The Utes are off to their best start in school history at 10-0 after winning three tournaments to kick off their season. The team has shown resiliency and composure against its competition and it has become difficult to predict which player will be the game changer because it has varied from match to match.
Utah hopes to use this to its advantage tonight at the Huntsman Center in the annual rivalry matchup against BYU.
A quality opponent, the Cougars (6-3) started off the season in the Top 25 but fell out of the rankings after suffering two losses at the Hampton Inn Invitational, losing to No. 24 Creighton and then to Bowling Green.
One matchup that should prove to be a good one will be between BYU outside hitters Alexa Gray and Tambre Haddock and Utah middle blockers Bailey Bateman and Erin Redd-Brandon. Gray ranks 48th nationally in kills per set with a .310 hitting percentage and has 138 kills on the year. Haddock has 128 kills of her own. Combined, the duo has accounted for more than 50 percent of the Cougars’ total kills.
In the Utes’ favor, Redd-Brandon ranks 8th in the nation in blocks per set with 1.56 and recently became a member of the 400-block club.
“The good news is we have a good right side block,” said Utah head coach Beth Launiere. “That’s going to help against [BYU’s] left side. It’s pretty evident that’s where they want the ball to go a lot. We definitely want to key in on those guys, but they have enough talent in other places that we can’t let them go either.”
The Cougars own the overall series over the Utes 66-29 and Utah has not had a regular season win against BYU since 2010, back when both teams were members of the Mountain West Conference.
While the rivalry doesn’t have conference standings implications anymore, Launiere said the annual matchup is still a special one.
“It’s different because you only play once and it’s not for a conference championship,” she said. “But everyone marks it on their calendar and you are a liar if you don’t. Especially if you are from the state of Utah, it’s a match you want to play in.”
Lea Adolph, the unsung libero for the Utes who has quietly accounted for a team-leading 129 digs, loves the rivalry. The native of Germany had no idea how big it was when she got here, but quickly found out.
“Freshman year, I had no clue what BYU was all about,” she said. “I was the first person to serve in the game. It was an ace and everyone started freaking out and that’s when I thought, ‘Wow this is huge.’ It was awesome.”
The game is set to begin at 7 p.m.