Some sports fans may think blocking only counts in football, but blocking was the main difference in BYU's volleyball victory over Utah Tuesday night before 1,236 at Crimson Court.
The Cougars took a 15-4, 15-7, 13-15, 15-9 win thanks to superior blocking on its front line, which stymied the Utes' offense all evening. The two coaches agreed afterward that the Cougars ability to block the Utes all evening was the key to the match."Blocking is really what won it for us," said BYU coach Elaine Michaelis, whose team won its 11th straight game and improved to 8-1 in the WAC and 13-6 overall. "Our whole team played well."
"The difference probably was the blocking," said Utah coach Beth Launiere, whose squad fell to 5-4."That block of theirs was good."
All night long, the Utes would set up one of their outside hitters for kills only to have BYU's Rachel Greene or Gale Johnson or Amy Steele or Korie Rogers in position to block their hits.
Coming into the game, Utah's hitting percentage was a respectable .228, but the Cougars held them to just .052, while converting .185 of their own hits. Greene led the way with 13 blocks, while Johnson added nine, Steele eight and Rogers seven. Offensively, Johnson led the way with 17 kills.
Michaelis said one of her team's goals was to get off to a quick start and take the opposing crowd out of the game, which they did by jumping out to a 12-3 lead and taking the first game 15-4.
Utah scored the first four points of the second game, but BYU stormed back with 12 of the next 13 points to win easily again.
In Game 3, the Utes made some adjustments and played much better, going up 5-0 and 7-3 before letting the Cougars back in it. BYU led 13-12, but with Sara Shakula serving, the Utes ran off three straight points and won on a block by Maria Moen.
In the final game, Utah came back from an early deficit to force a tie at 9-9, but again the Cougars blocking came through as Johnson had a hand in the last three winning points. Michaelis also praised the passing of Helen Hjorth as being a key to the win. For Utah, Brenda Barton was the top player with 15 kills and 12 digs.Last year at Crimson Court, the Utes had beaten BYU for the first time in 10 years and with Launiere's best team in seven years, thought they could do it again. But the Cougars are playing extremely well after a shaky start to their season when some of their players were injured.
The Cougars face a tough game Friday night against San Diego State, the only WAC team to beat them this year.
The Utes are off to Hawaii, where they'll meet the No. 1 team in the country for the second time. The Utes are excited about spending a few days in the islands, but not about having to face the top-ranked Wahines again. "We'll play them, but I can't believe they count it," said Launiere about the crossover game counting in the WAC standings.