Highlanders Volleyball Drops 3-0 Decisions to #17 Utah and Arizona State

Saturday, August 29

Salt Lake City, UT

9:00 am

UC Riverside

Utah (#17)

Senior Brittney Murrey posted a game-high 30 assists at #17 Utah on Saturday morning.

Highlanders Volleyball Drops 3-0 Decisions to #17 Utah and Arizona State

8/29/2009 11:02:32 AM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score - #17 Utah 3, UC Riverside 0

Box Score - Arizona State 3, UC Riverside 0

Salt Lake City, UT - After falling in their season-opening match on Friday in the first game of the Utah Classic, the UC Riverside volleyball team looked to pick up their first win of the 2009 season on Saturday, but found themselves on the short end of a 3-0 decision against No. 17 ranked Utah in the morning, and a 3-0 defeat by Arizona State later in the afternoon.

The Highlanders (0-3) kept each match close against Utah, but the Utes (2-0) proved their national ranking with a 25-23, 25-20, and 25-21 victory. Against ACC foe Arizona State in the third and final game of the tournament, the Sun Devils (2-1) claimed a 25-21, 25-22, and 25-15 win.

Similar to the opening of UCR's game against Cincinnati on Friday, the Highlanders came out of the gates on Saturday against Utah with an early 3-0 lead after two Dominique Cowling kills and one Ute error. Both teams traded points until Utah opened up their largest margin of the set, 16-12, but the Highlanders came back and tied things up at 23 apiece before Utah closed out the set with two straight kills.

Trailing 20-8 in the second set, the Highlanders outscored the Utes by 12 points down the stretch but saw their rally come a little too late as Utah needed just five points to win the set 25-20.

In the third frame, UC Riverside opened up a 9-5 lead and again posted a 19-17 lead heading into the final moments of play before Utah rallied for a 8-2 run to close out the set 25-21 and take home the victory.

Cowling led all players with 18 kills and a .400 attack percentage, while Tonbara Youpele added 10 kills and Brittney Murrey tallied a game-high 30 assists.

In game two on the day, the Highlanders found themselves with a five point advantage at three different junctures in the first set, topped off by a Youpele kill for a 16-11 Highlander lead. Arizona State, though, mounted a seven to one rally to take a 18-17 lead and never relinquished their advantage as they went on to a 25-21 victory.

In the second set, both teams traded points early on as there were 11 tie scores and five lead changes throughout. The Highlanders rallied back from a five-point deficit, 16-11, to tie the score at 16 apiece and take a 17-16 lead off a block by Bianca Endersby and Kelley Quinn. Their advantage was short-lived, however, as Arizona State retook the lead and held on for the 25-22 win.

Tied at 10 all in the third, the Sun Devils went on a 15-5 run to close out the set and secure the win.

Cowling again led UCR with seven kills while Endersby added six kills and a game-high nine blocks.

The Highlanders are back in action on Friday-Saturday September 4-5 at the Sacramento State Invitational in Sacramento, CA. UCR plays #25 ranked Santa Clara on Friday at 5:00 pm followed by matches against host Sac State on Saturday at 12:30 pm and Cal State Bakersfield at 5:00 pm later that day.