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Show Thursday, April 27, 2006 ™ DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE 20 Above the rest Jackpot Volleyball storms Vegas to win MWC Tournament Joe Beatty Chronicle Sports Editor The U volleyball team entered the late November weekend perched perilously on the NCAA Tournament bubble. But once it left Sin City, that bubble was a distant memory. Playing their best volleyball of the season, the Utes (22-8) steamrolled through the MWC tournament, winning threestraight matches, while only dropping one game their entire stay in Las Vegas. After the whirlwind subsided, the Utes had won the conference tourney, and an automatic NCAA bid. "That was an awesome experience," senior libero Danielle Leichliter said. "Everyone played really well together, and finally some things started coming together for us.'* From the beginning of the tournament, everything was clicking for the U. On Thanksgiving afternoon, it feasted on Cowgirl, sweeping Wyoming in three games. Friday was no different, as the U once again pulled off a sweep, this time against rival Colorado State. The Rams were the only team to have beaten the Utes twice on the season, but like everyone else over the weekend, they would get shredded by the Ute buzz saw. The Utes took advantage of 14 Ram service errors as the swept CSU for the first tune since 1994, and the first tune away from Salt Lake City since 1979.' By the time Saturday's championship showdown with No. 21 BYU rolled around, the Utes were on fire. They had swept the Cougars two weeks prior, handing BYU its first loss of the season. Saturday was no different, as the U was the aggressor and beat BYU in four games, 30-22,28-30,30-23 and 30-26. The Utes racked up seven aces against the Cougars, including three from Leichliter. "We served very aggressively the whole tournament," head coach Beth Launiere said. "We won the serve/pass battle every match. We served better and tougher and more aggressively than everybody we played." The Cougars never got a consistent attack going, hitting only .132 for the match. The Utes, on the other hand, were hitting on all cylinders. Shelly Sommerfeldt had 17 kills to go along with 16 from Airial Salvo and n from Whitney Webb. Sommerfeldt earned tournament-MVP honors after ringing up Kim Smith becomes the U's highest scorer as Utes ground Falcons with 24 points, giving her 2,094 for her career. Fellow senior Shona As if Kim Smith didn't Thorburn—who has startalready have enough acco- ed alongside Smith all four with 13 lades, the four-time Moun- years—finished tain West Conference Player points, 10 assists and seven of the Year shattered the U rebounds. career scoring record on Alecia Steele led the FalMarch 19, leading the Utes cons in the loss with 16 to a 79-53 battering of Air points andfiverebounds. Force. The Utes have never lost to With 17:26 remaining in the Falcons, and they never the game, Smith hit a jumper let that streak fall into jeopto score career points 2,087 ardy in the March 19 game. and 2,088, passing Julie After taking a 39-26 lead Krommenhoek (1994-98) to at the half, the Utes led by as claim the U women's scor- much as 29 points in the secing throne. ond half, as they continued "It's an honor," Smith said their mastery of Air Force, of the achievement. "It's re- beating them for the 22ndally a testament to my team- straight time. mates and coaches." m.patton@ chronicle.utah.edu Smith finished the game Matt Patton Chronicle Writer 1 • n»l . 1 . • r1 i WNBA DRAFT KIND TO KIM AND SHONA i 1 Aj-r'-*•' continued from Page 19 pu**.... r— Freshman Alrlal Salvo goes up for a spike during the Utes' NCAA first-round win over Loyola Marymount. 41 kills in three matches. "(Sommerfeldt) took the tournament by storm," Launiere said. "She had one intention and that was to win." Also earning all-tournament honors were Salvo and Emillie Toone, who made the all-tournament team, while Shannon Krug was named setter of the tournament. The Utes came into the tournament on a bit of a downslide. They had been up- set by San Diego State in their last regular-season match, and were dealing with several on-court problems that kept them from putting together complete matches. But. it all dissipated over the weekend, as the young squad played like a team the whole tournament. "We've had some tough losses in the last couple of weeks," Launiere said. "We See U T E W O M E N Page 22 ,. . - . • • • - I . 1- . . 14-20 last season. "I really think I'm going to a team that I can contribute to, learn a lot from and just have a good time and win some basketball games," Thorburn said. Joining her on the 2006 squad is No. 1 overall pick Seimone Augustus as well as Thorburn's former BYU rival, Ambrosia Anderson, who was picked up in a draft-day trade after being originally selected by the Detroit Shock. "We expect (Shona) to contribute. The No. 7 pick isn't always guaranteed to be a starter in this league. Nothing at this level is guaranteed for anybody. We do expect Shona to come in and contribute," McConnell said. "From here on out, it is up to her. We don't have a starting point guard returning, so she will have every opportunity to earn a spot from the beginning." The WNBA's regular season begins in late May, and there are a few dates Thorburn and Smith will surely have marked on their calendars as they begin their careers at the next level. The Lynx and Monarchs will meet each other three times during the upcoming season, with the first meeting between the now-former Ute teammates set for June 29 in Sacramento. c.bellamy@ chronicle.utah.edu . 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