Utah Volleyball Wraps Up 2022 Home Schedule, Falls In Four To #14 Oregon
SALT LAKE CITY – Utah Volleyball wrapped up the 2022 home schedule on Sunday afternoon, falling to No. 14-ranked Oregon in four sets (16-25, 25-22, 22-25, 18-25) at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Seniors Madelyn Robinson and Emily Smith each tallied double-doubles to lead the Utes on their senior day.
Smith collected her team-best 14th double-double of the season with 38 assists and a career-high 15 digs. The double-double was the second of the weekend for the Utes' starting setter. Robinson also posted her second consecutive double-double after finishing Sunday's match with 17 kills and 11 digs.
Oregon opened the match with a quick 4-0 run to take an 8-5 lead, which forced Utah to burn an early timeout. The Utes were able to trim the lead to just two points, but a 5-1 run from Oregon erased the efforts by Utah, setting the home team back 15-9. Oregon continued to apply the pressure and Utah could not find any momentum as the Ducks would take the 25-16 opening set win. Utah hit just .161 compared to Oregon's .353 in the first set.
The Utes bounced back in the second set, finding momentum early on and taking advantage of a 5-1 run to lead 11-7. Oregon rebounded and trimmed the lead to two points multiple times, but the Utes used a 4-1 run to extend the lead to 19-14 and force an Oregon timeout. Later leading 21-16 after Allie Olsen recorded an ace, Utah allowed five unanswered points from Oregon to see the set become tied 21-21.
Smith ended the large run with a kill before she followed with her own service ace to give Utah some breathing room. A kill from Lauren Jardine pushed Utah to set point (24-21), and the Utes would finish the set 25-22 with a kill from Amelia Van Der Werff.
The third set was competitive from start to finish as no team led by more than three points until Utah scored three of four points to pull ahead 17-13. Oregon put together a 9-2 run to pull ahead 22-19 and force Utah to play from behind for the first time since the set score was 6-5 in favor of the Ducks. Utah used kills from Robinson and Jardine to trail just 22-21, but the Ducks scored three of the final four points to win the set 25-22 and take the 2-1 lead in the match.
The fourth set played out to be a game of runs between the teams, first with the Ducks piling on a 7-1 run to lead 12-7. Utah posted three points in a row, while Oregon matched with its own 3-0 run to hang on to the 15-10 lead. Utah scored four straight points to trail by just one point, but out of an Oregon timeout, the Utes allowed a 4-0 run from the Ducks to trail 19-14. Robinson earned a sideout to end the run, but Oregon managed to put together a 5-1 run to lead 24-16. Utah collected a block and an ace, but Oregon finished off the set with a kill for the 25-18 win.
Adding to Robinson's 17 kills for Utah was Jardine, who posted nine kills, and KJ Burgess, who added seven kills. Van Der Werff led the team with three blocks, while Vanessa Ramirez added 12 digs to reach double figures in digs with Robinson and Smith.
Utah will spend its final two weeks of the regular season on the road, first traveling to Washington State and Washington. Utah is set to play Washington State on Friday, Nov. 18, at 8 p.m. MT in Pullman, Wash. The Utes and Cougars will play at Bohler Gym on Pac-12 Mountain. Utah closes out the road trip at Washington on Sunday, Nov. 20, at 1 p.m. MT. The match will be aired on Pac-12 Washington at Alaska Airlines Arena.