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Show SPORTS Page 7 Monday, December 4,2006 VOLLEYBALL COMING UP Women's Hoops Men's Hoops USC (3-3) @ Utah (3-4) Utah (3-3) @ Utah Stale (6-1) ' D«. 4.2006 olsiryn Center 7p.m Dec 6. Z006 logon Utah 7 p.m Volleyball Michigan St. 2 Utah 3 Women's Hoops Utah 66 Long Beach St. 43 Men's Hoops Wash. St. 55 Utah 69 Utes come up short at nationals Cody Brunner The Daily Utah Chronicle After a thrilling come-frombehind victory on Friday night against Michigan State, the No. n U volleyball team couldn't muster enough to overcome No. 4 UCLA, falling in three games to end its NCAA tournament aspirations in the second round. Utah fought back and forth with the Bruins throughout the second and third games, but UCLA middle-blocker Nana tyfcriweather proved to be too much for the drained Utes, racking up 15 kills and nine blocks to aid the Bruins in a 3-0 win. "(Utah) was an extremely aggressive team," Meriweather said. "They really started to pick up their defense in the third game, especially on me, but my teammates supported me and told me to keep swinging, and it worked." Facing elimination, the Utes came out with renewed vigor in the third game, going up 22-18 late, but the experience of a battletested UCLA team paid off, and the Bruins killed the Utes' season with a late run. Utah outside-hitter Whitney Webb turned in a brilliant performance despite the loss, knocking down 17 kills and grabbing 18 digs. "We knew we were a few plays away from taking the game so we knew we had to come out strong from the beginning, but it wasn't enough," Webb said after the match. Kathryn Lovell and Emillie Toone also pitched in solid matches for the U, picking up 12 and 10 TYLER COBB/77je Daily Utah Chronicle Connie Danqerfield notches a dig as she dives with teammate Kate Robison for the ball in the Utes' second-round NCAA Tournament loss against USC on Saturday, marking the end of the Utes' record-breaking season. kills, respectively. The Utes pieced together a string of runs throughout the match, but seemingly every time they had the momentum going in their favor, UCLA head coach Andy Banachowski would call a timeout to regroup his team, and they would come out of the break with new vitality. "(Volleyball) is such a game of momentum," Banachowski said. "Those timeouts helped us calm ourselves and go back out onto the court with a bit more resolve. These girls are no strangers to Women hoopsters hope to make it three straight challenge, and they rose to it very well tonight." The Utes earned their way into the second round by pulling off a comeback 3-2 win the previous night over Michigan State. Utah fell behind 2-1 against the Spartans but was able to pull it together when it mattered most, using a diverse offensive attack to win the last two games and fight off elimination. Lovell led the Utes on the night with 20 kills, while sophomore Airial Salvo picked up 15 kills and See V O L L E Y B A L L Page 8 Saturday night five Three-point land becomes Green-land in Ute victory Tony Pizza Natalie Dicou The Daily Utah Chronicle Two months ago, when her teammates • began officially practicing for the basketball season, freshman Brette Ulsaker watched from the sideline.. Out with a hamstring injury, she spent the preseason healing and waiting for her chance. "It was really hard sitting there and watching," Ulsaker said, adding that, though being injured was a hardship, she learned just how competitive college basketball is by observing practice. "I think that really helped when I was able to play again," she said. Ulsaker must have been paying close attention during those long weeks, because almost immediately after she was deemed healthy, she was in the starting LH.WnEMMU.ER/The Daily Utah Chronicle Kalee Whlpple takes an off-balance shot as she Is trapped by Long Beach State defenders during Friday's 66-43 Utah win. lineup, and on Friday Ulsaker helped her team to a blowout win over Long Beach State. "She's only been practicing for literally 10 days," said Utah coach Elaine Elliott, who is impressed with how well Ulsaker understands the system considering the short amount of time she has actually been able to practice. Long Beach State jumped out to an early 6-0 lead, but nobody on the Utah bench flinched. The Utes didn't score for the first