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Show Friday, August 31, 2012 7 DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE VOLLEYBALL Utes poised for Cali weekend test Carson Huiskamp STAFF WRITER Coming off a 3-o victory against Utah Valley University on Tuesday, the Utes are 5-0 for the first time since 2002. They will look to continue their winning streak this weekend when they travel to California for the UC Davis Aggie Invitational. Joining the Utes at the invitational will be Santa Clara, UC Davis and North Carolina. Utah is tied 4-4 with Santa Clara in its alltime series and has never lost to North Carolina or UC Davis. Playing three games in two days is no easy task, but with the Utes having just played four games last weekend, head coach Beth Launiere said her team is prepared. "Last week, we played four games in two days," Launiere said. The Utes have dealt with the pressure of short layovers between games before and she expects the team to be fine this time as well. This weekend will likely be the biggest test of the season for the Utes thus far. Utah opens by playing Santa Clara (4-o) today at II a.m. Then it will play UC Davis (2I) at 8 p.m. The Utes will close the weekend by playing North Carolina (2-I) on Saturday at i p.m. Surviving the tournament unscathed will provide a tall task for the Utes. In order to stay undefeated, they will have to beat three teams with winning records, but the team is confident of their chances for success. "In the tournament you just have to go, go, go," junior Morgan Odale said. "It is still about preparing the same as other matches, even with shorter [amount of] hours." Such little time in between matches makes strategizing difficult for invitational tournament play. "Physically, it's challenging, but we're a strong team," Odale said. MADELINE SMITH/The Daily Utah Chronicle The Utah volleyball team celebrates after putting more points on the scoreboard against UVU. The Utes will aim to stay undefeated as they compete in the UC Davis Aggie Invitational this weekend. Utah is currently 5-0 for the first time since 2002. "We're pretty dang confident. We're excited to go in and play." One thing the Utes have done well this season is putting out teams early. They have defeated four of their first five opponents in three sets. The only match that went to extra games was against Utah State, when the Utes squeaked out a win 3-2. "We've accumulated some experience, got some good size and we've got some athletes on our team," Launiere said. 3 Tm El 1 Ten players on the Utah roster are currently 6 feet or taller. One area Launiere said needs to improve in order for her team to have success this weekend is the offensive side of the ball. "We have to improve our consis- c.huiskamp@ chronicle.utah.edu University MEDIA SALES GROUP THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH 9 1 62 7 4 9 35 3 2 8 3 4 www popculturecomics com ANSWER TO TODAY'S PUZZLE PEPCID LACERAT APASSAGETOINDI DISPUTEDBORDER ARIANE LE USTA ATONEMENTS SAM NER MINTS ICIA MAPONTO CREDI SOLATES PHONEN ILENES SOONEST DOPED DENSE LE EGIS CENTERLAN WIS LEADIN OMA ACTSINDIFFEREN YALTACONFERENC SLEETING WASTE Doug Bratton 2007 Shrek Regret FEDERAL CREDIT UNION 4 CAMPUS BRANCHES 0 87 21 7 9 8 9 5 6 1 4 6 3 1 2 4 5 8 4 5 7 5 tency," Odale said. Odale said that she and her teammates are hoping to improve on starting strong and finishing games well. |