After being postponed due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, the official 22-match Pac-12 schedule for the 2020-2021 women’s volleyball season was released Jan. 19. Additionally, University of Utah Volleyball was chosen by a poll of conference head coaches as the favorite to take the Pac-12 title. The selection is Utah’s first since joining the conference in 2011.

“It’s an honor to be recognized but also now we have to prove ourselves,” said Dani Drews of the conference awards.

In their first two matches, the Utes have already shown that they can play beyond the hype. They hosted the University of Arizona Wildcats in a doubleheader weekend beginning Friday, Jan. 22 and finishing up Sunday, Jan. 24. Utah handily sent the Wildcats packing in two 3-0 sweeps, earning senior Dani Drews the Pac-12 offensive player of the week and the team a no.8 AVCA ranking.

Drews, along with fellow senior outside hitter Kenzie Koerber were awarded preseason All Pac-12 team spots. Both proved themselves worthy of the titles in their victory over Arizona — in the Sunday match Drews led the team with 13 kills while Koerber led in digs with 10.

Drews and Koerber are the only seniors on the team that consists of five freshmen, five sophomores and five juniors. Their experience and leadership on the court is outsized and in the opening match, their impact was evident.

Utah volleyball is not just the Drews-Koerber team though. Junior outside hitter and BYU transfer Madelyn Robinson is setting herself up to take over as a team stat leader when her senior teammates move on and already leads the team with five service aces over the opening weekend. She is second only to Drews in total kills. True freshman Vanessa Ramirez came to Utah from Pasadena, CA, and clinched a starting role as the team’s libero. In her debut she took ownership of the court, leading the team with 13 digs over the two games.

While their opening weekend win was definitive, Koerber said Utah still has work to do.

“I think continuing to just build chemistry with new players on the court and even though we have a lot of experience it’s important to get those relationships built up. I think there is always room for improvement even with how talented we are, I think we will continue to get better,” Koerber said.

Looking ahead, the Utes have an easy run for the rest of January and into February if they manage to maintain this momentum. Utah is on the road against the Cal Golden Bears on Jan. 29 and 31 followed by a meeting with the Arizona State Sun Devils in Tempe on Feb. 5 and 7. The Utes are back home for USC and Oregon which will be challenging but more than winnable games. Utah will close out February in Seattle against the no.11 Washington Huskies, who dropped their first game to Arizona State 0-3 but came back the next day and beat the Sun Devils 3-1.

The biggest hurdle standing in the way of Utah’s Pac-12 dominance comes the first week in March when they host Stanford, who has a traditionally solid team and handed Utah three losses in 2019. Stanford’s outlook is a mystery at the moment with their first two games canceled due to a Santa Clara County emergency directive in response to rising COVID-19 cases, so the toughest opponent for Utah won’t hit the court until February.

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@JP_at_TheChrony