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Show VOLLEYBALL PREPS FOR OUBLE-HEADER BY BEN JASAREVIC /STAFF WRITER PHOTO BY PRESTON ZUBAL T BY DOMINIC GARCIA /STAFF WRITER PHOTO BY CHRIS AYERS n college athletics, winning the in-state recruiting battle has proven time and time again to be crucial. There are bound to be in-state players on any given team throughout the nation. Utah soccer, however, might have more than your average college program. "There's good enough talent in Utah that it can form the spine of our team," said head coach Rich Manning. "Then we can bring in the players from other places that obviously are talented" Of the 27 Utes on the roster, 16 of them are from the state of Utah. This poses the question: does Utah really have that much talent, or is it just easier to recruit from within the state? Manning thinks what his program can offer on and off the field is second to none, and players are starting to realize that. Another thing that may contribute to Ute signings is the potential for some Utah high school athletes to continue their careers with their teammates. "When they are prospects and talking about where they are going to go to school and they find out 'Oh you're going to go to Utah, I want to go to Utah,' I think that creates excitement," Manning said. Having so many players from the same state can affect the team chemistry. Senior Avery Jenkins is one of the 16 players that hail from the Beehive State. "I have some former teammates, so coming in I was comfortable," Jenkins said. "Because we are comfortable, we know how each other plays" Growing up and playing in Utah, Jenkins got to see firsthand the talent level around her, but she also got to experience some out-of-state opponents in youth tournaments across the nation. To Jenkins, Utah has some of the best soccer in the country. Some might think that the large presence of in-state athletes would have an effect on some of the out-of-state players, but Manning says it doesn't matter much upon arrival in Salt Lake City. "Once they get here it doesn't matter where you're from," Manning said. "We're all Utah." However, no matter how much chemistry Utah has, there are always hard times for any sports teams. Those tough times came for the Utes last weekend when they lost back-to-back games in California. These are the moments where the team's chemistry is tested. Utah will need to bounce back fast in order to refocus for this coming weekend when it goes up against Oregon and Oregon State. Manning believes the healing process began right as the final whistle blew last Sunday. "Part of it is just understanding who we are, how good we are and the things that make us great," Manning said. "This week in practice is about 'Let's get back to the fundamentals that make us great' I think there is an opportunity to grow 8 { THECHRONY I NEWS I OPINION I ARTS I SPORTS I FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10 2014 } here. There are some lessons there for us to learn. If we want to reach our goals, we have to keep getting better. We're not where we want to be." While the Utes did drop two conference matches last week, Manning was quick to point out that after three games in Pac-12 play, not one team is a perfect 3-0. This helps out Utah, as it was barely over .500 last season and still was able to claim third place in the conference. "Everybody is going to take hits," Manning said. "We have to remember that it's not about running the table. It's more about focusing on the next game." Jenkins views last weekend as a positive and thinks the losses helped more than they hurt. "Honestly, for me, it pumps me up," Jenkins said. "I don't want to lose again. I think it was a key moment for us to take a step back and see what we need to fix:' She believes in her team but thinks its confidence is lacking. "I do feel like we could have a little more confidence," Jenkins said. "So we know that we are a good team. So we can go at every team like that:' The Utes will try to gain some confidence and conquer their road foes this weekend when they first travel to Eugene to take on the Ducks. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. MT. d.garcia@chronicle.utah.edu @dominic2295 here are no easy matches in the Pac-12. For the second straight weekend, Utah will face a pair of ranked opponents when it travels to southern California for showdowns against No. 17 UCLA and No. 20 USC. At the end of their practice on Wednesday, Utah head coach Beth Launiere pulled her team together to make sure they knew the Bruins and Trojans are beatable. "I like the makeup of our team, I like how we are playing right now," Launiere said. The Bruins offense is led by senior outside hitter Karsta Lowe. Lowe was named to the All-Pac-12 First Team and was an All-American Honorable Mention last season, and she is on pace for more postseason accolades as she comes into Friday's match leading the country in kills per set at 6.11. "She's just unbelievable and so tough to stop," Launiere said. "She hits so high and angles and physical, she's a 6'4" lefty — that is a really special player." Utah's Shelby Dalton and Adora Anae will get the tough job of trying to slow down Lowe. UCLA went 1-1 last weekend as they picked up a four set victory against Washington State but lost to No. 3 Washington in five sets. The Bruins are 2-2 in the Pac-12 on the year. UCLA leads the nation in kills per set at 14.43 and also holds the top spot in the country in assists per set with an average of 15.39. The Utes and Bruins squared off only once last year with Utah earning a 3-1 road win at Pauley Pavillion.This time around the match will be played in Pepperdine's Firestone Fieldhouse due to water damage to Pauley Pavilion and John Wooden Court that occurred July 29. After the UCLA match, the Utes will have a 24-hour turnaround to get ready to face USC. USC began the season ranked in the top-10, but after dropping three straight matches to open conference play, the Trojans have dropped in the polls. "They have plenty of talent to get it together, they can turn it on at any given time," Launiere said. "It's not like they're a weak team, they've just got some struggles, and when they figure it out they're going to be very good." USC has one of the best servers in the country in Samantha Briscio, who at 42 aces is tops in the Pac-12. "There are two servers in the country that absolutely can dictate a match, and she's one of them," Launiere said. Utah will play UCLA Friday at 9 p.m. before heading to USC for a Saturday showdown with the Trojans at 8 p.m. b.jasarevic@chronicle.utah.edu @BenJasarevic 9 |