Volleyball hosts Utes for top-10 showdown
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Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Utah’s first and second Sweet 16 appearances came in 2017 and 2019. Those were the third and fourth appearances by Utah, joining the 2001 and 2008 squads.
Ninth-ranked Husky volleyball hosts #7 Utah this weekend in what could be the match of the year in the Pac-12.
The idea of that would have sounded very strange five years ago.
Rewind to February 2016 (in between seasons, because normally volleyball plays in the fall). Washington and USC were co-champs of the Pac-12 at 18-2 and both went to the Elite Eight, while Stanford finished alone in third at 16-4 and had an amazing recruiting class on the way. Utah, meanwhile, went 4-16, and in their five years since joining the Pac-12 had yet to post a .500 conference record, topping out at 9-11 in 2013 and 2014.