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Show DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE Wednesday, August 24, 2011 9 VOLLEYBALL NATHAN SWEET/The Daily Utah Chronicle Danielle Killpack rises for a spike in Monday's practice. The first game of the season for the women's volleyball team is Friday against Weber State at 7 p.m. Utah opens play against Wildcats Parker Lee STAFF WRITER The Utes have transitioned from preseason training to game preparation as they open the season this weekend with the Utah Volleyball Classic. They will play three matches in a matter of about 24 hours, so there is a lot of work to be done. Despite having these matches right out of the gate, the goal right now is to keep all focuses internal. Head coach Beth Launiere believes her team can immediately find success if this happens. "Early in the season, it is so much more about our side of the net," Launiere said. "Our scouting reports will be pretty basic. We are just trying to execute on our side." The players are coming along with that philosophy. Middle blocker Danielle Killpack said they are looking forward to tweaking the little things and getting into match play. "It's exciting to really focus in on the few things that we need to work on," Killpack said. "The coaches have been looking at what we need to work on and have really been pushing us so that we're game-ready." The team is preparing most for the season opener against Weber State. Killpack said they can't be worrying about UC-Northridge or Northwestern (their other two Utah Volleyball Classic opponents) until the Weber Cox returns to SLC after neck injury Jake Bullinger hit him after the whistle has been cut from the team, Cox ASST. SPORTS EDITOR said. Former Utah defensive end "It's just part of the game...it and current New England Pa- was unfortunate, but I'm lucky triot Christian Cox was at prac- that I still have an opportunity tice Monday, but for obligations to play," Cox said. more dismal than a rendezvous Cox was signed as an undraftwith old teammates. ed free agent by New England Cox returned to on Aug. 2. He was Salt Lake City to a first-team Allvisit with doctors Mountain West about an upcomConference selecing surgery. He tion a year ago sustained a neck after he logged 53 injury in New tackles and four England's first sacks after startpreseason game ing all 13 games for against the Jackthe Utes. sonville Jaguars The injured reafter he was illeserve list is used gally blindsided by NFL teams to on a kickoff reretain the rights to turn. He recently an injured player Christi an Cox while freeing up cleared waivers and will spend the season on his roster spot. Once put on the the injured reserve. IR, a player cannot return to "I easily could have just been action for the duration of the cut and let go," Cox said. "In- season. Cox will be allowed to stead...I get to live in Boston, I spend time with the team, but get to study and I get to be with cannot practice or play in a the best organization in the game this season, including the NFL." postseason. Cox said all medical outlooks Cox said the injury was disare optimistic and no serious appointing, but said he looks complications are expected. He forward to working under head will have surgery in the next coach Bill Belichick. couple of weeks. j.bullinger@ The Jacksonville player who chronicle.utah.edu State match is over The match against the Wildcats has to be the only thing on their minds, she said. Staying focused might be easier said than done. This Utah squad is very young, so keeping their minds in the right place could be a challenge, but it is not impossible. "On Friday night the nerves will be high—the excitement will be high— but I think the older players will take care of that and have them prepared," Launiere said. The coaching staff is optimistic that the younger players on the team will be able to make an impact right away. Launiere said she expects freshman outside hitter Chelsey Schofield to start on the left side, and freshman libero Lea Adolph will get significant playing time as well. Freshmen Bailey Bateman, Shelby Dalton and Alli Spurrier are fighting to get time on the court. Upperclassmen like junior setter McKenzie Odale recognize that this is no ordinary freshman class. "They are not just young people who don't know what they're doing," Odale said. "They are very talented volleyball players, and they add so much to our team." The three returning sophomores will also play a major role for this Utah team. Odale's younger sister Morgan Odale and Erin Redd were both allconference players as freshmen last season. Sophomore Nikki Simm played in 20 matches last season and will see more action this year. The Utes have just six upperclassmen—four juniors and two seniors. The biggest question mark is whether the lack of experience will matter. At least in the opening match against