Talented freshmen mature quickly for Utah

Months ago, Utah volleyball coach Beth Launiere was pretty excited about what her four heralded, internationally experienced freshmen would eventually mean to a program she's been running for 16 seasons.

But even Launiere has been surprised at how quickly Colorado setter Shannon Krug and three Utahns — Murray's Lori Baird, North Salt Lake's Kathryn Lovell and Farmington's Airial Salvo — have made their marks on the Mountain West Conference and the Utes, who play their final two home matches tonight and Saturday at 7 on Crimson Court against Wyoming and Colorado State.

"For us to be 17-6 and where we're at right now — it's a tribute to our older kids, for sure, and the leadership in this program, but it's a real tribute to these kids because they had to get better, and they had to get better fast," said Launiere. "They're so much better than they were two months ago."

And so are the Utes, who in 2004 won the MWC championship, ranked as high as No. 14 nationally and beat powers like UCLA, St. Mary's and Colorado State.

In 2005, they were characterized as young after graduating five regulars.

But they have grown, and last weekend's stunning sweep of previously unbeaten, 12th-ranked BYU vaulted them to second place in the MWC. In that win, Salvo led the Utes with 15 kills, nine digs and .371 hitting to earn her second MWC player-of-the-week honor.

Krug had one of her best matches with 35 assists, six kills, three total blocks and four digs and ranks third among MWC setters. Baird tied for a team-high five blocks and remains the MWC's top-hitting freshman, fourth overall at .303. Lovell, a starter until Launiere had to install a stronger right-side block and moved Lovell to back up Shelly Sommerfeldt outside, is first off the bench.

Utah's recruiting class was deemed eighth best in the country by Volleyball Magazine last summer, and the Fab Four have lived up to that, maybe more.

As proof, the Utes are hitting exactly the same percentage as they did last year when they had two senior setters and three senior hitters, said Launiere. That means Krug's sets have been effective — "It's pretty amazing what she's doing," Launiere said — and the other three have hit efficiently.

Krug has shown the most improvement "in terms of understanding this game in the most difficult position. Just how poised she is, she's handling the pressure," Launiere observed.