OREM, Utah – Utah Valley State had five players put up career-high numbers Friday night against Idaho State, but couldn't hold on in five games, 30-24, 22-30, 30-28, 26-30, 12-15, on the first day of the LaQuinta Utah Valley State Invitational. The Wolverines as a team set a school record with 80 kills in the match, and tied a school record with 103 total digs.

"I'm disappointed, but the encouraging thing is we put ourselves in a position to win," said head coach Sam Atoa. "We just need to do better at the end of games."

Lacee Koelliker put up a career-high and school record 65 assists. She distributed the ball mostly to Anne Olsen and Jessica Endres who also tallied career-highs in kills. Olsen finished with 24, and her .314 hitting clip was second best in school history (50+ attempts) in a match. Endres recorded 21 kills, and her .378 hitting percentage was a Wolverine school record (40-49 attempts) in a match. Olsen also finished with a career best 19 digs. Freshman Bethany Carron set milestone numbers with 16 digs. Redshirt freshman Carlyn Cadmus was the other Wolverine who had a career-high in kills with eight, and hit a career best .294.

"Lacee plays all the time, but as far as Lacee's concerned a win is more important than the 65 assists," said Atoa.

In game one, the Wolverines took an early 10-4 lead. The Bengals battled back to cut the lead to two at 13-11, and would eventually tie the game at 16-16. The set would go back-and-forth from the point of the first tie at 16, until the Wolverines took advantage of a 6-0 run to close out the game 30-24. Olsen and Larissa Laycock both had four kills in the game.

The Wolverines took the early advantage in game two, but couldn't pull away. The Bengals continued to play the Wolverines close taking their first lead at 12-11. With the lead, ISU took the momentum the rest of the set. The Bengals finished the game on a 9-3 run, to overtake UV 30-22.

In game three, the chess match was on, as both teams traded leads and blows. The Wolverines used a 5-0 run to take a 20-19 lead and force a Bengal timeout. The break gave the Bengals their breath back as they went on a
6-3 run taking a 25-23 lead. ISU would force UV to take a timeout at 28-25. The Wolverines bounced back to score the next two points after the intermission, and ISU had to call another timeout with the Wolverines only trailing by one at 28-27. UV would close out the game finishing off the last three points, and sending electricty through the crowd.

After losing a dispiriting game three, the Bengals didn't go away. ISU fought back from an early 5-1 Wolverine lead, ultimately tieing the set at 11-11. Neither team would take more than a two point lead until the Bengals went up 23-20. The Wolverines showed heart fighting to within two at 28-26, but the Bengals scored the final two points taking the game, 30-26. Endres had seven big kills in the game, and Olsen added five.

Game five didn't disappoint, as the lead changed five different times. The biggest advantage was three, for ISU at 14-11. UV cut the lead to 14-12, but couldn't hold on in the end, dropping the game 15-12, and the match 15-12.

"At times we did a nice job, but we did less than what was needed to win," said Atoa.

Other key Wolverine contributors, were Maegan Hoyt, whose 26 digs was a season-high and third best in the Utah Valley State record book for a single match (she now holds the three best single match dig totals). Laycock had a solid eight kills.

The difference was the blocking, as ISU out-blocked the Wolverines 11 to 2. With the loss UV, moves to 2-5 on the season, and ISU improves to 4-8. Utah Valley will play a doubleheader on Saturday with a match against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 1:30 pm (MST) and the final match of the Invitational against UC Davis at 7:30 pm (MST). TAMUCC defeated UC Davis in four games in the first match of the tournament.

LaQuinta Utah Valley State Invitational ~ First Day Results:

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 3, UC Davis 1
Idaho State 3, Utah Valley State, 2

LaQuinta Utah Valley State Invitational ~ First Day Standings:

Idaho State 1-0
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 1-0
UC Davis 0-1
Utah Valley State 0-1