This is a very big accomplishment. It's going to be an invaluable experience for her to play with top athletes from across the country. Playing high-level volleyball like this will keep her on track for the goals she has set for herself both collegially and nationally.

I am excited to have Burt join the Utah volleyball staff. Our team has high goals in the Mountain West Conference and the nation, and the quality of my coaching staff needs to reflect these goals. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Burt's achievements at Utah State over the last five years and his experience, success and expertise at this level were the reasons I pursued him for the position.

Our schedule has us playing some Top 25 teams this season. This schedule is a better situation for our team. It's strong enough to get some national-level matches and it still gives us the chance to get some wins against some of the top programs out there.

We've had some tough losses in the last couple of weeks. We just decided to go into this tournament and play as a team. We've been on and off in playing together because we don't have the years of trust built up. You get into pressure situations, and it's hard to have that trust level. We said we had to have it and everyone committed to it.

I think that was our best match yet this season. Other than game two, we played a complete match. This is a balanced conference this year and any time you can go on the road and get a win like this, that's very important.

Natalie is a junior that has worked hard and developed in the program for two years. She had a solid spring and is ready to jump in when needed.