MATCH STATS
- #19 Utah def. Western Carolina 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-22)
- Utah moves to 4-1 , Western Carolina falls to 1-4
- Honolulu
- Attendance: 5001
- Box Score
Senior outside hitter Adora Anae just missed a double double, posting a team-leading 13 kills and a team-best nine digs, while leading Utah (AVCA 22) to a sweep of Western Carolina Friday night.
Junior middle blocker Berkeley Oblad and senior outside Carly Trueman added 10 kills apiece. The double-digit kill effort was Anae’s 31st straight. Oblad served up two of the team’s three aces. Senior middle Tawnee Luafalemana put up a team-best four blocks, while freshman outside Kenzie Koerber added three stuffs.
Sophmore outside Abigail Veit (9), freshman outside Gabby Gray (8) and senior middle Katie O’Connor (7) led the Catamounts offensively. Gray served up two of the team’s four aces, while O’Connor hit at a team-best .417 clip and put up three blocks. Freshman setter Hannah Price pulled up a team-best eight digs to go with her 26 assist tally.
Utah hit at a .337 clip, while holding Western Carolina to a .146 effort. The Utes also outblocked WCU 6-5 and were bested 4-3 in aces.
The teams played to a 5-all tie in Set 1, before Utah pulled away with four straight points, capped by an Oblad ace. The Utes pushed the edge to five at 15-10 with three kills by Anae and two by Koerber. The Catamounts cut the margin to one at 16-15 with a 5-1 run, including two Ute miscues and an ace by Caroline Perret. Utah scored eight of the next 12, as Luafalemana chipped in two kills and a block. Oblad putaways marked the final two Utah points in the stanza.
Utah jumped out to a 16-6 lead in Set 2 with help from four WCU erorrs and kills by Luafelaman, Trueman, Oblad and Bailey Choy. Down 13 at 21-8, Western Carolina chipped away with a 7-2 run, including two blocks and a kill by O’Connor. A Dani Barton kill put Utah on the hill at 24-15, but the Catamounts kep the game going with help from two Utah errors and an ace by Emma Tynan. Truemans stopped WCU’s comeback hopes with a kill to give the Utes the 25-18 win.
Western Carolina built a three-point lead at 8-5 and held the advantage over the next several points,allowing Utah within one four times, but holding on for a 19-16 edge. Utah finally managed to tie things up at 20-all with a 4-1 run, including two Anae kills. A MaKenzie White kill made it 21-20 WCU, but the team could not hang on, giving up five of the next points to fall 25-22. Oblad tallied two kills and a block in the final rally.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy: Utah Athletics
The No. 22 Utah Utes earned a three-set sweep over Western Carolina (25-20, 25-18, 25-22) in its second contest of the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic at Stan
Sheriff Center Friday evening.
The Utes (4-1) moved to 2-0 in the three-match tournament and will have a day off before closing out the event against Hawaii on Sunday. The Catamounts (1-4) will face South Dakota in its final match on Sunday.
Utah made quick work of the Catamounts in the first set, cruising to a 25-20 win behind five kills each from both Berkeley Oblad and Adora Anae. Oblad registered a team-high .571 hitting percentage in the frame and Utah would go onto tally a .387 hitting percentage as a team, while limiting WCU to hit just .071.
The Utes jumped out to a 12-5 lead in the second set before WCU was forced to call a timeout. Tawnee Luafalemana would collect three of Utah’s next four kills and concluded a Utah 14-3 run with a block to push the Ute lead to 19-7 and force the Catamounts to call its final timeout. WCU would win the next point out of the break and later went on a 10-3 run to pull within six points of the Utes, down 24-18. Following a Utah timeout, Carly Trueman put the set away with a klll to give Utah the win, 25-18.
WCU would match Utah point for point throughout the majority of the third set until a 5-3 run pushed the Ute lead to 16-13. WCU got back within a point, down 17-16, but Utah’s 3-1 run pushed the lead to 20-17 and forced the Catamounts to call timeout. Oblad would later go onto record a pair of kills and a block to push Utah’s lead to 24-19 before Utah closed out the set with a 25-22 win.
Luafalemana led the Utes hitting .636 and Obald added a hitting percentage of .474 on the way to outhitting the Catamounts .337 to .146 overall.
Sunday’s final match of the tournament between Utah and Hawaii is set for 4 p.m. HT/8 p.m. MT.
MATCH NOTES
• Utah picked up its first win over WCU in its first-ever meeting with the Catamounts.
• Dating back to last season the Utes have now won eight straight matches against non-conference opponents on a neutral court.
• Adora Anae again led the team in kills, posting a match-high 13 kills on the afternoon. She has tallied 10+ kills in 31 straight matches dating back to the 2016 campaign.
• Anae also led the team with nine digs. Kristen Ables followed with seven digs and Shannon Scully added six digs in the match.
• Berkeley Oblad registered a season-high 10 kills and Carly Trueman added 10 kills, as well, for her second double-digit kill effort of the season.
• Bailey Choy led the team with 37 assists. She added two kills and five digs in the contest.
• Tawnee Luafalemana posted a team-high four total blocks.
Courtesy: Western Carolina Athletics
Western Carolina volleyball’s second match of the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic pitted the Catamounts against the 22nd-ranked Utes from the University of Utah. With the support of the Western Carolina football team, who attended the Friday night contest, the Catamount volleyball team gave the Utes a tough match falling in straight-sets but keeping each set close until the end.
Utah opened the match with a 25-20 victory but WCU trailed by just one, 16-15, midway through the period. The second set saw the Utes jump out to a 21-8 lead but the Catamounts would make a 10-3 run to cut the deficit to 24-18 before Utah took the set, 25-18. The Catamounts held the lead throughout the third set but a late 7-2 run by the Utes gave Utah a 25-22 set and match win.
Sophomore Abigail Veit, freshman Gabby Gray and senior Katie O’Connor led the way for WCU as the trio combined for 24 of WCU’s 34 kills. Veit put down nine kills while digging up five balls in the match. Gray turned in eight kills, a pair of service aces and three digs while O’Connor had seven kills and a team-high three blocks.
Freshman Hannah Price continued to fill in for injured senior Jo-Leigh VerVelde at setter as she passed out 26 assists while leading the team with eight digs. She also had a pair of blocks in the contest. Freshman Caroline Perret and sophomore Meagan Sanchez each finished with seven digs.
The Utes had three hitters reach double-figure kills led by Adora Anae who had a match-high 13. Utah hit .337 as a team while holding the Catamounts to a .146 hitting percentage.
The Catamounts will close out the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic Saturday evening against South Dakota at 7 pm (EST)/1 pm (HAST).
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