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No. 17 Utah volleyball is getting another shot at the postseason, selected for its 13th NCAA appearance in program history.
The road to a championship starts close by: Provo.
The Utes (20-11, 11-9) will face UNLV in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at 5 p.m. on Friday at Smith Fieldhouse, with a chance for a rematch with host BYU on Saturday.
Having beaten BYU in five sets in September, Utah isn't disappointed to have to go through Provo to get out of the first weekend. Coach Beth Launiere said the team has been preparing for the possibility for the last few weeks.
"We thought there was a good chance that would happen," she said. "From a competitive standpoint, it's going to be a great four teams."
First, Utah will have to get through the Rebels (23-7, 12-6), who finished third in the Mountain West this season. UNLV has a pair of strong blockers in Elsa Descamp and Ashley Owens, who helped the team rank No. 33 in blocks per set (2.54) this year.
The Utes are making a return to the postseason after missing it last season. It's their third NCAA berth in four years. Despite a three-game slide to end the season, Utah still finished tied for fifth in the Pac-12 and has boasted one of the best offenses in the country, tallying the third-most kills (1,758) in Division I. Junior Adora Anae led the Pac-12 in kills per set (4.68).
"We had some pretty tough matches at the end, just hit a little rough spot," Launiere said. "I don't expect that to carry into the tournament. I think we were just beat up a little bit."
Utah should have all players available for the postseason, and the program has the added benefit of playing well away from the Huntsman Center this year: The Utes were 14-4 away from home this season, and 10-3 in true road games.
The team particularly played spoiler well on the road, knocking off five ranked teams on the road — including then-No. 9 BYU in September in five sets. Anae had 31 kills in that matchup.
But Launiere said first things first. Utah is happy with how its season turned out, but is hoping for a special finish to go with it.
"We've talked a lot about getting in the top half of the Pac-12 for a long time, so we're fired up about that," she said. "It's always exciting to get into the tournament. We're anxious, just as we've been before."
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