WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Utah Volleyball opened its first weekend of road competition by splitting the day’s matches, first outlasting Milwaukee in five sets (25-18, 25-21, 18-25, 24-26, 19-17) before later falling to No. 11-ranked Purdue in a five-set heartbreaker (17-25, 25-22, 25-18, 28-26, 9-15). Utah moves to 3-2 overall this season with its pair of losses coming at the hands of top-25 teams.
Utah 3, Milwaukee 2
Utah got out to a slow start in the first set after Milwaukee scored five consecutive points to lead 8-4. Trailing 10-6 later on, Utah turned things around and went on a 6-1 run to gain an 11-10 lead and force Milwaukee to call timeout. The teams traded points until the Utes scored seven in a row to take a commanding 20-13 lead. The Panthers trimmed the deficit to just four points later on, but Utah would score four of the final five points to take the set 25-18.
In the second set, Utah jumped out to a 9-3 lead and continued the momentum all the way to an eventual 19-9 lead thanks to the hot-hitting of the offense, which had not recorded a single attack error to that point of the set. Later, a service error put the Utes at 24-13 looking to take a 2-0 lead in the match. After Milwaukee scored eight unanswered points, Amelia Van Der Werff finally ended the set 25-21 to ensure the set win. Vanessa Ramirez led the defensive efforts with 10 digs in the second set, while three Utes recorded at least three kills.
The third set started out going back and forth until Milwaukee managed to go on a 6-0 run to lead 14-8. Utah was able to pull within four…
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