SALT LAKE CITY – Utah Volleyball dropped a four-set battle Thursday night at the Huntsman Center, falling to No. 15 BYU (20-25, 25-22, 28-26, 27-25) in a competitive match from start to finish.
“I thought that was a gritty performance by us tonight,” said head coach Beth Launiere. “We faced a lot of adversity and challenges, and at one point we had three true freshmen out on the court together. Different players stepped up tonight and that has been happening all season long, which is great to see. We continue to be put in these positions and will eventually get one of these close matches to go our way as our experience continues to grow match by match. I am very proud of the effort and fight we showed tonight.”
Utah received career-high performances from Abby Karich and Ashley West offensively with standout outside hitter Madelyn Robinson unavailable to play this evening, while Viktoria Wahlgren stepped in as setter in the second set and capped off a terrific outing with a career-best 41 assists and five blocks. Karich posted a career-high 17 kills in her first career start, while West added 12 kills.
Utah jumped out to a commanding 15-8 lead in the first set in front of a raucous Huntsman Center crowd following a 4-0 run, which forced BYU to take its second timeout of the opening frame. The Cougars went on to score six of the next seven points out of the break and get right back into the set, trailing just 16-14. An attack error later…
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