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State colleges: Utah women’s volleyball team rallies past USC to complete L.A. sweep

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Saige Ka'aha'aina-Torres sets the ball, in volleyball action between Utah and BYU, at the Jon M. Huntsman Center, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019.

The No. 18 University of Utah women’s volleyball team rallied from two sets down to defeat USC 20-25, 19-25, 25-17, 25-19, 15-11 on Sunday to cap a perfect weekend at the Huntsman Center.

The last time the Utes (13-4, 5-1 Pac-12) came back from two sets down to win was in 2016 against Missouri.

Kenzie Koerber was steady throughout, leading Utah with 18 kills while hitting .432 on the afternoon. Utah had four players reach double-figures in kills: Dani Drews had 17, Berkeley Oblad 12 and Zoe Weatherington 10.

Saige Ka’aha’aina-Torres set a career high with 52 assists. Her 35th assist of the match was the 1,000th of her career. Ka’aha’aina-Torres also had 14 digs.

The win marks just the second time in program history that Utah, which beat UCLA on Friday, has swept the Los Angeles schools in the same weekend. The first time was back in 2014.

Women’s soccer

No. 22 UCLA 2, Utah 0 • In Los Angeles, Mia Fishel scored two goals to lead the Bruins (9-3-1, 3-2-0 Pac-12) past the Utes (6-5-3, 1-2-2).

Goalkeeper Carly Nelson finished with a season-high seven saves for Utah.

“I was really proud of the effort and energy,” Utah coach Rich Manning said of his team. “We played well defensively, but we could not put them under pressure. We had two or three good looks but had trouble sustaining attacks. I was pleased with how hard we worked and played together.”

The Utes are back home on Friday night for a match with No. 25 Arizona.