A roar filled the Huntsman Center Saturday night as the Utes went toe-to-toe in the third set with the No. 1 Washington Huskies.
After losing the first two sets, Utah led by as many as three in the third, but the Huskies wouldn’t go away. After Washington tied things up at 19, the teams went back and forth before the Huskies eventually won the set 30-28 and took the match (25-23, 25-15, 30-28).
“I thought we played with a lot of heart and battled,” said Utah head coach Beth Launiere. “Everybody was just laying it on the line. In general it was good volleyball.”
The Utes had an opportunity to grab the first set, as they led 19-17, but Chelsey Schofield and Kalee Kirby collided with each other to give Washington a point. Utah snagged the next two points to go up 21-18, but more miscues were on the way. Bailey Bateman was called for a lift, then a double hit was called on the Utes that led to their eventual demise in the first set.
The second set was close early on, but the Huskies ran away with it as Utah struggled to score after getting to 10 points.
“I thought it was a pretty high level of volleyball being played out there except the middle of game two [when] we got stuck in a rotation and they just started digging everything and we just couldn’t get it back,” Launiere said. “I didn’t think our level dropped off significantly. We just couldn’t score.”
Despite being swept on the night, Utah was pleased with the way it competed against the top-ranked squad in the country. Shelby Dalton led the Utes offensively with 11 kills and a .360 hitting percentage. Defensively, Utah held Washington to 7.5 blocks while the Utes racked up six of their own.
“Both of us are great blocking teams,” Launiere said. “We both block more balls than this. I think both teams played pretty high and physical. Neither one was able to get the other one.”
While Utah did have some errors sprinkled throughout the match, right side hitter Alli Spurrier had a clean night and contributed two of the Utes’ six blocks. Additionally, she had seven kills with only one error and a .462 hitting percentage. She was both disappointed and optimistic following the match.
“Well, it sucks because I hate losing more than anything in the world, but it feels good to know that we can keep up with those teams so well,” she said. “Even with the back-and-forth points at the end, I think when we started in the Pac-12, that wouldn’t have happened at all, even last year.”
Morgan Odale also reached a milestone during the match that only seven other players have accomplished in school history. Odale became the eighth member of the 1,000-dig club in the process of recording seven Saturday night.
“It’s great. It’s just such an accomplishment to achieve that,” Launiere said. “I’m so happy for her. I’m proud of her.”
The match with Washington Saturday followed a Friday tilt with the Washington State Cougars. Led by senior middle blocker Erin Redd-Brandon’s season-high 16 kills on a .467 hitting percentage, Utah claimed the match in five sets (25-17, 25-14, 20-25, 24-26, 15-8).
The Utes will make their Pac-12 road season debut this weekend as they will face the Stanford Cardinal on Friday and the Cal Golden Bears on Saturday.