Utah, BYU volleyball: Ute spikers extend winning streak

San Diego State came into Crimson Court on Saturday afternoon confident after defeating BYU on Thursday night.

The Aztecs prevailed in a tight first game, but the Utes roared back taking three straight games to win the match 3-1; 21-25, 25-14, 25-18, 25-15.

In the first game, the Utes just couldn't get the lead as the Aztecs looked very confident and put down every uprising.

But game two was a different story. Kathryn Haynie got the Utes started with a slam and a block down kill winner and Emillie Toone finished off the Aztecs registering 4 kills for the game as the Utes dominated 25-14. "Toone Time!" was the favorite refrain of the announcer and she was named the player of the match.

"They have good middles," said Toone, "but we can switch it around."

In game two, Utah coach, Beth Launiere made a few adjustments which turned the match around.

"We moved the middles around a little bit," Launiere said.

Haynie led the Utes in kills with 14 but she deferred to team play as the reason for the victory

"Everyone is doing what they are supposed to do," Haynie said.

Toone finished with 11 kills and nine blocks and Baird recorded eight kills but was boxed up much of the time by the San Diego State blockers.

"They are a much better team than their record indicates," Launiere said.

Utah is now riding a six game winning streak and stands at 4-2 in conference and 13-4 overall. Friday the Utes travel to Provo to meet BYU.

BYU falls to UNLV

The BYU Cougars volleyball team continued along a tough stretch of road as they lost to UNLV at the Smith Fieldhouse in straight games, 25-15, 25-11, 28-26.

The Cougars have now lost four straight matches and only find themselves with a 2-5 record in conference play with a tough match against Utah looming next Friday night.

Though players and coach Shay Goulding don't seem to have the answer to how to turn their season back around, they do find hope in the way they played the final game against the Rebels.

"Quite honestly, I feel confident with the way we ended. I like the lineup that was on the court in that final game," said BYU coach Shay Goulding.

One of the girls on the court both early and late in this match was Christina Meason, rightside hitter out of Lehi. She put down a career-high nine kills with a .381 hitting percentage and truly made the most of her time in the contest.

"Measom went after it tonight. She did a good job. We've been looking for a way to get her into the lineup, and she made the most of her opportunities tonight," said Goulding.

Measom, though happy to be playing and making a difference, was still upset with the outcome and the doldrums her team seems to be mired in.

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