Weber State, it might not. The two teams squared off last year in Ogden, with Utah winning three games to none. For Odale and Killpack, they feel that playing Weber State last season gives them a leg up this time around. "It gives us a little more confidence," Odale said. "We know what to do. We know some of their players, so we know what we're getting into." p.lee@ chronicle.utah.edu New offense tailored to 'Wynn' e former Pac-io teams have historically relied more on a powerful, between-the-tackles running game than did Utah's Mountain West Conference foes. However, now that the Utes are part of the Pac-12, the team has made some changes on the offensive side that will better suit its needs while it adapts to the new conference. From the day it brought on former UCLA offensive coordinator Norm Chow, Utah has been implementing a new offense that will feature greater emphasis on the ground game and more under-center work for the quarterback, which will definitely be a change for the better. Utah fans were able to watch the spring ball game this past April, and it was common knowledge that the offense was significantly behind the defense in development. This was in large part because of the absence of quarterback Jordan Wynn at the time because of his shoulder surgery. The fact that the running back corps had far less experience was another drawback. Fast-forward to fall, and it's obvious that the Utes are doing better at grasping the new offense. This is definitely a Th SOCCER continued from Page 7 teammate Jill Robison, who attempted to put the ball right back in the net, but shot the ball high. The Utes were only able to generate one more shot attempt coming from Ashton Hall in a left-toright cross shot but did not have enough power. BYU was able to generate i8 shot attempts, controlling the ball on offense for more Staff Writer side effect of Wynn's return, but Chow made some subtle changes redundant. To improve the offense, Chow hopes to increase the focus on the shotgun and center Wynn on the field to make his transition go smoothly. The Utes need to master centering the quarterback as well as strengthening the centerquarterback mesh point (exchanges) before the West Coast offense can function properly. Minor mistakes have been made in these regards, but there has been vast improvement since spring ball. Nevertheless, offensive execution is an area Chow said the Utes need to improve on. When asked if their offensive game is ready for their season opener against Montana State, Chow said they have more work to do to reach the point where he wants them to be. than a third of the game. They had nine corner kicks compared to Utah's one and seven fouls to Utah's nine. After the game, Utah coach Rich Manning praised Turpen's persistence in the net. The senior made seven saves in the game. "Hannah was fantastic," Manning said. "She was in the right places, made the right plays and created opportunities for us." After Tuesday's blowout, Manning took solace in the effort exuded by his play- Wynn was one of the big reasons head coach Kyle Whittingham pursued Chow and gave him the reins to the offense. Wynn ran a West Coast-style offense when he went to high school in San Diego, and Chow is widely known at both the college and pro levels as a West Coast guru. Tailoring the offense to the quarterback will, in a perfect scenario, help the Utes avoid some of the anemic offensive performances to which they were susceptible against quality defenses like that of TCU. This season's defense looks solid, so Utah's offense will have to be up to par for the Utes to make a run at a divisional or Pac-12 title. Many schools within the proclaimed "conference of champions" are well known for their offensive dominance. Oregon is known for its intricate spread option, and teams like Stanford and USC boast some of the best quarterbacks in the game. The question now is whether Utah's offense can overcome the defensive tactics of Pac-12 opponents and solidify itself as an offense that is at the level of Oregon, Stanford and USC. m.dean@chronicle.utah.edu ers. "I looked around I saw everyone was still in the fight," commented Turpen. "Everyone else made me want to continue and fight back. Obviously we want to win, but I think there were other things we did well this game." Though injury-riddled, coach Manning believes his team can come together and overcome the challenges that are presenting themselves. The Utes dressed just 15 for Tuesday's match and lost captain Lauren Porter to a knee injury halfway through the second period. Initial indications on it is a possible tear to the MCL but will need to be further evaluated. "The important thing is that we're very close," commented Coach Manning. "We just need a little bit more confidence, a little bit more composure and the experience right now is good for us." a.rasmussen@ chronicle.utah.edu |