No. 9 Utah Volleyball Gets The Weekend Split With No. 17 UCLA
More often that not in volleyball, great offenses have a tendency to overcome great defenses.
That wasn't the case on Sunday afternoon at Pauley Pavilion down in Los Angeles.
No. 9 Utah knew it was going to have its hands full against No. 17 UCLA and its extremely athletic and fast-paced offense. Rather though, the Bruins had a much tougher time going up against Utah's 6-foot-2 middle blocker Kennedi Evans.
Evans recorded 10 of Utah's 15 blocks in the match as the Utes exacted revenge against the Bruins by winning 3-1 (21-25, 25-18, 25-17, 25-10) on Sunday afternoon. With the win the Utes sit at 11-3 in Pac-12 play, one game back in the loss column behind both Washington and Washington State.
Apart from the blocks, Evans added five blocks as she was enough of a presence on offense that it didn't allow the UCLA an opportunity to key on Utah's outside hitting trio of Dani Drews, Kenzie Koerber and Madelyn Robinson.
After a subpar — by her standards — last couple of matches, Drews responded in a big way when the Utes needed her most. She finished with a team-high 24 kills and a .362 hitting percentage, which was the lowest percentage of three hitters.
Koerber added 17 kills and a .368 hitting percentage while Robinson was nearly flawless, chipping in 12 kills and a .440 hitting percentage.
It wasn't the greatest of starts for Utah as the opening set was very reminiscent of what took place Friday. The Utes were able to battle back to within two points multiple times but a late run by the Bruins put Utah into a 1-0 hole.
Everything changed in that second set as the Utes looked like an entirely different team. Behind the defense of Evans and the offensive control of setter Saige Ka'aha'aina-Torres, Utah used a 7-1 run to take a 20-13 lead and never look back.
The third and fourth sets were even more beatdowns as Drews and Koerber got loose and just battered the UCLA defense all match long, getting the much-needed victory.
Ka'aha'aina-Torres finished with 46 assists, 11 digs and four blocks. Drews and libero Vanessa Ramirez added 17 digs each while Koerber chipped in 13.
Kennedi Evans, Utah Volleyball — Courtesy of Utah Athletics
Utah's gauntlet of facing ranked teams is now over as they'll play a weekend series against Colorado (5-9). First serve for Friday is set for 6 p.m. at the CU Events Center while the two teams will face off against on Sunday at 12 p.m. at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
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