|
|
|
Top Seeded Utah Sweeps Its Way into MWC Volleyball Tournament Semifinals The Utes were led offensively by Airial Salvo, the 2006 MWC's Player of the Year, with 14 kills.
Nov. 23, 2006 CLICK HERE for more MWC Volleyball Tournament information. LAS VEGAS - The top-seeded Utah Utes (26-2) swept its way into the Mountain West Conference Tournament semifinals with a 3-0 win over the eighth-seeded New Mexico Lobos (10-20) on Thursday night in Las Vegas, Nev. The Utes victory kept their chances of repeating as tournament champions for the second straight year. Utah will now face the fourth-seeded UNLV Rebels in the semifinals at 4:00 p.m. in the Cox Pavilion. The Utes won the match with scores of 30-16, 30-16, 30-18.
Utah's offense was too much for the New Mexico defense as the Utes hit .455 for the match compared to the Lobos' .125. The Utes hit no worse than .419 in any of their three games, while the Lobos were stuck between .105 and .179. Utah nailed down 52 kills to New Mexico's 30.
The Utes were led offensively by Airial Salvo, the 2006 MWC's Player of the Year, with 14 kills. Lori Baird fell two kills shy of Salvo's tally with 12 of her own. Emillie Toone racked up six kills and hit for a match-high .750.
Assisting the Utes on their attack were 29 helpers dished out from Sydney Anderson, while Shannon Krug had 12.
Defensively, Utah got double-digit dig outings from Connie Dangerfield and Kate Robison. At the net, Toone had five assisted blocks.
New Mexico, which earned the right to play Utah after defeating the ninth-seeded Air Force Falcons on Wednesday night, were led by seven kills apiece from Kelly Therkelsen and Jeanne Fairchild. Sarah Kwasigroch dished out 26 of the Lobos' 27 assists. Gayle Tripp led all defensive players with 11 digs.
|
|
