They were almost the comeback kids. Ultimately, however, the Utes couldn’t pull off the win against No. 19 Arizona and fell in five sets after dropping the first two.
The Utes brought out the same starters who have played for the majority of Pac-12 play. Megan Shughrou got the start at libero, and this group fared pretty well to start out the first set. They kept the game close but let up a 6-1 run to give the Wildcats a 9-5 lead. Adora Anae carried the offense, getting the first three kills for the team, but when Utah stopped going to her, the offense broke down. Arizona took the first set 25-21.
The Utes played well to start off the second set and gained an 8-7 advantage. Then something stopped clicking, and the team only managed six points the rest of the set. Arizona reeled off kill after kill and the Utes couldn’t clean up their offense and committed some errors. Arizona took the second set 25-14.
The team went to the locker room down 0-2 and disheartened. When the team came back out, they played some of the most inspired volleyball they’ve played all season long. Kendall Cygan knew her team had to continue fighting.
“I think there comes a point where we all just decided to step it up,” Cygan said. “We knew that in order to win, we had to step up, instead of just coming out nonchalantly. We picked up the energy and raised our expectations.”
The Utes didn’t start off the third set ideally, allowing the Wildcats to build a 7-2 lead, but from that point, they locked down and were focused on the win. The team recorded five total blocks in the set and held Arizona to a -.091 hitting percentage. Eliza Katoa, Emma Kirst, and Brenna DeYoung all added crucial kills as Utah flipped the script and built a big lead. The Utes built the lead to eight with a 20-12 score and finished off Arizona 25-19 in the third set. The crowd of nearly 1,000 at the Huntsman came alive, and the team looked energized.
In the fourth set, the teams stayed within one point of each other until a 9-9 tie. Then, after an error by Kirst, the Wildcats took a lead and managed to stay ahead of the Utes for some time. Utah stayed in the set with the help of Anae and Carly Trueman. Both had five kills in the set, and Trueman added two blocks that put the Huntsman into an uproar.
Shughrou recorded 22 digs on the night, a new career high, and was continually diving to the ground for loose balls, even jumping over the Utes’ bench to chase after a ball she hoped to save. This team played with energy, but the outcome looked bleak when Arizona took a 24-22 lead and only needed one point to win the match. That is when head coach Beth Launiere saw the Utes dig deep.
“I think everyone just made a decision to come out and play harder,” Launiere said. “We were just really quiet in the beginning. Arizona was putting pressure on us and we didn’t respond. I think everyone decided to come out and go hard, and good things happened.”
Utah reeled off two straight points and tied the set at 24. The two teams traded points until an Arizona serving error gave the Utes a one-point advantage. Then, with the match on the line, Alyssa Koenig delivered with an ace. The Utes pulled off the comeback and forced a fifth set.
“That set was probably one of the best set wins of my career with all the teamwork that went into that,” Cygan said.
The Utes started off the fifth with a 10-7 lead. In the end, Arizona had one last run tucked up their sleeves. The Wildcats scored seven unanswered, and ultimately the Utes could not pull off the upset victory, falling in the fifth set 15-13.
Even in the face of this heartbreaking loss, Launiere took a few positives away from the game.
“We are serving really well and playing defense really well,” Launiere said. “ But we have to work on the same things that we have all season. Getting blocks and kills. But there were a lot of positives [in the match].”
The team served seven aces, including three from redshirt freshman Jessie Jorgensen and Shughrou added two of her own. Anae ended the match with 23 kills and 21 digs.
The Utes will take on the Arizona State Sun Devils on Saturday to finish up their weekend.
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