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Show MUSS PIVOTAL FOR VIES' WIN LIGHTS "BRIGHTENS"THE COMPLEX he last time a top-five team walked GRIFFIN into Rice-Eccles ADAMS Stadium, it didn't end well for the visitors. Led by a 234-yard, two touchdown performance from quarterback Travis Wilson, the Utes used a late goal line stand to take down No. 5 Stanford. In the waning seconds, Wilson kneeled the ball, flashed the `U' and fans began to rush the field. This Saturday, Oregon, another top-five team, will attempt to come out of Salt Lake City with a victory. But they won't if the MUSS has anything to say about it. Every weekend, media and fans alike try to analyze why Utah can beat its opponent. By breaking down the X's and 0's on the football field, most people can get a general sense of how a game will play out. Last season, the Utes were not supposed to beat the Cardinal. Stanford's big, bad defense was supposed to come to Salt Lake and dominate an inferior Utah offense. The Cardinal were supposed to leave the Beehive State with national championship hopes still in mind. These were all things that were "supposed to happen:' according to pretty much anyone who wasn't a Utah fan. However, none of those things happened on Oct. 12 of last year. So what went wrong for Stanford on that day? Or USC two weekends ago? While there were probably many logical explanations as to why Utah played well against Stanford and USC in those games — and I'm sure there are further reasons why the Utes just always seem to play better at home — I can tell you that one definitive reason why they play better in RES is because of the MUSS. It's basically a proven fact that playing at home gives the home team an advantage. Well, playing in Rice-Eccles provides the Utes just that, and then some. Although Utah's student section doesn't seat the most in the nation, it makes up for the lack of quantity by picking up the quality. From the third-down jump to the traditional hanging of the number "5" in front of the section to represent the amount of yards lost for each false start, the MUSS is a top-notch and highly underrated student section. Not to mention, the students in the section are the main reason for all those yards lost, thanks to their endless and tireless screams. Now the nation has started to take notice. On Tuesday, NCAA. com released its rankings of the top five student sections in the entire nation, and guess who made the cut? Yup, it was the MUSS coming in at No. 4 to solidify itself as one of the best in the country. I'm not sure I'm ready to declare this group one of the top five across the country, as there are a number of good sections out there that can compete for that title. I do know, though, that the MUSS will continue to gain recognition with Utah's recent climb in the rankings. If nothing else, the Oregon Ducks will definitely know the MUSS after Saturday night. I can guarantee that. g.adams@chronicle.utah.edu @GriffDoug BY BEN JASAREVIC /STAFF WRITER PHOTO BY DANE GOODWIN A lthough it's early November, you may see a couple of ballerinas, a cow girl and Batman playing volleyball at the Huntsman Center. No, it's not a couple of holiday-confused students. It's members of the volleyball team prepping for their annual Halloween practice. Due to traveling for away games the last two weeks, the Halloween practice had to be moved to November, but that didn't matter as the players came out in full costume, ready to compete. "The athletes have fun with it, so it's a good thing," said head coach Beth Launiere. Some players stayed in their costumes throughout the entire practice while others could not move in their costume and had to take them off. Senior Lea Adolph dressed up as a bubble bath and was covered in balloons. "It's always fun to dress up in something different than just volleyball players:Adolph said. For the players who did stay in their costumes, it made practice that much more interesting. Katoa, who was in a leotard all practice for her ballerina costume, had mixed feelings after the practice. "I could move pretty well, but I kind of learned that I should never wear a leotard ever again," she said. The most impressive Halloween costume, and probably the scariest for Utah passers, was that of assistant coach Brian Doyon, who dressed up as USC's jump server Samantha Bricio. The star for the Trojans has 65 aces on the season, which is good enough for first place in the conference. Eight of her 65 aces came on Oct. 11 against Utah. Doyon didn't literally dress up as Bricio, but he did act as her in practice. Doyon would stand on a box to be able to create a similar serve to that of Bricio. Adolph said Doyon's serve was pretty similar to Bricio's — fast, flat and swerving all over the place. After laughing it off, he admitted his "weak arm" can't compare to Bricio's art form. "Bricio's been training that serve for a long time, and she's got it 8 { THECHRONY I NEWS I OPINION I ARTS I SPORTS I FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2014 to work really well," Doyon said. "You just gotta be patient, see the serve and make one move to the ball." Bricio's jump serve attracts the most attention, but she also leads USC in kills with 332 and second in digs with 238. USC got off to a shaky start in conference play, losing its first three matches, but since then, the Trojans are an impressive 6-3. Launiere has planned some different things for USC as far as lineup changes go but would not disclose any further information. However, she did say that, if her changes fail on Friday night, she would go back to her regular lineup on Sunday for UCLA. The Bruins come into the weekend off of a shaky offensive display in Washington. They were held to eight points in the third set of a sweep by the Huskies. This was extremely surprising because UCLA leads the