Sept. 19, 2004
Salt Lake City, UT - The Saint Mary's volleyball team suffered their first loss of the season on Saturday night against the Utah Utes 3-1 in Salt Lake City, UT. Unlike Friday night, the Gaels were unable to overcome a 1-0 deficit and went on to lose in front of 211 fans at Crimson Court on the Utah campus. With the loss the Gaels drop to 9-1 on the season, the best start in school history. The four-game loss came by scores of 27-30, 30-27, 26-30 and 27-30. "I think we ran out of emotional steam after all we've been through," Saint Mary's head coach Jon Stevenson said.
Saint Mary's was up against two tough opponents on each of their home courts during the BYU/Utah Challenge which featured five teams. The Gaels finished the challenge with a 1-1 record. With the win Utah improved to 7-2 on the season, which includes a 3-2 victory over No. 6-ranked UCLA on Friday night. The Gaels were coming off a five-game match against BYU in Provo, UT on Friday night.
"It was a disappointing loss, especially because I think we were a better team than Utah," Stevenson said. "But the run that this team put together was truly remarkable and they've proven that they are one of the best teams in the country."
In each of the three games the Gaels lost, Saint Mary's fell behind early and could never recover. In their lone victory, the Gaels jumped out to a 6-1 lead en route to the win.
Saint Mary's returns to action on Tuesday, September 21, when they travel to Sacramento to take on Sacramento State at 7:05 p.m.
The Gaels were led by Kaui Salzman, who had 13 kills and 13 digs, Cassandra Kolkka added 11 kills, 19 digs and three aces, Christina Kirk had 10 kills and Mandy Bible recorded 36 assists and two aces.
In Game 1, the Gaels battled back and forth with the Utes, until Utah went on a mini run to take a 15-11 lead, causing a Saint Mary's timeout. The Gaels came back to cut the lead to 18-17, but the Utes answered taking a 25-18 lead before the Gaels' final timeout. Saint Mary's went on a 9-5 run to close the game but it wasn't enough as the Utes took Game 1 30-27. The Gaels were led by Kaui Salzman and Christina Kirk, who each had four kills in the first game.
In Game 2, Saint Mary's jumped out to an early 6-1 lead after two aces by Mandy Bible and one by Cassandra Kolkka to open the game. After falling behind 16-15, the Gaels won four straight points to take a 19-16 lead. Saint Mary's continued to carry the lead at 27-25, before calling a timeout. The Gaels went on to win three of the next five points, winning Game 2 30-27. Salzman added three kills, Kolkka had two kills and three aces and Bible had two aces in the game.
In Game 3, the Utes took an early 10-6 lead before a Salzman kill ended Utah's run. The Gaels cut the lead to 10-9 before the Utes opened the lead up to 14-9 with four consecutive points. The Gaels called a timeout after Utah took a 16-10 lead. Saint Mary's got back in the game, but Utah went on another four-point run, taking a 24-17 lead before Saint Mary's used its final timeout. The Gaels cut the lead to 28-24, forcing Utah to take its first timeout of the game after five consecutive points. The Utes finished Game 3 with wining two of four points for a 30-26 victory. Salzman and Kirk each had four kills in the game.
In Game 4, the Utes jumped out to another early lead, taking an 8-2 advantage before the Gaels stopped the run. Utah increased its lead to 11-3 before the Gaels took their first timeout of the game. The Gaels came back to cut the lead to 20-15, forcing Utah to take a timeout. The Utes went on to win Game 4 30-27.
