Utah Utes volleyball: Freshman sparks Utes' victory in season-opener

SALT LAKE CITY — In her first match as a Ute, freshman Morgan Odale made an impressive debut with a double-double (12 kills and 11 digs) to help the University of Utah women's volleyball team defeat UC Davis in its season-opener, 3-1 (25-22, 25-23, 16-25, 25-23), on Friday night at Crimson Court.

Utah (1-0) held a 10-7 edge in blocks over UC Davis in the first match of the Utah Classic.

The Utes displayed a well-rounded offensive attack as three players — Odale, Karolina Bartkowiak and Sarah Collette — registered 12 kills apiece.

Collette registered a .367 hitting percentage, with 12 kills on 30 attempts and only one error. Bartkowiak committed four errors on 27 attempts for a .296 hitting percentage, and Odale took a team-high 48 swings with errors for a .125 mark.

Defensively, libero Keisha Fisher turned in her 61st career double-figures dig match with a team-high 12 digs. Junior middle blocker Danielle Killpack posted a match-high six blocks.

The Utah Classic continues today as UC Davis takes on Utah State at 1 p.m. The Utes and Utah State square off at 7 p.m.

BYU LOSES TO NO. 6 ILLINOIS: At Champagne, Ill., in the first game of the season for the BYU women's volleyball team, the Cougars fell to No. 6 Illinois 3-1 (27-25, 9-25, 16-25, 16-25) in the Illini Classic.

"We battled and played very aggressively," BYU head coach Shay Goulding said. "But there were too many moments where we played tentatively. It was good to get one set under our belts — we played very clean, were aggressive on the serve and were virtually error free. We're ready to continue on tomorrow and steal a match from any given team."

Junior Christie Carpenter led the way on the attack with seven kills, while senior Stephanie Snow and true freshman Taeja Afalava tallied six kills each. Senior setter Kiana Rogers chalked up 25 assists, as well as leading the team on digs with 15.

Libero Kendalyn Hartsock added 10 digs. Sophomore Nicole Warner led on the block with four while she, Rogers, and Afalava each had two service aces on the night.

Having an impressive breakout night for the Fighting Illini was Colleen Ward, who tallied 19 kills on a .382 clip, nine service errors and five digs.

Starting out the season on the court for BYU was Christina Measom, Rogers, Carpenter, Warner, Snow, Afalava and Hartsock as libero.