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Show BY BEN JASAREVIC /STAFF WRITER PHOTO BY BRENT UBERTY U 14 THECHRONY tah tied its best start in school history at 4-6 after beating Utah State in Logan on Wednesday. The Utes swept the Aggies in straight sets, 3-0, as they prepared for their anticipated matchup with rival, BYU. The Utes were led once again by senior outside hitter Schofield-Olsen, as she notched a match-high 15 kills. Shelby Dalton, Bailey Bateman and Eliza Katoa each added seven more kills for the Utes. Launiere rotated all three setters once again and said after the game to expect to see that all year. Kalee Kirby led the three setters with 18 assists. Both teams played well at the beginning of the first set, with a few lead changes and multiple tie scores. The Aggies saw their last lead at 6-5, before Utah went away with the set and never looked back, winning 25-20. The second set was just as close, but this time, the Utes led from wire-to-wire, taking the set 25-23. In the third set, Utah was on cruise control as they led from the first serve to the last kill by Katoa, winning the set 25-19 and clinching the match. "I thought we played spectacular': Schofield-Olsen said. "It's amazing to see how much we're improving game to game. Usually, Utah State takes us to five sets. It was great to just get in and get it done. Now we are on our way home at a decent hour" In 2013, the Utes were in the same position as they are now — a 10-0 start right before going up against the Cougars. Last season's match ended in a five-set thriller at the Huntsman Center in BYU's favor. This time around, it may be even harder for Utah to get by its rival in a kb vu type of match. Entering Friday's tilt, the Cougars are ranked 12th in the country, despite losing two matches to ranked opponents. No. 5 Washington was the first team to knock off BYU in five sets, and last weekend it was No. 14 Colorado State's turn to take down the Cougars. If Utah hopes to keep up with the team down south, the players will have to contain their excitement. With a roster that contains six seniors who have never beaten BYU, the Utes are eager to get on the court Friday night. "I think pulling together as a team and just focusing on us and not really worrying about what they're doing on the other side of the net, not worrying about the crowd either:' said senior Chelsey Schofield-Olsen. "We just have to focus on our game and what we can do:' Despite saying there is no other match she'd rather play in, head coach Beth Launiere is hoping that her squad stays focused heading into the match. "We don't talk about [the match against BYU] being bigger than it is, everybody knows it," Launiere said. "So we just do the work and get ready to play it." The Cougars won't go down quietly, however. BYU's Jennifer Hamson will be looking to rain on Utah's parade as the 6-foot-7-inch senior from Pleasant Grove was an AVCA All-American two years ago when she last played volleyball for the Cougars in her junior year. Last year, Hamson stepped away from volleyball to focus on her second sport, basketball. As good as she is at spiking a volleyball, Hamson may be an even better basketball player, as she won WCC Player of the Year in the 2013-14 season. Following BYU's basketball season, Hamson was drafted in the second round of the WNBA draft by the Los Angeles Sparks, despite the team knowing she would finish her volleyball career at BYU before moving on to her professional career. The Cougars are glad she came back, too. Hamson leads the team in kills with 123, good enough for an average of 3.73 per set. "She's very, very good, and she has the ability to take over a match;' Launiere said. "It's gonna take a huge team effort, and we may not contain her. We gotta do a lot of things well, and she still might go off, but I still think that we can win the match" Schofield-Olsen, who has played Hamson multiple times throughout their careers, said that even though Hamson is a force on the court, she can still be stopped. "Part of stopping her is getting in her head': Schofield-Olsen said. "We need to stick it to them, and being more physical than they are, we can get them." Even though Schofield-Olsen is on the best stretch of her career, the Utes will need their much talked-about depth on Friday night in Provo. First set is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. MT at the Smith Field House. b.jasarevic@chronicle.utah.edu @Beniasarevic STUDENTS SHOULD DIAL BACK ON PHONE USE Cell phones are a defining component of today's young adult culture. They're consulted for just about everything — social life, music, maps, games, celebrity birthday trivia, etc. But is their presence in the classroom and other study environments hindering students' school performance more than helping? Although advances in technology have often led to enormous efficiencies and higher productivity, students should realize that these advances come at a price. A study conducted at Baylor University for the Journal of Behavioral Addictions raises some alarm, reporting that female college students from Waco, Texas spend an average of 10 hours per day on their cellphones, while male students spend nearly eight. Furthermore, among the 164 students examined, 60 percent admitted they may be addicted to their phones and get agitated when they aren't in sight. According to the Baylor study, looking at the top five activities