- Utah swept No. 21 Colorado, rallied past No. 17 Baylor and opened Big 12 play 2-0 behind Princess Atamah's two-way work and a five-match winning streak.
- Utah Volleyball connect back to University of Utah and the wider volleyball picture.
- The story is backed by 5 sources and a visible last-verified date.
September 28, 2026
October 7, 2026
4 min / 976 words
5 official links
Utah volleyball opened Big 12 play by beating two ranked opponents in three days. The Utes swept No. 21 Colorado 26-24, 25-22 and 25-17 in Boulder on September 25, then rallied past No. 17 Baylor 18-25, 25-23, 25-23 and 25-20 at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on September 27. Utah left the weekend 10-3 overall, 2-0 in conference play and riding a five-match winning streak.
The two victories required different versions of the same team. Utah controlled Colorado with a 48-26 advantage in kills, a 51-31 edge in digs and six aces to the Buffaloes' one. Baylor kept every major team category close, took the opening set and forced Utah to win three consecutive pressure sets.
Utah Athletics recorded the Baylor match as the Utes' first non-sweep victory of 2026. The response after the 25-18 first-set loss supplied the clearest test of the weekend.
Princess Atamah broke the second-set tie
Baylor took the first set after a 5-1 late run. Utah started the second with a 5-1 lead behind two early kills from Kamryn Gibadlo, but the Bears recovered and tied the score at 22.
Freshman middle blocker Princess Atamah ended the tie with a kill. She then closed the set with another kill to give Utah a 25-23 win and level the match.
Atamah finished with 10 kills on 16 attempts and no errors, a .625 hitting percentage. She also led Utah with five blocks. In a match where Baylor finished with one more kill and Utah finished with one more block, her error-free attack and net defense gave the Utes efficiency without sacrificing resistance.
Utah erased another Baylor lead in the third
Baylor used an 8-3 run to move ahead 14-10 in the third set. Utah's recovery started with defense. Sierra Grizzle and Isabella Mogridge extended rallies with a sequence of digs, then Loryn Helgesen produced two kills to pull the Utes within 17-16.
Utah finished the set on a 4-1 run. Helgesen delivered the final kill in another 25-23 result, moving the Utes ahead two sets to one.
The fourth set followed a different path. Baylor tied it at 10, but Ashley West answered with consecutive kills. Levani Falatea later served an ace that created a five-point advantage, and Utah completed the match 25-20.
Gibadlo led Utah with 13 kills, Helgesen added 12 and Grizzle finished with 15 digs. Utah hit .264 as a team with 52 kills, 19 errors and 125 attempts. Baylor hit .241 with 53 kills, 21 errors and 133 attempts. The Utes also finished ahead 10-9 in blocks and 6-5 in service aces.
The Colorado sweep showed a different route
Two nights earlier, Utah opened conference play at the CU Events Center in Boulder. Colorado entered ranked No. 21 and carrying a 9-1 record. The Utes still won all three sets.
The first set reached 24-24 after Colorado erased Utah's initial set points. Katelynn Field got Utah back to set point, and Mogridge ended the set with an ace for a 26-24 win.
Colorado created its best opening in the second set by racing ahead 11-4. Utah answered with a 5-0 run to tie the score at 15. The teams were still even at 22 when Gibadlo put Utah ahead with a kill, Atamah and West combined on a block, and Gibadlo closed the set 25-22.
Utah created separation in the third. Back-to-back Devyn Wiest kills helped move the lead to 18-12, and another Atamah-West block pushed the advantage to 20-14. Utah finished 25-17 for its ninth sweep of the season.
Gibadlo led the Utes with 14 kills, three aces and six digs. Helgesen added 11 kills. Atamah finished with nine blocks, and Grizzle collected 16 digs. Utah's official recap also noted that the 9-3 start was the program's best under a first-year head coach.
What happened on the Kansas road trip
The opening weekend put Utah at 2-0 in the Big 12, and the schedule sent the Utes straight back against a ranked opponent. Utah lost 3-0 at No. 19 Kansas on October 1, 30-32, 20-25 and 24-26, pushing two of the three sets past 25 before the five-match winning streak ended.
The Utes, ranked No. 23 by then, answered two days later in Manhattan. Utah swept Kansas State 25-20, 25-15 and 25-23 on October 3 for its 10th sweep of 2026, and Utah Athletics credited a 15-0 second-set run with Kamryn Gibadlo serving. Gibadlo finished with six aces. The split left Utah 11-4 overall and 3-1 in the Big 12.
The Colorado and Baylor wins had already established two workable formulas. Utah can separate with serving, floor defense and kill volume, as it did in Boulder and again in Manhattan. It can also survive a first-set loss and win narrow sets at the net, as it did in Salt Lake City.
Atamah's weekend linked both results. She recorded nine blocks against Colorado, then produced 10 error-free kills and five blocks against Baylor. Utah's Big 12 start was built around team balance, but its freshman middle blocker supplied the cleanest two-match thread.
Key facts:
- Ranked wins: Utah swept No. 21 Colorado on September 25 and beat No. 17 Baylor 3-1 on September 27
- Conference start: Utah moved to 10-3 overall and 2-0 in the Big 12 with a five-match winning streak
- Baylor set scores: 18-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-20
- Princess Atamah vs. Baylor: 10 kills on 16 attempts, zero errors, .625 hitting and five blocks
- Other Baylor leaders: Kamryn Gibadlo 13 kills, Loryn Helgesen 12 kills, Sierra Grizzle 15 digs
- Colorado set scores: 26-24, 25-22, 25-17; Utah's ninth sweep of 2026
- Colorado leaders: Gibadlo 14 kills, three aces and six digs; Atamah nine blocks; Grizzle 16 digs
- What followed: lost 3-0 at No. 19 Kansas on October 1, then swept Kansas State 25-20, 25-15, 25-23 on October 3 to reach 11-4 and 3-1 in the Big 12
