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When the U volleyball team takes the court tonight, it’ll be embarking on a two-match road trip that will go a long way in determining where it stands at season’s end.
It’s not a task the Utes are taking lightly.
“It’s make or break,” said junior libero Keisha Fisher. “Going into this part of the season, Beth (Launiere) is always saying teams are either going up or going down. They are big-time games.”
The first challenge for the Utes is New Mexico on Thursday night, where they will face a squad that has already beaten them this season. On Oct. 10, the Lobos delivered a four-set defeat to the Utes, despite a nine-kill, four-block effort from middle blocker Chelsey Sandberg.
In their most recent meeting, the Utes were torched by Taylor Hadfield, who had 16 kills with a .714 hitting percentage to go along with four blocks. For the season, Hadfield leads the Lobos with 2.79 kills per set.
The Lobos are 4-2 since beating Utah, with their only losses in that span coming against UNLV and Colorado State.
Utah will then visit Fort Worth for the second and final leg of the road trip. The Utes will face TCU, which is tied with Utah in the loss column. Last month, the Utes beat the Horned Frogs at Crimson Court. Although the match lasted just four sets, three of the sets were determined by only two points.
Kourtney Edwards had 12 kills and five blocks in the match, and teammate Christy Hudson had 14 kills and five blocks. Edwards is averaging 3.30 kills per set and more than a block per set. Hudson is second on the team with 2.41 kills per set and .81 blocks per set.
The Horned Frogs have not lost since being beaten by the Utes and have lost only two sets during their six-match winning streak.
Head coach Beth Launiere said she knows that playing well on the trip can go a long way for the Utes.
“They’re all big from here on out,” she said. “But we’ll help ourselves out a lot if we play well this weekend.”
Trailing Colorado State and TCU in the standings, Launiere said she doesn’t need to talk up the impact of the matches to her team.
“The team knows about the remaining matches,” she said. “I don’t think I need to emphasize the importance of these matches to them.”
Although the Utes have an important home date slated with Colorado State next week, the Utes aren’t overlooking either team.
“Well, we’ve got beat by New Mexico earlier,” Fisher said. “And it’s always tough to go to TCU and win. TCU does really well on their court.”
Utah will come back to Crimson Court for two conference matches next week. The players will square off against Colorado State on Nov. 12 and Wyoming on Nov. 14. The Utes will then go on the road one last time during the regular season for conference matches against San Diego State and Air Force and a nonconference match against Long Beach State.
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