SALT LAKE CITY\u2013 Utah Volleyball succumbed to Long Beach in a five-set barn burner (15-25, 24-26, 25-20, 25-19, 15-17) suffering its first loss of the 2026 season.
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\nThe Utes dropped the first two sets but came storming back in sets three and four to force the fifth game.
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\nDespite eight ties and three lead changes, including forcing extra points in the fifth, Utah didn’t have quite enough to secure the reverse sweep.
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Fought hard to the very end??<\/p>\n
4 p.m. tomorrow, Utah takes on #2 Pittsburgh right here in the Huntsman Center!#GoUtes<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/ZevdsZZC3r<\/a><\/p>\n
SET TWO Utah and Long Beach continued to dance around each other in a close affair through the halfway point, with the Utes taking a 15-11 lead into the technical timeout off a block from Katelynn Field<\/a> and Devyn Wiest<\/a>.<\/p>\n Field kept the momentum going, lifting the Utes 16-13 off an Isabella Mogridge<\/a> assist. Back-to-back kills from Loryn Helgesen<\/a> and Wiest gave Utah an 18-13 advantage, forcing the Beach to call a timeout.<\/p>\n A service error from Long Beach set up set point for the Utes who took the set off an attack error, 25-20, forcing a fourth set.<\/p>\n SET FOUR Utah remained in control of the set at the halfway point, 15-12, after Atamah sank an ace before the technical timeout.<\/p>\n The Utes never relented the rest of the way, hitting set point via a Helgesen kill and taking set four, 25-19, with Gibadlo finishing the job.<\/p>\n SET FIVE The Utes clawed their way back, tying the set at 7 off a Helgesen kill.<\/p>\n Gibadlo tied things up one more time with the Beach at 12, setting up a close set for all the marbles.<\/p>\n Gibadlo and Field teamed up on a block to take the lead, 13-12, but the Beach tied things up again at 13. Long Beach sailed a serve to give the Utes set point but tied things one more time at 14.<\/p>\n Despite a hard fight, Utah ended up falling to Long Beach, 17-15.<\/p>\n STANDOUT STATS
\u00a0 Single game<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0season tickets<\/a>\u00a0for Utah Volleyball’s 2026 season are available for purchase.<\/p>\n FOLLOW THE UTES DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL MOBILE APP OF THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH TODAY \u2013\u00a0UTAH 360<\/a>
\n\u2014 Utah Volleyball (@UtahVolleyball) September 6, 2026<\/a>
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\nSET ONE
\nLong Beach came out strong to start set one, earning an 8-4 lead out of the gate before the Utes called timeout.
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\nBy the halfway point the Beach still had the lead, 15-7.
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\nLong Beach raced off to set point, and sealed the deal, 25-15.<\/p>\n
\nUtah did not let a disappointing first set hinder them to start the second set, jumping to a 6-3 lead over the Beach.
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\nLong Beach was not deterred either, going on an 8-1 scoring run to build up an 11-7 lead over the Utes near the halfway mark of the set.
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\nThe Utes rallied back to a tie with the Beach at 16 and had to keep battling back to tie the set again at 21.
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\nUtah tied the game one more time at 24, forcing extra play for the win, but the Beach prevailed, 26-24.
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\nSET THREE
\nThe Utes started set three 7-3 over Long Beach before the Beach rallied to make it a 7-7 tie.<\/p>\n
\nSet four started with a fireball of a kill from Kamryn Gibadlo<\/a> to put the Utes on the board first. Utah continued to build the lead off a Princess Atamah<\/a> kill and block, along with a Wiest ace to go up 5-3.<\/p>\n
\nLong Beach jumped out to a 3-1 advantage before Gibadlo put the Utes within one, 3-2. The Beach remained ahead a few plays later, 7-3, forcing Utah to call a timeout to regroup.<\/p>\n
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\n\tGibadlo led the Utes in kills (26) with a .386 hitting percentage and was second in digs (16), adding three blocks and one ace
\n\tWiest has a season-high 12 kills and tied her career-high in aces (2)
\n\tHelgesen was second on the team in kills (15)
\n\tField led the team in blocks (6)
\n\tSierra Grizzle<\/a> led the Utes in digs (17)
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\nUP NEXT
\nUtah puts a bow on the Utah Classic weekend hosting No. 2 Pittsburgh at 4 p.m. MT on Sunday, Sep. 5 in a Red Out.
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\nThe Utah Classic is available on ESPN+.
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\nFans can check out the full 2026 slate here<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nFor an inside look at the Utah Volleyball program, fans can follow the Utes on social media (X:\u00a0@UtahVolleyball\u00a0<\/a>| Instagram:\u00a0@utahvolleyball<\/a>).<\/p>\n
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