This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Deploying an offensive attack with consistency as its hallmark quality, the Washington Huskies volleyball team may not seem like the most exciting squad around.

But it's a very good one and the eighth-ranked Huskies kept themselves in a position to win the Pac-12 regular-season title by upending No. 16 Utah 25-20, 21-25, 25-22, 25-18 Sunday at the Huntsman Center.

"Defensively, we just didn't make the amount of stops were used to, and we just didn't get contributions from everybody," Utah coach Beth Launiere said. "And that hurt us. Against a good team like that, you just need to be firing on all cylinders."

After a rough first set, Utah (20-9, 11-7) held control of the second as junior Carly Trueman recorded four kills and a block to help even up the match.

Trueman finished with 16 kills while fellow outside hitter Adora Anae recorded a match-high 20 putaways. For Washington (24-4, 14-4), strong side hitters Courtney Schwan and Tia Scambray each recorded 19 kills.

The tide went back the Huskies way in the third set as Washington pulled away from a 21-21 tie with a kill, and then a block, by Scambray. Utah drew within a point, at 23-22, on an Anae spike, but Huskies right-side hitter Crissy Jones then scored a kill and served out the final point.

"They just don't make a lot of unforced errors. They don't give you points," Launiere said. "For two sets, I'd say sets two and three, we were good and it was a good volleyball match."

In the fourth, the Utes trailed only 11-10 after consecutive kills by Anae and Eliza Katoa. But Washington got a kill from Jones and then three straight off the serve of Destiny Julye to move up by five.

Utah closed again to 15-12, and the Huskies responded with four straight points.

Washington coach Keegan Cook said he was surprised by the anticlimactic end to the match as the Huskies then eased their way down the stretch of the fourth set.

"I think the two teams in the gym tonight are the two best serving and receiving teams in the conference, so we were kind of going back-and-forth at each other," Cook said. "They had us on the ropes for long periods of time.

"I think they're outstanding. People forget where they were a year ago — to the team they are now, it's really impressive," the Washington coach said. "They've got some great players who played well tonight, and man it was a grind."

The Utes finish out the regular season schedule with a game at Arizona on Wednesday and then a home contest against Colorado on Friday at 1 p.m.

"We haven't played them yet," said Launiere of Arizona. "We play two teams [in the conference] once. They're one of them, so it's going to be a tough deal for us." —

Storylines

R Washington stayed within a game of conference-leading UCLA by beating the Utes on Sunday.

• The eighth-ranked Huskies, led by 19 kills each from Tia Scambray and Courtney Schwan, pulled away from Utah in the fourth after winning a nip-and-tuck third set.

• Utah, ranked 16th nationally, was led by junior Adora Anae's 20 kills while Carly Trueman added 16.