Utah is coming off of a tough loss in Pullman to Washington State, but the Utes will look to rebound as they travel to take on Oregon State and Oregon over the weekend.
Though there were some notable performances against the Cougars — Jessie Jorgensen with a team-high 17 assists and Alyssa Koenig with three blocks — the Utes were disappointed with the outcome. When the team returned from their trip to Washington, the Utes resumed practice and immediately started to learn from their mistakes.
“We all came together and watched film and all found things we need to improve on, system-wise,” Koenig said after Utah’s last practice before leaving for Oregon. “We worked hard this week and improved on a lot of stuff. We are excited to bring what we’ve done from practice into our next games.”
The Utes will look to show their improvement in their first game of the weekend against Oregon State. The Beavers hold a 9-5 all-time series advantage, but Utah has taken three of the last four matches. The Beavers are a lowly 2-10 on the season currently and are hitting a Pac-12-worst .177 percent, and the Utes will look to capitalize on this, as they have been struggling defensively lately.
The offense will also look to exploit a Beavers defense that is allowing their opponents to hit at a .256 clip. Eliza Katoa and Adora Anae, who are leading the Utes in kills per set, will do their best to take advantage of this weak defense.
Immediately following the game against Oregon State, the Utes will head south for a match the very next night against Oregon, who checked in at No. 22 on the latest AVCA poll. The Ducks will be led by Maggie Scott, who is second in the Pac-12 with with 10.74 assists per match.
The Ducks will definitely be a bigger challenge for the Utes, as Oregon is averaging 13.62 kills per set with a .259 percentage rate. Brenna DeYoung will have to keep up her average of 1.30 blocks per set to slow down the Ducks’ offense, but more importantly, head coach Beth Launiere has stressed working together as a team this week during practice.
“We have to keep getting better at understanding our system and working together,” Launiere said.
The Utes have been very up and down so far this season. They haven’t pulled together a winning streak of longer than two matches (the only one of which came to start off the season) and have traded wins and losses in the last few weeks on their way to a 7-6 record, including 1-1 in Pac-12 play. The young players for Utah will have to find consistency as the season progresses if this team wants to start stringing together wins.
Senior setter Kendall Cygan believes that, even after the tough loss to Washington, her team can pull through.
“We’re looking to move forward and to push forward,” Cygan said. “Mentally, Washington had a hit on us, but we’re focusing on working hard and doing the right things, so success will come.”
That success will need to come soon if the Utes have hope of competing in the Pac-12 and making it to the NCAA Tournament. Utah can not keep up their current pattern of following each win with a loss and expect to qualify for the postseason.
g.hanson@dailyutahchronicle.com
@twelvegage96
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