three and a half minutes of the contest, but guard Heidi Carlsen buried two threes in the next 90 seconds and forward Joh-Teena Filipe added a layup that answered Long Beach State's early run. That bucket energized the Utes arid set them up for their own 20-2 run that put them in front 20-8. A feisty Long Beach team narrowed the gap to five by scoring a flurry of 11 points in the final three minutes of the half, including a buzzer-beating lay-up that resulted from a 49er steal. But it was all Utah in the second half The Utes overpowered Long Beach State, and it became clear that the 49ers were seriously outmatched in the talent department. Long Beach State's offense crumbled under the pressure of a tough Utah defense that reduced the 49ers' attack into a stand-around offense that more often than not resulted in a Utah steal, shotclock expiration or some other forced mistake. The Utes held them to 19 secondhalf points while scoring 37 of their own. In her third start and fourth college game, Ulsaker scored 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting and dished out seven assists in the 66-43 victory. Three games ago, Elliott inserted Ulsaker into the lineup in place of 6-foot-3 junior Jessica Perry. The smaller threeguard scheme worked well for the Utes. With Ulsaker running the point, Morgan Warburton was free to play her more natural position on the wing. "She.makes everybody better," said senior Heidi Carlsen of Ulsaker. "She's getting the ball where she needs to get it and is creating shots for people." Filipe provided another solid game with 12 points and seven rebounds and 5a-HOOFS PageS The Daily Utah Chronicle The U men's basketball team avenged one of its worst losses of last year and captured its most impressive win this year by beating Washington State 69-55 a t home Saturday night, handing the Cougars (7-1) their first loss of the season. The Utes used solid defense, the hot hand of Shaun Green and a little help from the Godfather of Soul—James Brown—to stretch their winning streak to three games after the Utes dropped their first three games of the 2006-07 campaign. "I don't know if you guys know this, but James Brown has a song called 'The Big Payback,"' U guard Johnnie Bryant said. "The corps that's back, we had a little chip on our shoulder and we had to get 'em, and tonight we got it done." Leading the way for the Utes (3-3) was Green, who tied a school record in threepoint percentage by going 5-for>5 from the three-point range. Green also matched a career-high in scoring by finishing the night with 17 points. "I felt like every tune I shot the ball it was going to go in," Green said. "Once again, I have to credit my teammates because they gave me the ball and all I could do was shoot the ball—I was so open." Bryant also started the game off hot from beyond the three-point arc for the Utes. He only missed one of his four first-half attempts, as he and Green combined to go 6-for~7 from downtown in the opening half. The wide-open looks Green and Bryant were able to get were set up from the inside K.IM PETERSON/ The Daily Utah Chronklr Utah's Shaun Green sinks one of his five threepointers against Washington State at the Huntsman Center on Saturday. The Utes stopped the Cougars' winning streak with a 69-55 victory. presence of Ute center Luke Nevill. With the Utes dumping the ball onto Nevill on nearly every offensive possession, Washington State had no choice but to doubleteam the 7-foot-2 Aussie center or let him use SeeRXJNNTN* Page 10 Wrecking crew Women break three school swimming records en route to third-place finish Tony Pizza The Daily Utah Chronicle With the Utes swimming in the Ohio State Invitational against some of the toughest competition of the season, senior Amber Walter knew she would have to be at her best. Not only did Walter's best in the 50-yard freestyle translate into a first-place finish and secure her a spot in the NCAA Champi- onships next year, her time of 22.59 seconds also shattered a school and Mountain West Conference record previously set by Ute Ail-American Heidi Hausknecht in 2001. "Amber's time in the 50 free is surely one of the top 10 times in the nation thus far" U head coach Mike Litzinger said. "It was just an unbelievable job by her." Walter also set a new Ohio State InvitaSee S W I M Page 8 |
