After losing middle blocker Berkeley Oblad to a season-ending elbow injury in September, Utah women's volleyball coach Beth Launiere went through various lineup changes in a process she described as “getting people in the right seats on the bus.”
The Utes' season later became a case of keeping the bus from careening off the road. Utah stood 13-12 overall and 5-9 in the Pac-12 after a weekend trip that included loss at No. 2 Stanford (forgivable) and 10th-place California (less forgivable).
As a frame of reference, that was in early November, right when Utah’s football season was at a critical checkpoint.