Utah Volleyball spent the weekend in West Lafayette, Indiana where they competed in three matches in two days, going home with a 2-1 record overall from the hard-fought matches.

Friday

To begin the weekend, the Utes competed against Milwaukee. In their first set of competition, the Utes had a close-fought battle with the Panthers, but managed to pull away towards the end of the set with a stretch of seven points in a row to put the Panthers away 25-18.

The second set had the Utes nervous. They were leading 24-13 late in the set before Milwaukee managed to score eight points in a row. Junior Amelia Van Der Werff helped the Utes finally end the set, finishing with a 25-21 victory over the Panthers and taking a 2-0 lead in the match.

The Utes got off track in the third set, as the Panthers were able to earn a 25-18 victory. The third set was a struggle for the Utes, as they had just a .111 hitting despite managing much higher .294 and .312 in the first and second sets, respectively.

The fourth set was more exciting for the Utes. They started off slow, but sophomore Lauren Jardine helped the Utes score six points unanswered to earn a 14-12 lead. The teams continued to trade blows until the score was an even 23-23. Junior Allie Olsen then earned a kill to put the Utes within one point of victory, but in heartbreaking fashion, the Panthers scored three straight points to take the second set and tie the match at 2 wins apiece. 

The stage was set for the Utes and Panthers to compete in a winner-take-all fifth set, and it ended in the most exciting fashion. The set was tied 12-12 when Milwaukee then went on a 2-0 run. Jardine and fifth-year Madelyn Robinson both earned kills to tie the set at 14 apiece. Milwaukee then scored another point, but Olsen tied it up at 15-15. The Panthers scored another point, but Van Der Werff earned a block with teammate Ashley West to tie up the set once again. Milwaukee once again earned another match point, but Robinson got another kill to tie it up. The match finally ended as Milwaukee had an attack error, and Van Der Werff got a final kill to end the set at 19-17, winning not just the set, but also the match for the Utes.

The Utes played their second match of Friday against No. 11 Purdue. In the first set, the score was fairly close at 14-11, but the Boilermakers went on several runs to win the set with comfort at a final score of 25-17. The Boilermakers had a very high .519 hitting percentage in the first set. 

The Utes fought hard in the second set, managing to take a 17-16 lead late. The teams kept battling until Utah managed to go on a run and take a 24-20 lead. The Boilermakers shrunk the lead to 24-22, but a Utah timeout helped Robinson earn a kill to win the set and tie the match at 1 win apiece.

The third set was not as strong for the Utes, as they were behind 15-10 midway through the set. Jardine earned two consecutive leads to inch closer to Purdue with a 17-14 score, but the Boilermakers will able to put together a run and the Utes ended up losing 25-18 with Purdue now taking a 2-1 match lead.

The Utes were on fire in the fourth set, as they took a 19-14 lead late in the set. However, the Boilermakers proved why they were the No. 11 team in the nation, coming back to be down just 20-19. The Utes then worked hard and managed to take a 23-21 lead. Robinson then collected her 23rd kill of the match, as the Utes came within just one point of victory. The Utes and Boilermakers then went back and forth earning set points, before Olsen, West and Robinson all stepped up to win the set at 28-26, tying the match 2-2.

In the fifth and final set, the Utes had an 8-7 lead midway through. Purdue then went on a 5-0 run, and took a 12-8 lead. The Utes were unable to overcome this, and the Boilermakers won the set 15-9 and the match 3-2 to make the Utes 1-1 overall on the day.

Saturday

After their heartbreaking loss to Purdue, Utah faced the Bradley Braves on Saturday. Despite having played ten sets the day before, the Utes came out firing and swept Bradley 3-0 to finish the weekend with a winning record of 2-1 and to improve to 4-2 on the season.

In the first set, Utah had a 20-14 lead late, before the Braves scored three consecutive points to cut the lead to 20-17. After some back and forth, redshirt sophomore Abby Karich earned a kill and a set point, followed by a victory point by senior Emily Smith, ending the set at 25-21.

In the next set, the Utes exhibited pure dominance, as they had an 18-11 lead over the Braves. The Utes never looked back, finishing the set with a 7-4 run to win with a very comfortable 25-15 victory and a 2-0 match lead.

Wanting to finish off the weekend strong, Utah earned an 18-14 lead in the third set. Bradley was able to go on a 4-2 run to come within a 20-18 deficit, but the Utes proved to be the superior team, as they finished the set, and the weekend, on a 5-1 run over the Braves, finishing the match with a 3-0 victory.

The Labor Day Weekend was full of impressive performances from Utes. Sophomore Kamry Bailey and Junior Vanessa Ramirez both finished the weekend with 15 digs. Robinson finished the final match with 12 kills in just three sets, while Jardine had ten kills of her own. Freshman KJ Burgess earned her first career start on the day, and she managed to collect six kills and she also had five blocks in the match, the most of anyone on the team. Smith also had an incredible 17 assists to lead the Utes.

The Utes next match will be Friday and Saturday, Sept. 9 and 10. The Utes will travel to San Diego to compete against SMU and UConn to begin the weekend, before finishing it off with No. 15 San Diego, a great test for the strength of this resilient Utah Volleyball team.

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