engaged in by cell phone users, 94.6 minutes are spent texting, 48.5 sending emails, 38.6 checking Facebook, 34.4 minutes on the Internet and 26.9 minutes listening to music. With this enormous amount of time dedicated to cellular activities, academics may fall prey to students' real top priority. Classroom cell phone policies haven't been enough to prevent students from getting distracted.Their cravings fester, leaving students to check their phones regularly for text messages and other notifications in class, thus stealing their attention from important lectures and discussions. This attention shift may as well count as an absence for a large part of the day altogether. Either the students have to work harder to reengage mentally and catch up on information, while trying to ignore the pestering vibrations in their pockets, or they're left unresponsive to the rest of the discussion because cell phones have seized complete control. At this point cellularly-hijacked students miss massive components of valuable lectures, leaving them with an increased work load on the home front. Ben Spencer of dailymail.com cautions that, on average, people check their phones every six and a half minutes. If, as studies suggest, it takes approximately 10 minutes to regenerate appropriate academic focus after a distraction, students who study with a cell phone nearby are looking at massive losses of time without even realizing it. That lost time adds up, and because of this, many students may be settling for insufficient overall academic performance and grades. There is no doubt that cell phones are extremely useful in modem society. When it comes to education, however, students should check their phones at the door. letters@chronicle.utah.edu INTROVERTS ARE PEOPLE TOO M any college students may be familiar with the Myers-Briggs personality test, as they may have taken one during initial college advisement or during some other career exploration in high school. Most people are probably surprised by the accuracy with which the results describe them, as well as the array of self-revealing information and career suggestions provided as feedback. The Internet is also a booming source of information on the topic of personality types, and for those who have not sought their type descriptions on the web, it is never too late to do so. But a test that purportedly has the power to discern the personality type of literally every human being on the planet must contain many intricacies and details, which could easily consume months of research and study in order to be fully understood. The results comprise a vast array of information, but the most obvious trait may be how people direct their energy. It's the trait that caused the kids in elementary school to mock those who were too quiet, or the quiet kids to despise school because of the kids who were too loud. It's the age-old struggle of extroversion versus introversion, and while it is much better understood today than it was 50 years ago, we must remember the importance of both personality types within society. For college students who were not long ago those children who preferred playing alone at recess, shied away from school parties or even just spent summer vacation reading books or lying alone in a field, life today provides ample difficulties that begin for them every time they step out the door. These are the introverts, the "I" scorers on such tests as Myers-Briggs, who much prefer their own company or that of a few close and well-known friends to the loud bustle of parties and casual socializing with acquaintances. They recharge not in the crowds but alone in the quiet atmosphere of their own thoughts. There is no more wrong with them than there is with the extroverts — they simply prefer different settings for their downtime. But why do they receive so much criticism for their reclusive ways of life? Because they are different, and different always stands out. College is a time to prepare for future careers, so focus should be naturally placed on that before anything else, even before the parties and good times that can, and often should, only happen during these four years. It is here that the introverts soar, because they are already adjusted to quiet study and deep thought — they do it in their spare time anyway. Academically, introverts are entirely prepared for the laborious academics. But college is also a time of socializing, long-term friend-making, living with roommates and eating with countless people in cafeterias, all of which are natural enemies of the introvert. How is social survival possible? One need look no further than the old cliché, "be yourself," to find the answer. It is only through sense of self and fearless conviction to never stray from that path that introverts will find their niche in the masses, and it is only there that a happy life can be obtained. Everyone has a place and a purpose. This is no different for those quiet corner-dwellers who might often prefer a good book to a good party. There are countless teachers, counselors, therapists and authors who are very introverted. In fact, many famous authors whom students enjoy, such as J. R. R. Tolkien or J. K. Rowling, were themselves very much introverted, but their niche was story-telling, and their stories leave very little room for anyone to criticize their social preferences. letters@chronicle.utah.edu slailyutahchronicle.com 5 |