Utah came out of last weekend with both a win and a loss. They started with a five—set win over Washington State (14-3, 1-3) Friday before being swept by top-ranked Washington (11-1, 3-1) Saturday. The performance helped the Utes (13-3, 2-2) reach No.18 when the national RPI was updated on Monday.
Utah’s hot start in 2013 has been spurred by remarkable performances from their two lone seniors.
During the matchup against Washington on Saturday, outside hitter Morgan Odale recorded seven digs and four kills to become the eighth member of Utah’s 1,000 dig club. The Idaho native is the 13th member of the 1,000 kill club with 1,164 career kills and is a member of the 100 aces club with 111 career aces. She is the third player in Utah history to be a member of three different clubs with Brenda Barton-Whicker from 1994-1997 and Lori Baird from 2005-2008. Odale is remaining humble about her accolades.
“My mom tells me I’m naive,” Odale said. “I just don’t like looking at it. But it was cool to get into that club.”
Senior Erin Redd-Brandon belongs to another group of elite few. She is a member of the 400-block club with 481 blocks in her career. Redd-Brandon ranks 17th in the country in blocks per set with a 1.38. She has 90 total blocks on the year for the Utes, who rank 12th in blocks per set with 2.83.
“On the court, I feel like she has a bigger presence,” Odale said of 6-foot-3 Redd-Brandon. “When she is up at the net, I always feel confident with her and me up at the net. I feel like, ‘we’re going to block you guys.’ But she always helps with getting the team going, influencing others and she is always a great teammate.”
The talent, experience and leadership of these two seniors accelerated the Utes’ strong non-conference performance, winning three preseason tournaments. Both were named to All-Tournament teams and received Tournament MVPs. Odale, Redd-Brandon and the rest of the Utah squad are off to their best start in conference play since joining the Pac-12.
Freshman libero Tess Sutton has seen a lot of playing time this year and has had the chance to play and learn from her leaders. At 5-foot-3, she not only looks up to Odale and Redd-Brandon physically — she reveres them.
“[Redd-Brandon] is a fighter,” Sutton said. “That girl, she just does not give up. She will hit the ball no matter if it’s out or in; if the score is 24-24 she is just going to hit it as hard as she can and not lollipop it over. [Odale], she definitely gives it a hundred percent, even a hundred and twenty-five percent in practice and every game. I totally support her and I look up to her because of it.”
Head coach Beth Launiere claims that her seniors have been a huge part of how well their season is going so far. She said she always knew that they would have big careers.
“Both [Redd-Brandon] and [Odale] have had a significant role on this team for four years,” Launiere said. “You don’t get more experience than they have. They started their whole career and they have been in every big-time battle.”