match.
Silva said winning the third set gave the team confidence that it carried throughout the rest of the match.
“I think we were just more confident,” she said. “We got more energy as we went along. We just focused on what we had to do. It’s all about energy and momentum.”
The Utes seized the energy and momentum, jumping out to a lead early in the fourth set. The Cougars cut down that lead, closing the gap to one at 15-14, but Utah won 10 of the next 11 points to win the set 25-15.
More of the same followed in the fifth set, as the Utes took a lead and never looked back, winning the set 15-6 and capping off the comeback.
Silva, who contributed eight kills to the comeback effort, said the win was the perfect way to cap her last time playing the Cougars.
“I am very competitive,” Silva said. “I hate losing. It’s my last time playing BYU8212;it’s all or nothing.”
After the match, Launiere made a point of praising her team’s preparation.
“We’ve been working hard,” she said. “We were prepared for the match.”
Opposite hitter Karolina Bartkowiak led the Utes with 16 kills and 11 digs for her eighth double-double of the season.
The win gave Utah a season sweep over the Cougars and tied the Deseret First Duel standings at six apiece.
The Utes return home for their next match, where they will face UNLV on Saturday.
Mike Mangum/The Daily Utah ChronicleKarolina Bartowiak had 16 kills and 11 digs for her eighth double-double of the season during the Utes? win over BYU in 5 sets.