Future looking bright for Ute volleyball team

Some 16 matches into her senior season, Ute volleyball player Danielle Leichliter was asked to make a tremendous change in her game to benefit her team.

Since Leichliter was the Utes' best passer and Utah needed more at the libero position, coach Beth Launiere asked the Sandy resident to switch from hitter, which she'd done all of her career, to the defensive specialist position.

That would require altered thinking on Leichliter's part, suddenly moving to a position where she couldn't affect the game with a smashing hit and could only pass the ball to those who could. She didn't really want to do it, Launiere said, but the coach told her "that's what needs to happen" for the Utes to reach their potential.

Already the team's vocal backbone, Leichliter agreed and changed just before the Utes went on the Wyoming-Colorado State trip the first week of October. The Utes lost at CSU - most teams do — but then reeled off seven straight wins, and Leichliter's sacrifice was a big reason.

The 2005 season, a fast-track rebuilding year with four freshmen playing key roles, along with two sophomores and three seniors, could hardly have progressed better for the Utes. They finished by winning the Mountain West Conference tournament, being the league's automatic seed into the NCAA tournament, being chosen as a sub-regional host and winning Game 1 while making a good showing against fourth-seeded Arizona in their final loss. Their record was 23-9.

"When all is said and done, it was a very good year," said Launiere. "I'm just so pleased with how we finished strong."

Leichliter's leadership was a big reason, though she didn't get as much public credit as senior Shelly Sommerfeldt, sophomores Emilie Toone and Whitney Webb and freshmen Airial Salvo, Shannon Krug, Lori Baird and Kathryn Lovell. "This team really needed her. She guided this young team through all the tough times," said Launiere. "She said what needed to be said."

There were several spots along the way where the Utes grew. And some where they took a step back, like after beating conference favorite BYU on Crimson Court. They didn't handle the prosperity well and lost two of their last three conference matches.

Then they suddenly learned to trust each other — at Launiere's admonition — and won four straight postseason matches losing just one game of 12 before running into the more experienced Arizona Wildcats, who were able to block out the tremendous fan support Utah had at Crimson Court.