The Utes started their weekend off on a hot note in Arizona, as they took Arizona State in three sets Friday night, but fell short Sunday afternoon as they lost in four to No. 25 Arizona.
After practice Wednesday night, head coach Beth Launiere had the whole team state something that they had improved on that day. After the match against #14 Oregon, Launiere wanted to focus on the little things because she believed that was what was going to make the difference in the long run for the Utes.
During the Arizona State match, it was obvious the Utes had implemented what they had been doing at practice this past week.
Arizona State didn’t let Utah take the match that easily. Both the first and second sets were tight. Arizona was pushing for the win but overall could not prevail against the Utes.
In the first set, Arizona State spoiled two set points for the Utes and picked up a set point for themselves at 25-24. The Utes didn’t give in and took the next 3 points, with 2 of them being kills by outside hitter Megan Yett.
Even though the second set was also pretty close, Utah made sure to stay in control throughout. At the end of the set, Arizona State did go on a small run but the Utes did not let go for long. Utah took the second set 25-23.
The Utes maintained control in the third set to finish it off. Utah went on a 7-1 run to go up 15-9. The Sun Devils couldn’t keep up with the Utes and Utah finished off the match with a 25-18 win.
The Utes had outstanding performances throughout the match against the Sun Devils. Utah hit .379 in the final set. Overall there were five players that had at least six kills — leading in kills was outside hitter Dani Drews and outside hitter Megan Yett with 11. Drews also had her 11th double-double of the season with 10 digs.
The Utes fell short Sunday afternoon up against No. 25 Arizona in four sets. Utah had the chance to take the win in the first set with the lead at 23-21 but Arizona pushed through and took the win at 26-24.
After taking a loss in the second set, Utah came out powerful in the third to take a 6-1 lead early on. Utah took the third set 25-18, pushing the match to a fourth.
In the fourth set, both teams started off getting early runs. Arizona quickly took control in the fourth going up 14-9. Utah fought back with a 5-0 run to catch up within three but could not recover and the Wildcats closed out the match at 25-20.
The Utes will return back to Salt Lake City to go up against Washington State on Wednesday, Oct. 24 and Washington on Friday, Oct. 26.