This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Not only is Utah's volleyball team 10-0, they're 30-3 when you break it down by set.

A victory in Provo on Friday would earn a school record for the most wins to start a season. They'd be undefeated entering Pac-12 play. Most importantly, they'd be proven.

Taking three sets against No. 12 BYU is more impressive than 30 against the likes of Montana State, Georgia Tech, Lipscomb and even Utah State.

Utah was also 10-0 last year when BYU came to town. But perfection proved fleeting as they lost 3-2 before more than 2,000 fans at the Huntsman Center - and those Cougars were without 6-7 opposite hitter Jennifer Hamson, who took last year off to focus on basketball.

Hamson declined to report to the Los Angeles Sparks when they selected her in the second round of the WNBA Draft and - to the dismay of opponents like Utah - opted to play another year of volleyball.

"She's back," said Utah head coach Beth Launiere. "Watching the video on her, she's playing great volleyball."

She scored 16 kills in 2012 and 15 in 2011 agains the Utes. So far in 2014, Hamson has 123 kills with a .353 hitting percentage for the 8-2 Cougars, who have only lost to No. 5 Washington and No. 8 Colorado State. So much for rust.

"Hamson is a difference-maker," Launiere said. "There's no way around having her completely impacting the match."

But they'll try, and part of that effort will be senior middle blocker Bailey Bateman, fresh off earning Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week honors.

"[Hamson's] a great player, All-American, but I feel like our team can handle her," Bateman said. "I feel like we've prepared well for this game, and we're ready."

Utah fast becoming accustomed to facing larger opponents. Traditionally fielding one of the biggest, most physical teams in the Mountain West, Launiere found that it's hard to be one of the biggest teams in the Pac-12.

"So we felt like we had to get a little bit faster and more skilled players," she said.

Freshman Eliza Katoa, who already ranks third on the team with 60 kills and boasts a .372 hitting percentage, is one result of that effort.

That the Layton standout was also recruited by BYU shouldn't come as a shock - her father, Fotu, was a BYU tight end, her mom, Elizabeth, was an All-American runner for the Cougars, and sister Mariah played volleyball at BYU for a season before transferring to Weber State.

"But I'm a true Ute now," Katoa said. Everyone's on board except her 8-year-old brother, she joked. "He loves his Cougars."

Katoa is "only" 5-10, but she has a 35-inch vertical that can throw off the timing for her opponents.

"She's a great example of speed killing," Launiere said. "She's not very big, in a tall person's world, and she just gets up and presents problems to people."

In the heat of the moment, it doesn't occur to Katoa that she's smaller than her foes. She feels as tall as anybody.

"But it's funny because my parents, they see me in the stands and they're like, 'You look really little out there,'" she said.

Despite their stature, the Utes rank first in the Pac-12 in opponent hitting percentage, with .127. They are still a physical, aggressive team. And against BYU - as it always does, Launiere said - it will boil down to which team serves and passes the best.

If that's Utah, it will prove a lot. —

Utah at BYU

O Friday, 7 p.m.

TV • BYUtv