SALT LAKE CITY – Utah Volleyball outlasted Oregon State in a five-set battle (25-19, 22-25, 14-25, 25-20, 15-12) on Thursday night at the Huntsman Center behind double-doubles from Madelyn Robinson and Emily Smith, and a season-best 17 blocks from the Utes. Utah’s 17 blocks are the program’s most in a match since Aug. 31, 2019.
Robinson posted a match-high 20 kills and 15 digs for her fourth double-double of the season, as well as a career-high six blocks. Smith posted her 13th double-double of the year with 41 assists and 11 digs. Leading the blocking efforts were middle blockers KJ Burgess and Allie Olsen, who each posted seven blocks in the five-set win to match their career bests.
Utah also posted nine aces with Smith tallying three aces to lead the way, while Robinson and Vanessa Ramirez each added two aces. Ramirez tallied 15 digs and Megan Yett added 12 digs and an ace as well. Aiding Robinson offensively were eight kills each from Olsen and Burgess, while Lauren Jardine added nine kills.
Utah broke open the first set with a 5-0 run to extend the lead to 15-8 after the teams went back and forth to start the match. With strong blocking efforts from Amelia Van Der Werff on the front row, Utah managed to hold on to the large lead and eventually push the score to 22-13. Oregon State began to settle in and put together a 6-1 run to cut the Ute lead to just 23-19. Out of a Utah timeout, KJ Burgess connected on a kill and Ramirez ended the…
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