With hopes to get back on track after losing to USC this past week, that’s not how things panned out for the No. 12 ranked University of Utah volleyball team on the road against No. 15 ranked Oregon on Wednesday evening.
“I thought we got off to a little bit of a slow start today,” said senior Tawnee Luafalemana who finished the match with 10 kills and 4 blocks. “I felt like our energy was there and our execution was there. Oregon also played a really good game.”
The Ducks came ready to play and defend their home court. Oregon beat Utah in the first set 25-18. Even though the Utes got the first points of the set on a kill from Carly Trueman, the Ducks went on a run to put the Utes down, 10-3. Utah came within three points of tying the match, but it wasn’t enough to defeat the Ducks.
The second set of the night went to the Utes once they got back on track after changing their mentality.
“We just talked about having the championship mentality to go out there and really want to win and really want to side out because they were actually playing really well,” Luafalemana said. “We struggled a bit with servicing in the beginning of that game and we fixed that towards the end.”
The Utes started off strong in the second set with strong performances from both Adora Anae and Luafalemana who gave the Utes a combined eight kills and two blocks to energize the team. With the score tied at 12-12 the Utes ran the score up to 19-14. Berkeley Oblad, who had three kills and a block in that set, gave the Utes the match point. This time, the Ducks came within three, but the Utes were able to squeeze out a victory.
In the third set, the Ducks took a 19-15 lead before Utah called a timeout. After the break, the Utes couldn’t get anything going, and they were trailing 23-17 before being forced to call another time out to talk things over. A stellar block from Kenzie Koerber sparked a 6-1 run from the Utes to get them within a point of tying the score up, but ultimately, the victory went to the home team, 25-23.
One area that Luafalemana wants to see the Utes improve on, especially when it comes to playing in tight, hard fought sets, is energy and strength from start to finish.
“I feel like when we have the momentum, we don’t finish right away and we get too comfortable,” Luafalemana said.
The Ducks went on to take the fourth and final set of the night, putting an end to Utah’s five game winning streak. The Utes led 7-6, but Oregon countered to go up 12-9. The Utes were able to get within two points of the Ducks, but Oregon won the night off a kill to seal the deal.
Luafalemana said she knows what the Utes need to do to get back to their winning ways after now having dropped two matches in a row.
“Get in a rhythm,” Luafalemana said. “Definitely get in a rhythm and just find where our strength is … I think when we get a pass, we’re pretty unstoppable.”
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