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CLEMSON, S.C. - Three different Utes registered eight kills apiece as the No. 12 national seed University of Utah volleyball team earned a three-set win against Furman (25-17, 26-24, 25-17) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday at Jervey Gym.
"It's always great to win an NCAA [Tournament] match," Utah head coach Beth Launiere said. "It's something that we never take for granted. Furman is a great team. They came out and played well and had a great game plan. They did some new things against our block but we responded very well, like we have all season."
The Utes finished the match strong by hitting .636 in the third set and held a .304 to .115 edge in the match overall. Utah gained a 10-8 advantage in blocking for the match, led by a match-high six blocks from Toone. Chelsey Sandberg also had five blocks, while Lori Baird turned in four.
Utah (25-5) got eight kills apiece from Toone, Baird, and Kathryn Haynie. Toone needed only 14 swings and registered a .500 hitting percentage with one attack error, while Baird hit .353 on 17 swings with two errors. Karolina Bartkowiak had a match-high .583 hitting percentage with seven kills on just 12 swings without a single attack error.
Libero Keisha Fisher turned in a match-high 21 digs and now has turned in double-digit-kill performances in seven of her last eight matches.
The Utes have now extended their season-long win streak to 10 matches and have won 18 of their last 19 since Sept. 25. Utah is now 20-0 when winning the first set this season and is 15-0 when taking victories in the first two sets.
Utah is 9-9 all-time in 10 previous NCAA Tournament appearances.
The Utes take on the winner of the Tennessee/Clemson match in the NCAA Tournament's second round at 5 p.m. MT in Jervey Gym.
- UU -
