Utah Volleyball Heads To Los Angeles For First Conference Road Trip

Match 14: Utah (8-5, 1-1 Pac-12) at UCLA (6-5, 0-2 Pac-12)
Friday, Sept. 30 | 8 p.m. MT
Los Angeles, Calif. | Pauley Pavilion
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Watch: UCLA Live Stream
 
Match 15: Utah (8-5, 1-1 Pac-12) at USC (9-4, 1-1 Pac-12)
Sunday, Oct. 2 | 2 p.m. MT
Los Angeles, Calif. | Galen Center
Live Stats: USC Stats
Watch: Pac-12 Insider
 
MATCH WEEK
Utah Volleyball returns to road play for its first conference road trip of the season, traveling to Los Angeles this weekend. Utah will open road play against UCLA on Friday, Sept. 30, at 8 p.m. MT inside Pauley Pavilion. The Utes will stay in town for a matchup against USC on Sunday, Oct. 2, at 2 p.m. MT in the Galen Center. Utah's first match of the weekend will be live streamed, while the match between the Utes and Trojans will be aired on Pac-12 Insider.

QUICK HITS
• Utah has only played two true road matches this season, which were both five-set battles to top-12 ranked opponents. San Diego is now ranked fourth in the nation, while Purdue is ranked fifth.
• Madelyn Robinson has posted double-digit kills in every match this season, while Vanessa Ramirez has collected 10 or more digs in all but one match.
• Utah has recorded more digs than its opponent in all but one match this season.
• Utah split the matches on the Los Angeles trip last fall, while the Utes went undefeated in LA in 2019. Utah did not play USC on the road during the shortened 2021 spring season, but split its road matches at UCLA. 
 
IN THE RANKINGS
• Utah is third in the Pac-12 and No. 24 in the nation with 13.82 kills per set.
• Utah is fifth in the Pac-12 and No. 48 in the nation with 12.45 assists per set.
• Utah is second in the Pac-12 and No. 79 in the nation with 15.16 digs per set.
• Madelyn Robinson is second in the Pac-12 and No. 19 in the nation with 4.38 kills per set.
• Allie Olsen is third in the Pac-12 and No. 38 in the nation with a .381 hitting percentage.
• Vanessa Ramirez is second in the Pac-12 and No. 77 in the nation with 4.33 digs per set.
 
RALLYING AROUND ROBINSON
Madelyn Robinson, an AVCA All-Region and All-Pac-12 player from a season ago, has taken leadership over this Utah team and so far led the squad with 4.38 kills per set, which ranks second in the conference and No. 19 in the nation. After missing the last three matches, Robinson returned to action against Arizona and led Utah to a sweep for its first Pac-12 win of the season as she collected a match-high 19 kills on .368 hitting. Robinson has collected double-digit kills in every match this season, including a career-high 26 at Purdue. She also has tallied two double-doubles this season, which ranks second on the team, and has led the team in kills every single match she's played in this season. Robinson posted a career-high 18 digs against Milwaukee earlier this year as well. Robinson earned her first Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week award on Sept. 5, following her weekend at Purdue where she averaged 4.54 kills per set and had two matches of 20-plus kills.
 
RAMIREZ RUNNING THE BACK ROW
Utah libero Vanessa Ramirez is leading defensive efforts for the Utes and is second in the Pac-12 Conference in digs per set. Ramirez is averaging 4.33 digs per set and has hit double-digit digs in all but the season opener. She is coming off a Pac-12 opening weekend where she averaged 5.50 digs per set and recorded her fifth match 20 or more digs when she posted 20 digs in the sweep over Arizona. At the Purdue tournament, she posted two matches of 20-plus digs, which were both career high marks. She first posted a personal-best 25 digs against Milwaukee before upping the career high to 27 digs, which she recorded against Purdue. Ramirez has had the most or at least tied for the most digs on the team in 11 of 13 matches this season.

SCOUTING UCLA
UCLA began the season ranked No. 12 in the country, but dropped out of the top-25 after a 6-3 slate in non-conference action. The Bruins have dropped three straight after falling to then No. 8-ranked San Diego in straight sets on the road, before dropping Pac-12 matches to USC and Washington in four sets at home. UCLA is third in the conference and No. 15 in the nation in blocks per set (2.69) with Francesca Alupei leading the charge at 1.48 blocks per set, which ranks second in the Pac-12 and ninth nationally. Matti McKissock is fourth in the Pac-12 with 10.13 assists per set to lead the offense, while four Bruins are averaging just over two kills per set in an evenly spread offense.
 
SCOUTING USC
USC opened the year ranked No. 24 in the nation and slipped out after finishing non-conference action 8-3 with losses to a pair of then top-20 ranked teams and Hawaii. The Trojans are coming off a split weekend to open conference play after downing rival UCLA in four sets on the road before dropping a five-set match at home to Washington State. USC is third in the Pac-12 and No. 17 in the nation with a .284 hitting percentage, while the Trojans rank third in the Pac-12 and No. 23 nationally in assists per set (12.81). Also in the top-50, USC is No. 32 in the country with 13.64 kills per set. Skylar Fields leads the conference and is No. 16 in the nation with 4.47 kills per set, while setter Mia Tuaniga is second in the Pac-12 and No. 10 nationally with 10.94 assists per set.
 
STANDOUT STATS
• Utah has recorded more digs than its opponent in all but one match this season.
• Utah is 8-0 when leading in hitting percentage.
• Utah is 3-0 when hitting .300 or better, and 6-1 when hitting .250 or better.
• Seven Utes have recorded at least one match of 10 or more kills this season.
• Six Utes have recorded at least two matches of 10 or more digs this season.
• Vanessa Ramirez has posted double-digit digs in 12 matches, which doubles the next Ute.
• Lauren Jardine and Madelyn Robinson have each posted 10 matches of 10 or more kills.
• Madelyn Robinson has led Utah in kills every match she has played in.

UP NEXT
Utah begins another four-match home stand next week, beginning with the Bay Area schools coming into town. The Utes host California on Friday, Oct. 7, at 7 p.m. MT in the Huntsman Center. Then, Utah will turn its attention to a match on national television when ninth-ranked Stanford visits on Sunday, Oct. 9, at 4 p.m. MT. The Utes and Cardinal will compete on ESPNU to close out the weekend.