country in kills per set with 15.1 and is considered one of the most prolific offenses in the conference. Senior Karsta Lowe is a legitimate AVCA Player of the Year candidate, as she is currently fifth in the nation in kills with 477. As for defensive adjustments for Lowe, Launiere has one idea, but she's not completely sure she'll use it. "We might look to move our defense up because she hits the ball straight down," Launiere said. Last time these two teams played, Lowe set a new career-high in kills with 31 and when UCLA needs a point, everybody in the gym knows the ball is going to No. 17 for the Bruins. In that game, the Utes were lucky enough to force a fifth set, but it was Lowe who put Utah away as she received the ball nearly every time in the shortened set. The Utes will look to get some revenge against the California schools when they host USC on Friday at 6 p.m. MT and UCLA on Sunday at 2 p.m. MT. b.jasarevic@chronicle.utah.edu @BenJasarevic BY KATHERINE ELLIS /ARTS EDITOR PHOTO COURTESY OF LIGHTS C anadian-born artist Lights signed her first deal at 15. Her unique sound and signature look has developed a cult following, and her fans have been looking forward to another album for a long time. Now on tour for her latest album "Little Machines': I had the opportunity to chat with Lights about her music, Psalms, and how taking a break from life can be the best thing a person could do. Katherine: At what age did you start getting into music? Lights: It was probably a few different pinnacle moments that turned me to it, but the first I can recall is when I was young I used to have a hard time falling asleep and my dad would play the acoustic guitar downstairs and made everything feel like it was going to be OK. It felt better, you know, I was able to get to sleep, and everything was fine, and I think from a young age I knew ... music was really powerful. And I think probably at that moment I decided I wanted to do it.You know, when my fingers were strong enough, I was 11, and my dad taught me 1 how to play guitar, and I think that would have been my first doorway into it. And when I was 13 I got a little 8-track and started producing, and here we are today. K: Do you remember the process of writing your first song? 1: I remember it exactly, actually, like it was yesterday. I had just learned my first three chords. My dad taught me my first three chords on the guitar — D, E minor and G — D being the really tricky chord out of them all. So I went upstairs to work on those chords, and you can do a lot with just three chords — I mean, case and point, fast forward a million years later, "Up We Go: the single of "Little Machines," is literally three chords. So anyway, I went upstairs after learning D, E minor and G and sat down thinking, "I want to write a song," before realizing I didn't know how. I had no idea where to begin. I said, "I need lyrics': so I knew in the Bible there are 150 psalms, which are all poems, and I thought, "Well I could use one of those, but where do I start, which one do I use?" So I went downstairs and asked my mom to pick a number between one and 150, and oh, I can't remember, I think she picked 20 or something, so I ran back upstairs and I opened up to Psalms 20 and I used those lyrics and wrote my first song. K: I can't even imagine sitting down to write a song. Did you draw inspiration from musicians then or do you still draw inspiration from certain artists today? L.. Yeah all the time! I think the progression in music is just borrowing from others and building on it and making it into the next thing. At the time, I was listening to a lot of what my dad was playing from worship music, which is ultimately the perfect recipe for a pop song. The goal of worship music is to be melodic and to be learned by the second chorus, and it's what pop music should be as well. As time goes on you hear things in all sorts of different genres that appeal to you and you take that idea home and try to make it your own, and I'm like that to this day. K: So you took a little escape of your own before this new album. Tell me about your experience in New Mexico. What was that like? 1: Yeah, that was awesome! In the process of writing for this record I wanted to try a lot of creative different experiences because I was facing a little bit of a writer's block for awhile. I was experimenting creatively in different ways ... through poetry and painting and gaining a new perspective. I tried Earthships, which are these off-the-grid homes that are completely carbon zero, and they've been trying to perfect it for a long time, creating an off-the-grid-home that is also completely sustainable. I wanted to experience it for myself, and I booked a week, alone, and headed out there last October. It was unreal, I was recording on my own rig that I brought using solar power, and you're drinking rainwater but you're completely comfortable. I would look out and see something different every day. I challenged myself to write a song a night, and three of the songs I wrote there in a week ended up on the record, so it was really fruitful and a cool experience. K: Do you feel like the lessons you learned there contributed heavily to your latest album "Little Machines," and where you are now as an artist? L.. Oh, for sure. In the process of writing this record I learned a lot about myself as an artist and a person, and in that time, because I was kind of faced with the struggle of being uninspired and didn't have any ideas, it kind of felt like I lost it. In that moment you start to see everything in the big picture, and I rediscovered how much I love music and how lucky I am to be doing it. Lights is performing this Saturday, Nov. 8 at The Complex. Tickets can be purchased at $18 in advance and $25 at the door. Doors open at 7 p.m. k.ellis@chronicle.utah.edu @ChronyArts 9 |