Beth Launiere Gets 600th Career Win As Utah Volleyball Takes Down Colorado
Mar 21, 2021, 3:54 PM | Updated: 3:58 pm
Utah head coach Beth Launiere talks with her players during a timeout as the University of Utah takes on Brigham Young University at the Hunstman Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2017. (Adam Fondren, Deseret News)
(Adam Fondren, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Utah Volleyball head coach Beth Launiere won her 600th career match as the Utes swept Colorado on Sunday afternoon In SLC.
It’s the 12th win of the season for Utah volleyball and the 600th victory for longtime legendary head coach Beth Launiere as the Utes bounced back on Sunday after losing to CU on Friday.
Utah won the first set 25-18, second set 25-16 and the third set 25-20 to sweep the Buffaloes. They lost in five sets on Friday.
We close things out against Colorado in three and with that, @CoachLauniere has won her 600th career match! #UteStrong pic.twitter.com/m2gV6AkoDA
— Utah Volleyball (@UtahVolleyball) March 21, 2021
Dani Drews led the way with 16 kills, 7 errors, 44 total attempts and 6 digs to go along with a hitting percentage of .205. Madelyn Robinson added 11 kills and two digs in the win.
Launiere began her head coaching tenure at Utah in 1990 where the team finished with a 7-21 record. The next three years, Utah would improve their win total and had 25 victories in 1993.
While under Launiere, Utah has achieved many accomplishments as a program including the first Mountain West school to win 16 matches in conference play and the second to go undefeated when they went 16-0 in 2006. They won a school-record 28 matches in 2006, including 25 straight. Under her leadership, the Utes have won 20 games in 18 seasons. She led Utah to 16 NCAA Tournament appearances, four Regional Semifinal appearances, three Mountain West Tournament titles and three regular season championships.
Her individual accomplishments include AVCA West Region Coach of the Year four times (2001, 2006, 2008, 2019). 2019 Pac-12 Coach of the Year. Three-time Mountain West Coach of the Year (2004, 2006, 2008), along with winning the Don Reddish Award five times (1998, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005).
Utah improved their record to 12-4 overall and in Pac-12 play. They will return to the Jon M. Huntsman Center on Friday, March 26 against Washington State at 6 p.m. MT.
Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for KSLSports.com and host of the Crimson Corner podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @TrevorASports. You can download and listen to the podcast, here.
