No. 11 Volleyball Ready for Weekend Against Colorado
Match 15-16: No. 11 Utah (11-3) at Colorado (5-9)
Friday, Mar. 19 and Sunday, Mar. 21 | 7 p.m. MT and 1 p.m. MT
Friday: Boulder | CU Events Center
Sunday: Salt Lake City, Utah | Huntsman Center
Watch: Pac-12 Network
FIRST SERVE
Utah enters the final stretch of their season and begins with a weekend against Colorado where they will play one match at Colorado and one match at home in the Huntsman Center.
The Utes swept Colorado last season and will looking for the same as Utah comes in with an 11-3 record and Colorado sits at 5-9.
The Buffaloes got off to a hot start, but are only 1-9 in their last 10 matches.
BETH CLOSING IN ON 600 WINS
Head coach Beth Launiere came into the season with 588 career wins. With Utah's 11-3 record, she is now sitting at 599 wins and just one away from 600.
In her 31 seasons, she has built Utah's program to what it is now. The reigning Pac-12 Coach of the Year has also been named AVCA Region Coach of the Year four times and has led Utah to 18 20-win seasons.
SUNDAY SCARIES
Utah has brought it on Sunday's this year going 6-0 to close out each weekend strong.
In four of the six matches on Sunday, the Utes have hit over .300 in those matches. This past Sunday, not only was Utah's offense rolling, but they totaled 15.0 blocks to make it really tough on UCLA.
The only final match of the weekend that Utah has lost this season was against No. 8 Washington, but that match was on a Saturday.
The highest the Utes have hit on a Sunday was .391 against Cal. The only Sunday's they didn't hit over .300 were against USC and Stanford, but did hit over the .300 mark against the Trojans and Cardinal in the first match of the weekend.
EVANS BLOCKS THE BRUINS
Kennedi Evans had one of the best defensive performances of the season for Utah against UCLA coming up with 10.0 blocks to help the Utes earn a split with the Bruins.
It's the second time in her career that she's had double-digit blocks in a match and the first against a Pac-12 team. The previous season high for Utah was also by Evans, who had 8.0 blocks against USC.
She leads the team with 50.0 blocks on the season.
Strong Defense
To go along with the efficient offense, Utah has held their opponents to a .159 hitting percentage. Utah has held its opponents under a .200 hitting percentage in 11 of its 14 matches.
The .159 mark is the best mark in the Pac-12.
One of the big reason's they've been so strong on defense is the Utes are second in the Pac-12 in digs per set with 14.88. Since they get so many digs, they're only allowing 10.83 kills per set.
UP NEXT
Utah will host Washington State on Friday, March 26 and Sunday, March 28 in the final home matches this season in the Huntsman Center.