Heading into a crucial portion of its season, the Utah volleyball team will do something it hasn’t done much of this season8212;go on an extended road trip.
The Utes have ventured outside of Utah for consecutive matches only twice this year, once during the Santa Clara Tournament in the opening weeks of the season, and once on a mid-October road trip that saw the Utes split a pair of matches against Wyoming and Colorado State. The only other times the Utes have played away from Crimson Court in conference play were a three-set win at UNLV and a five-set win at BYU.
Despite playing the majority of their matches at home, junior libero Keisha Fisher said the Utes are ready for what awaits them in New Mexico and TCU this week.
“We haven’t played a whole lot on the road this season,” she said. “I think we’re ready to go out on the road this week. We do pretty well on the road.”
Head coach Beth Launiere said she thinks the Utes are capable of playing well away from home.
“We played well at UNLV,” she said. “I think we’re OK on the road.”
She said Utah’s youth won’t be a detriment regarding road matches.
“Sometimes young teams almost do better on the road,” she said.
Some of the success the team has had on the road can be attributed to Utah’s process for road games, which is designed to keep the team relaxed and focused on the match.
After practice the day before a road match, the team travels to the destination, grabs a bite to eat and heads to the hotel to get checked in. The rest of the night before the match is spent relaxing in the hotel, something that the players savor, Launiere said.
“We don’t do any film or anything on nights before games because the players are normally pretty excited to just relax on their own,” she said.
The following morning, the team eats breakfast around 9 a.m. and begins shifting focus to the match with film study at 10. Depending on what time the court is available, the team practices at either 11 a.m. or noon, followed by a big meal and more relaxation. Finally, at about 5:15 p.m., the team begins final preparation and heads to the match.
The whole process is designed to alleviate the pressure of leaving the comforts of home, something Fisher said can be difficult.
“Just leaving the comfort zone that you have at home is hard,” she said. “Going into somebody else’s home court is always tough because everyone plays well at home.”
She also said it’s different having the fans against them, as opposed to the Crimson Court faithful cheering the Utes on.
“It can be hard to deal with the crowd at times,” she said.
After this week’s road stint, the Utes have just one more road trip of the regular season, which includes matches against San Diego State and Air Force to conclude the conference season, as well as a nonconference match against Long Beach State, which received 14 votes in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll.