TEMPE – Three Ute players registered 10 or more kills and University of Utah volleyball team defeated Arizona State, 3-1 (21-25, 25-19, 25-17, 24-26), in a Pac-12 Conference match Friday in Wells Fargo Arena.
Utah (13-17, 4-13 Pac-12) posted 19.0 team blocks, a season-high mark for a four-set match, while ASU had seven blocks. Utah also outhit ASU, .278 to .178, and had three players in double-digits in kills
“We were able to pull away from ASU in sets two and three,” Utah head coach Beth Launiere said. “When we fell behind a few points in the fourth, I was proud of the way we stayed focus and kept our composure.
“We blocked very well tonight,” Launiere said. “But our ball control people did a great job and passed well all night. We also got a lot out of Shelby [Dalton] and Alli [Spurrier], offensively.”
Chelsey Schofield turned in her fifth straight double-double with team-high marks of 15 digs and 14 kills. This was also her fourth straight double-digit-kill performance, as well as the 21st match with 10 or more this season and the 38th of her career.
Junior outside hitter Morgan Odale had her fifth double-double of the season and the 20th of her career with 12 kills and 12 digs. She has 16 double-digit kills in 2012 and the 54th of her career, while she reached 10 or more digs nine times this year and 36 times over her career.
Sophomore right-side hitter Alli Spurrier also established a new career high with nine kills to go with four blocks.
Freshman setter Kendall Cygan distributed 26 assists and eight digs, while senior McKenzie Odale set up 23 assists for the Utes and also had eight digs.
Sophomore libero Lea Adolph had 13 digs in the Ute back row for her fifth double-figure-dig effort.
Sophomore middle blocker Bailey Bateman posted her third match of 10 or more blocks this season as she tied her career high with 12.
Dalton registered 12 kills on 22 swings with just one error for a .500 hitting percentage for her fourth match with 10 or more kills this season and the seventh of her career. She also tied her career-high mark for the third time with eight blocks.
The Utes took the first three points of the match, but the Sun Devils quickly countered with a 3-0 run of their own. The set would be tied two more times before a 6-0 run by ASU gave the home team a 10-5 advantage. Utah came back to tie the set for the fourth time at 17 points apiece before ASU responded with a 5-1 run to grab a 22-18 lead on the way to a 25-21 first-set victory.
There were three ties at the beginning of the second set before three consecutive ASU points gave it a 6-3 advantage. The Utes went on a 6-1 tear to seize a 9-7 lead and extended their advantage to five at 18-13 en route to a 25-19 advantage to even the match at one set apiece.
Utah inched out to a 4-2 advantage in the third frame and led by as many as seven (15-8) and cruised on the way to a 25-17 victory.
The fourth frame was even 10 times before ASU inched out to a 14-11 edge, but Utah immediately forced the 11th tie at 14 points apiece and went on to take a 17-15 lead after going on a 6-1 run. There would be four more ties, the last coming at 24, before a Morgan Odale kill and another Bateman blocks clinched the win for the Utes, 26-24.
Arizona State (17-13, 6-11 Pac-12) was led by a match-high 16 kills from both Whitney Follette and Erica Wilson, while Stephanie Preach turned in 21 digs.
Utah takes on Arizona tomorrow at 7 p.m. MT in Tucson. Live stats for the match can be found at arizonawildcats.com.