In three straight sets at home in a rivalry match, Utah lost to No. 9 BYU. This marked the 88th time the two teams have faced each other in the history of their volleyball programs.
After a late start due to a temporary building lockdown, the Cougars came out with a strong offense, but the Utes kept it within two points for the first half of the set. BYU then went on a roll and jumped out to a lead of 12-7, forcing head coach Beth Launiere to call a timeout. But the timeout did little to slow down BYU. They went on a 9-3 run until Launiere called another timeout, this time with the score at 18-10. The Cougars then won the set easily, 25-16.The Utes only scored consecutively twice in the first set, a problem that would continue to haunt them throughout the match.
The second set followed a similar pattern. BYU’s offense methodically scored on Utah, and Utah couldn’t get things going. The Utes only scored consecutively three times in the second set. But any hope Utah gained, BYU quickly smashed, going on to win the set 25-17.
Sophomore Adora Anae, who had 16 kills and 15 digs for Utah, knew her team was in desperate need of a change of before the third set.
“Our coach gave us a pep talk,” Anae said, “We got our heads in the game and [got a] little more fired up.”
The Utes came out and immediately took their first lead of the game on the first serve, going ahead 1-0. Utah would continue to play well and pull out to an 8-6 lead. The team looked more energized and had the crowd behind its back. The Utes, at one point, led 19-12, but that was the biggest lead they would see. BYU fought back and won the final set, 25-22.
The biggest problem the Utes faced was their continual errors. They tallied 31 total errors over the three sets, including nine after their 19-12 lead in the third set. Launiere wants to see more improvement from her team in this area.
“They’re up and down,” Launiere said. “We’ve got to figure out how to play more consistently. The competitiveness we played with in set three is how we have to play.”
With Pac-12 play starting in less than a week, Launiere knows exactly what she needs to see from her young team.
“We have to find more confidence and play more aggressively,” Launiere said.
While they didn’t walk away with a win, the Utes packed the gym for the most anticipated rivalry game of the season. The Huntsman was home to 3,056 fans, a record number in attendance for any Utah volleyball event in the school’s history. Launiere appreciated the crowd’s support.
“It was an awesome crowd,” Launiere said. “It’s been a long time since we’ve had that many people here. It was awesome when we were scoring and the crowd was behind us.”
The crowd cheered on the Utes for the entirety of the match, but in the end, BYU’s experience was too much for the young Ute team.
Utah’s next game will be on Wednesday against Colorado at the Huntsman Center. This will mark the open of Pac-12 play and a schedule that will really test Utah’s young roster.
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