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Stanford took the floor with four preseason All-Pac-12 first teamers, 26 straight regular season wins and the nation's No. 1 ranking.
That didn't change Sunday afternoon at the Huntsman Center.
Well, except that they now have 27 straight regular season wins.
But the Utes — smaller, less experienced and just 2-6 in the Pac-12 — made the Cardinal sweat.
Senior middle blocker Bailey Bateman had nine kills on just 17 attempts, freshman hitter Adora Anae registered 12 kills, and senior Chelsea Schofield-Olsen made 15 digs as the Utes (12-7 overall) became just the second unranked school this season to take a set off the nation's premier team.
And in the three sets Utah lost — the final was 25-20, 25-21, 23-25 and 25-19 — the Utes were tied at 18, tied at 16, and trailing just 16-15. They just couldn't finish like the Cardinal.
"I thought we played some very good volleyball," said coach Beth Launiere. "We battled pretty much point-for-point with them. There was very little separation."
Stanford showed off remarkable athleticism and reflexes, protecting the Huntsman Center's new floor like it was their own dining room and dominating on the block, with 15 to Utah's 9.5.
True freshman Eliza Katoa — who finished with nine kills and nine digs — started strong for the Utes, recording five kills and four digs in the first set, which ended on a 7-2 Stanford run.
After taking the second set in similar fashion, the visitors clawed back from down 9-3 to within a point, 24-23, in the third, but Bateman's emphatic kill down the middle kept Utah alive and recalled September 2000, when Utah recovered from a two-set deficit to beat another No. 1-ranked Cardinal team in Salt Lake City.
It wasn't to be in the fourth, though, when Stanford (18-0 overall, 8-0 Pac-12) again closed strong, this time on a 9-4 run. Senior Morgan Boukather finished with 18 kills, and three more Cardinal players had more than 10. Six Stanford players finished with three or more blocks.
"They were just being Stanford," Schofield-Olsen said. "We played our hardest, and at the end, they just closed out."
Senior Shelby Dalton added 12 kills for the Utes, while true freshman Carly Trueman pitched in with seven kills on just 18 attempts and five blocks. Senior Kalee Kirby had 26 assists, and junior Kendall Cygan finished with 23.
"Obviously, Stanford's an amazing team," Bateman said. "They're undefeated this season, and I felt like we played them really solid tonight, so I think there's a lot of great things to take from this game."
On Friday night, after losing in their first three, Utah finally got the better of a five-set showdown, beating Cal 3-2 in the first official action since a renovation of the Huntsman Center that removed the large concrete cloud, installed a curtain system to close off the upper bowl, and improved sound and lighting.
The Utes return to action next weekend in the Evergreen State, visiting No. 3 Washington at 9 p.m. MDT on Friday and Washington State at noon MDT on Sunday.
Twitter: @matthew_piper