The Utah Volleyball team went 3-0 this past weekend on their first road trip of the season, traveling all the way to Chicago, Illinois, for the Loyola Chicago Invitational.
Utah followed their first loss of the season with a dominant weekend performance overall. The Utes went 3-0, 3-1, and 3-0, marking their fourth and fifth sweeps of the young season. The Utes are now 7-1 on the season.
Game 1 — Loyola Chicago
Utah defeated the Loyola Chicago Ramblers in straight sets, 3-0 (29-27, 25-20, 25-20) Friday night at The Joseph J. Gentile Arena.
During the first set, the Utes went down early 4-0 and then 16-9 after a Ramblers eight point run. Utah was then pushed to set point at 24-21 before the Utes made a run.
Allie Olsen got a pair of key blocks to bring the score to 24-24. Immediately after, Kamryn Gibadlo delivered back-to-back kills to give Utah the momentum and eventually the first set 29-27.
The second set saw six lead changes and 12 ties. The Utes trailed 20-18 before an eight point come back which included kills from Lauren Jardine and Gibadlo. Utah nailed a key block from Emrie Satuala to help seat the second set win at 25-20.
The third set saw the Utes take an early 9-4 lead with kills from Ashley West and Jardine. Utah continued to pull away and took the final set 25-20 for the straight set sweep.
Leading the Utes in kills with 17 and a hitting percentage of .484 was Jardine. Isabelle Marco led the way with 21 assists, and Claranne Fechter added a career high with 22 digs. Fifth year senior Vanessa Ramirez tallied eight digs to move into fourth place all time in school history with 1,504.
Game 2 — Loyola Chicago
Coming off of the sweep from the previous night, Utah once again defeated the Loyola Chicago Ramblers 3-1 (21-25, 25-15, 25-18, 25-19) Saturday night.
During the first set, the Utes battled to take a 6-5 lead on a Gibaldo ace. Unfortunately for Utah, the Ramblers would go on multiple 3-0 runs to eventually take the first set 21-25, making this only the fifth set the Utes have lost this season. Despite this, Utah won the next three consecutive sets, while also recording a season high .358 hitting percentage.
The second set saw the Utes dominate early and often, opening an 8-4 lead with a kill from Gibadlo. Kamry Bailey helped serve the Utes to a five point run, making the score 18-10. An ace from Fechter gave the Utes a 21-11 lead, and eventually the set win at 25-15.
During the third set, the Utes won the race to 15 with kills by Satuala, and an ace by Grace Hammond for a 16-11 lead. The Utes got a kill and block from Olsen to put the Ramblers away and take the set 25-18.
The fourth set the Utes trailed for the first time since the start of the match. This time, the Ramblers won the race to 15 with a 11-15 lead. Gibadlo then brought Utah within one at 15-16 with a kill.
The Utes claimed three of the final five points with kills by Rianne Vos to put the set and match out of reach at 25-18.
The Utah attack was led by three double digit kills by Jardine with 16, Gibadlo with 15 and Vos with 10. Isabelle Marco added a career high 26 assists and Hammond also tallied 19 assists. Utah matched their season high in kills (58), assists (58) and aces (8). Fechter had a Utah career high with three aces as well as a season-high with 12 digs.
Northeastern
To cap off the weekend, Utah defeated the Northeastern Huskies 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-17) Sunday afternoon.
The Utes took an early 11-5 lead in the first set with consecutive kills by Bailey. Utah held multiple 10-point leads in the first set, including an ace by Hammond to make it 21-11. Bailey again made consecutive kills to take the first set 25-17.
During the second set, the Utes opened up a nine-point lead at 21-12 after an Ashley West kill, and a Marco ace. Utah would take the second set 25-16.
Early on in the third set, the Utes took a 4-2 lead with back-to-back aces by Hammond. The Huskies kept the set close until the Utes opened a seven-point lead with a kill by Vos to make it 20-13. Levani Key-Powell registered five of Utah’s final six kills to help take the set 25-17 and the match overall.
Leading the Utes with 10 kills apiece were Gibadlo and Key-Powell. The Utes had four attackers with over a .350 hitting percentage with Gibadlo at .476, Key-Powell with .364%, then both Emrie Satuala and Ashley West with eight kills and a .353 hitting percentage. There were three Utes with double-digit assist totals. Marco led with 18 assists, Hammond had 16 and Vanessa Ramirez tallied a career-high 11 assists.
Coming Up
The Utes will continue their road-trip as they travel to Wyoming for the UniWyo Invitational. The Utes will play three matches at the University of Wyoming and will open with a doubleheader on Friday, September. 20 against the University of Albany at 10 a.m. MT and again at 3 p.m. MT against Coppin State.
