Oct. 10, 2006
Salt Lake City, Utah - Utah Valley State faced its highest ranked opponent ever and found out why the University of Utah is ranked #12 in the nation as the Utes toppled the Wolverines 30-15, 30-25, 30-22 Tuesday night in Salt Lake City.
The Wolverines ran into a hot Ute team that upped its win streak to a school record 14 matches and has now swept its opponent in 14 of 16 wins.
Jessica Endres and Camie Manwill both had 11 kills for the Wolverines, who hit just .066 for the match. Airial Salvo had 13 kills to lead a balanced attack as four Utes had at least eight kills. Utah hit .298 as a team.
"Utah is playing very well. They completely took us out of our focus and game," said Utah Valley coach Sam Atoa. "You've gotta hand it to their coaches and girls. They've played well regardless of who's on the other side of the court."
Utah (16-2) cruised to a 30-15 win in game one after building an early 13-2 lead.
In game two Utah Valley went up 18-17 before a 6-0 Utah run made in 23-18 for the home team.
UV clawed within three points on three different occasions down the stretch before eventually falling by five.
Game three was similar to game two as the Wolverines kept it tight and were within two points at 22-20 before a 7-0 run made it 29-20 for Utah.
The Wolverines finished the season against in-state opponents with a 2-3 record, losing consecutive matches to nationally ranked BYU and Utah.
Up next for Utah Valley is road trip to the Dakotas this weekend to take on fellow D-I Independents South Dakota State (Friday) and North Dakota State (Saturday).
The next home match for the Wolverines will be October 26th against South Dakota State at 7pm in the Shurian Family Activity Center.
