The Utah Volleyball team went 3-0 this past weekend at the UniWyo invite in Laramie Wyoming.
Utah came away with convincing wins over three opponents — University of Albany, Coppin State and the University of Wyoming. The Utes have now won six straight matches — their longest streak since 2021 — and are 10-1 on the season overall.
University of Albany
In the first of two matches, the Utah Volleyball team defeated the UAlbany Great Danes 3-1 (25-12, 27-29, 25-14, 25-17) Friday morning at the Arena-Auditorium in Laramie, Wyoming.
During the first set the Utes went on multiple four point runs, and won the race to 15 with a kill by Allie Olsen. The Utes took a 10-point lead on a service ace by Claranne Fechter to make it 19-9. Utah took the first set 25-12 on consecutive points by Rianne Vos with a kill and a block assist.
The Great Danes came out aggressive in the second set, winning the race to 15. The Utes battled back to tie the set eight times, but unfortunately came up short 27-29.
The Utes overcame an early 4-0 surge by the Great Danes in the third set, going on a seven point run to make it 11-5 on a block assist by Lauren Jardine and Emrie Satuala. The Utes extended their lead to 10 on a block assist by Kamry Bailey and Satuala to make it 17-7. Utah kept the pressure on to win the set 25-14.
In the fourth set, Utah went on a seven point run that included three consecutive kills by Jardine to make it 14-9. The Great Danes failed to get within four the rest of the match. The Utes took match point with an ace by Isabelle Marco to make it 25-17.
Leading the Utes with 16 kills was Jardine. Vos and Kamryn Gibadlo each had 12. Utah held the Great Danes to a .139 hit percentage while hitting an impressive .349 hit percentage. Utah had three players with over a .400 hit percentage with Olsen (.563), Vos (.550) and Satuala (.467). Marco set a season high with 30 assists as well as adding 16 digs. Leading the Utes with 20 digs was Fechter, while Bailey also added a season high 14 digs.
Coppin State
In the second match of the day, Utah defeated the Coppin State Eagles in straight sets 3-0 (25-17, 25-12, 25-21).
The Utes came out showing no signs of rust, hitting a ridiculous .458 hit percentage while holding the Eagles to an anemic .088 hit percentage.
Utah scored early and often in the first set, winning the race to 15 with a kill by Amelia Van Der Werff to make it 15-11. The Utes extended their lead to seven on a kill by Bailey to make it 21-14, ultimately helping Utah take the first set with a 25-17 score.
During the second set, the Utes jumped out to an early 11-3 lead on a kill by Satuala. Utah continued to build on their lead, getting kills by Levani Key-Powell and Ashley West. The Utah defense held the Eagles to 12 points and a .029 hit percentage in the second set. The Utes took the second set 25-12 with an ace from Gibadlo.
The Utes finished off the sweep in the third set despite a Coppin State push. The Eagles kept it close, hitting a .222 hit percentage in the third set, but it was no match for Utah’s .483 clip. The Utes put the match away 25-21, with a kill by Key-Powell, and a block assist by Vos and Van Der Werff.
The Utes were led by Gibadlo’s nine kills, while Satuala and Van Der Werff both with eight kills each. There were four players with over a .500 hit percentage: Key-Powell (.778), Satuala (.667), Van Der Werff (.583) and Gibadlo (.533). Grace Hammond and Marco both had 20 assists for the Utes.
Wyoming
The Utes concluded the UniWyo invite with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-22) series win over the Wyoming Cowgirls Saturday afternoon.
During the first set, Utah battled back and forth with the Cowgirls, eventually opening up a 10-7 lead on an ace by Marco.
Wyoming managed to get within four before Utah took the final three of four points on kills by Jardine and Gibadlo to take the set 25-19.
The second set saw the Utes take an early lead and continue to build on it. Utah went on runs of four and seven to win the race to 15 on a kill by Vos to make it 15-7. The Utes extended their lead, capitalizing on three straight Wyoming attack errors to take the second set 25-17.
During the third, both Utah and Wyoming exchanged points back and forth to the tone of nine ties and three lead changes. The Cowgirls kept the score close, never trailing by more than two. Utah soon put the set and match away on a block assist by Olsen and Vos to make the score 25-22.
Leading Utah with a season high 12 kills was Satuala. Two other Utes finished with double-digit kills with Gibadlo (11) and Jardine (10). There were also two Utes with 20+ assists with Marco (22) and Hammond (21).
With the sweep complete, Utah has now concluded their non-conference schedule and will make their Big 12 debut against Texas Tech on Thursday Sept. 26 at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
