KU was on a completely different level. It dug everything and killed everything. And, that setter – wow.
Oh, Utah couldn’t serve at all, which was ridiculous.
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The Utes on last Thursday and Saturday hosted Arizona and Arizona State for matches. They beat Arizona 3-1, but the match was much closer than that score indicates. Utes had to come from way behind in the fourth set to win. Once again it was Gibadlo, Satuala, and Olsen carrying the team.
Arizona State, as they did in the match earlier this year went 3-0 against the Utes. As I watched, nothing specifically jumped out at me that would indicate ASU was that much better, but every game it seemed like the Utes were trying to make up 3-4 point deficits. Gibadlo was good again.
Overall, Jardine got injured in the game against AU and didn’t play against ASU, which meant we saw more of Vos, Van Der Werff, and Bailey. I thought Vos had a pretty good match, but again, Bailey seems to be the weak link on the front.
Next up is BYU at the Hunstman Center on Friday, November 8. It is a red out, so if you can make it, great. Let’s turn the tables on the Zoobettes.
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Big game against TDS tomorrow night, #23 vs #21. We need this one and can use all the support. Get your a$$ to the Hunty tomorrow night.
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It is a red out also. Beat the Coogs.
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Sweep!
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Great win, even if TDS was without its top pin-hitter.
Good to see the Hunty rocking with almost 6k people.
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I just finished watching the match, and WOW!! Great crowd and the team was obviously elevated by it.
I don’t care that BYU was missing Little, does her presence stop all those aces, all those blocks (well, maybe some, but not all) all the net errors? Nope.
Great to see Jardine only missing one match. Her and Vos really did work well on that right side.
What more can you say about Gibadlo. She is simply an elite player. Those serves, those blocks, and all those kills.
I am going to be in Central Florida next week and realized just today that the Utes will be there too. I just got tickets and am looking forward to the match.
That trip next week to UCF and Houston is against two teams at the bottom of the standings, should be two wins. Utah is now alone in fifth place, with Baylor and TCU both just ahead, two teams that Utah has beat and has a tiebreaker. With two wins next week, could be as high as third in the conference.
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I just wish Jardine could learn from Vos in terms hitting “range” or shot selections. Her approach is far too acute of an angle to give her a full 90 deg range. Jardine is far more dynamic and athletic, but with very limited offensive repertoire.
Gibby, OTHO, has improved tremendously. Those big hits from sets behind her and high are very difficult. Most hitters would either hit the ball into the net or far out of court. She’s also learned how to hit high-hands and swipe off the blocker.
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I just got through watching the 3-0 match win against Houston. None of the sets were blowouts, and it reminded me of when the Utes played ASU. Nothing terrible, but just a couple of plays each set making the difference. Utes again had a good run of aces and blocks that in the end made the difference. 20th win for Coach Launiere and off to Orflando for another win!!
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Good win. Houston played really good defense.
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@justaute Launiere mentioned it in her post game that the match was a defensive battle. There were many many long rallies, much more than any other match I have seen this year.
Satuala said in her interview they wanted to play physical and did that. I am used to Whittingham saying that but not from a volleyball player.
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That means touch everything. Examples – Be quick as a blocker, don’t be lazy; this is very hard, especially for MB in an extended point. Chase after every “loose” ball, don’t give up. Put yourself in harm’s way on hits…see Fechter.
There were quite a few extended plays through out the match. It’s exhausting to jump, back up, jump again, go left jump again, go right, etc. Houston blockers and defenders touched a lot of balls, which often means extended plays.
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@justaute I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have you to explain all this stuff to me. I get much more out of the games now beyond just, “wow, she hit the ball hard”.
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Anytime, @LuckyUte. I love the game and am more than happy to share any knowledge.
A lot of people have no idea how hard it is for a MB to jump, turn, search for the ball, turn, find the ball on the other side, find the hitter, over and over again. And, more than half of the times, you don’t even get to get the ball. If one is not in shape, you’d get jello-legs really quickly.
Have a great time watching the Utes vs UCF.
p.s. although the Utes will lose quite a few seniors next year, on paper, it seems we signed a very good class. We lose Jardine (great athlete, but not nearly as effective an offensive player as she could be), Bailey (not a great athlete, but a good leader and a good passer), Hammon (she’s done ok this year, but replaceable), Fechter (big loss), Ramirez (ok loss), Vos (she’s been very solid). That said, in volleyball (like other D1 sports), it’s not easy to step in as a freshman (look at TDS, which is very young). The new 6’3" pin hitter (Wiest) looks to be very athletic and is a high school All American.
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My view… Jardine, if she had another year, she gets better. Bailey, every time I look, the her hits are getting blocked or she is missing a dig. Marco seemed a lot better than Hammond to me, always seemed to go on runs with Marco in the game. I don’t like Ramirez and am glad her “minutes” have been going down. I am a huge Fechter fan, as an opposite to Bailey, every time I looked, she was saving a ball, getting a great dig, or some other good play. I don’t remember if Linehan even played much. That is a big loss.
I wonder what happens with Key-Powell next year, will she be a hitter or something else.
Linehan is no bueno. Powell is actually a pretty good passer. Although she’s bouncy, and she could eventually prove to be a decent outside, it will be a tall task at 5’9". We shall see.
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I see what you did there 
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At least our #20 (deserved or not) vballers know what a win is. It was an ugly, ugly volleyball game against a 1-12 B12 opponent. But, a win is a win, especially having to go across the country and having a quick turnaround between matches.
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Here is my view of the game having attended my very first Utah volleyball game.
The facility where they play their games is a nice place. Perfect size for a college volleyball program with about 1,500 seats and it can get very loud. Whatever happened to the Crimson Court?
The first two sets reminded so much of the Utes game against Kansas earlier, the Knights hit % was over .300 and the had twice as many digs as the Utes. UCF seemed to dig everything and had great success with hitting. Hence an 0-2 start for the Utah team. It was at this point, where I was thinking, I get to finally see the team live and this is what I saw? After the second game, the Utes were hitting .150 and UCF had almost twice as many digs.
Fortunately, after the “halftime” break, the team turned 180 and was the team we have seen all year. Not sure what Coach Launiere said, but it worked. The Utes basically rolled and after winning the third set, all my angst about a loss was gone.
@justaute said the game was ugly, and I guess in a way it was, but it was also very fun to attend.
All, comments here on relate to the last three games. Lauren Jardine was great and Gibadlo, Olsen, and Satuala were not as impactful. Though I noticed Gibadlo playing the back line a few times. Fechter was outstanding (she did get hit in the face in the second game, but she was thankfully, not hurt) and even Bailey played well.
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It’s their practice court now.
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