The No. 16 University of Utah volleyball team was in Los Angeles, California this weekend to take on USC and No. 23 UCLA. The Utes were able to come out with a victory against both teams. This brings their season to 18-7, 10-4 Pac-12.
Taking on the Trojans
For their first match of the week, they took on the USC Trojans in the Galen Center, where they went on another five-set battle and came out victorious. In the first set the Utes led 16-12 by the first timeout, they were able to keep their momentum and take set one 25-19. The team hit .533 in the first set and Kenzie Koerber had 5 kills, putting her at .833.
The second set was extremely competitive, as Utah had the lead 17-12, but the Trojans weren’t giving up easily and came back to tie it at 20. The Trojans ended up taking the set 31-33.
In the third set, USC was in charge almost the whole time, and took it 23-25. For the fourth set, USC was leading again and looking to close it out as they led 22-18 but the Utes had other ideas — they went on a 7-1 run to take the lead and the set at 26-24.
For the fifth and final set the Utes were ahead 10-7, but the Trojans came back and took the lead 13-14. Utah wasn’t letting up, as they forced match point two times and came out with the win 18-16.
Dani Drews set the program record with 33 kills and hit her career high. It’s her second 30 kill match this season and third in her career. Saige Ka’aha’aina-Torres also matched her career high with 67 assists. Koerber had 17 kills, Zoe Weatherington tabbed 15, and Berkeley Oblad wasn’t far behind with 14. Brianna Doehrmann led the defense with 22 digs.
The Battle with the Bruins
Next, the Utes headed to the John Wooden Center to take on No. 23 UCLA, who earlier this season the Utes swept at home. UCLA was coming off a loss to Colorado on Friday night where the Buffs also swept the Bruins.
In the first set the Utes went on a 5-0 run to tie it up at 12 but the Bruins took it 22-25. In the second set, the Utes went a 4-0 run from behind to tie it up at 16 and took the set 25-22. When the third set came around, the Utes went another 4-0 scoring run to take the lead 15-10 and took the set 25-22. To start off the fourth, the Utes went on their third 4-0 scoring run to lead 8-2 but the Bruins weren’t letting up easy and tied it at 20-20, the Utes were able to pull of the win and take the final set 25-22.
Drews led the team with 19 kills, Weatherington had 13 and Oblad tabbed 12 kills. Koerber had 17 kills and led the team in digs with 15 for a double-double night.
Next weekend the Utes will head to Washington to take on No. 24 Washington State in Pullman on Friday and No. 14 Washington in Seattle on Sunday. Both games will be broadcasted on the Pac-12 networks.
m.arnold@dailyutahchronicle.com
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