It might have taken the No. 17 University of Utah volleyball team five sets to get the victory, but the Utes got their first ever win in Seattle, beating the No. 9 Washington Huskies in a hard fought battle.
“It was exciting but at the same time we had to be completely focused the whole night, there was just no breathing room,” said head coach Beth Launiere. “It was great to get the win, but during the match we were very focused.”
The Utes took a commanding 2-0 lead, but the Huskies battled back winning the next two sets to force a 5th and final set in a winner-takes-all battle.
Senior Adora Anae was six kills away from becoming the programs all-time leader — she needed 31 heading into the road trip and finished with 25 on the night. Teammate Berkeley Oblad recorded 15 kills for the Utes as Carly Trueman followed with 12 kills to finish the night.
In the first set of the night, the Utes and Huskies traded points most of the match. The Utes finally pulled away towards the end, 24-21, only to have the Huskies kill match point and rally back into the set, leading 25-24. After calling a timeout, Utah came out with a huge block and Anae earned a kill to give the Utes set point and win 27-25.
Set two was just as good as the first set with both teams once again going back in forth in battle. The Huskies went on a 4-0 run early in the match to be up 11-8, but the Utes battled back to force set point with the score being 24-20. Once again, the Huskies responded tying the set up at 24 even. The Utes called a time out to come up with a game plan and after a kill from Trueman and a hitting error caused by the Huskies the Utes would take the set 26-24.
What seemed like a commanding 2-0 match lead was cut by the Huskies in the third set. Tied at 19-19, the Huskies pulled away by going on a run to be up 24-20 and earning set point, beating the Utes 25-20.
In the fourth set, the teams were tied at 11 all. The Utes rallied to be up, but once again the Huskies battled back to force Utah to call a timeout while they trailed 16-15. All tied at 20-20, it went back in forth until the Huskies got two points in a row and swung momentum in their favor to win 25-23. Even though the Huskies took sets three and four, Launiere was confident in her team.
“There setter was out and they kinda had to adjust there lineup and I think it just took them a couple sets to kinda get used to it,” Launiere said. “I didn’t think we played bad in sets three and four. I just thought they made a few more plays each set.”
Heading into the fifth set the Utes looked composed and ready. Utah was leading 9-5 however the Huskies came back to cut the lead to two. Huge blocks from Oblad and Kenzie Koerber gave the Utes a 12-8 lead, but the Huskies rallied their way back into the set to tie things up at 14-14. After a timeout called by the Utes, it was freshman Dani Barton who came up with two back-to-back kills for the Utes to seal the teams first ever victory in Seattle over the Huskies.
Up next for the Utes, they will head to Pullman, Washington to face Washington State on Sunday, Oct. 8 in the Bohler Gym. First serve is scheduled for 12 p.m. MT.
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