Oct. 25, 2007
LOGAN, Utah - Despite a school-record 18 blocks, Utah Valley fell short in a tight four-game battle at Utah State (26-30, 29-31, 30-26, 27-30) on Thursday night in Logan, Utah.
Kristin Anderson had nine block-assists to lead UV (16-8) while Camie Manwill had a block solo and seven block-assists and Jessica Endres had two solos and six block-assists. Manwill had 21 kills and nine digs as well, falling just short of a triple-double.
Amanda Nielson led all players with 26 kills as she helped Utah State (13-10) win the first two games, forcing Utah Valley to play from behind.
"We just fell a little short but I thought we competed well and gave ourselves opportunities at the end of each game," said UV head coach Sam Atoa. "It's a game of inches and it went their way. It was an enjoyable match to watch, unfortunately for us we didn't have as much as we needed to come through."
After falling by four in the opener, the Wolverines found themselves down 29-25 in game two before two Aggie attack errors and two Kayli Broadbent kills knotted the game at 29. But USU forced Broadbent into consecutive errors to close out the game and build that 2-0 advantage.
Following the break, Utah Valley came out quick and built a 15-8 lead on a Broadbent kill. The Aggies battled back, eventually tying the game at 20 and taking a 21-20 lead on a Melissa Osterloh kill. A mini run of 6-2 put the Wolverines back in front at 26-23 leading to a Manwill kill that ended the game at 30-26.
Game five saw 13 ties including a 26-26 tie late before two straight Nielson kills and a Chelsea Fowles put USU a point from winning the match. Endres had a kill to cut the lead to two but Nielson capped the match with yet another kill.
Allyce Wilson had 25 digs for UV while Kristi Lindley had a double-double with 51 assists and 13 digs. Broadbent added 14 kills and Endres had 12 kills and hit a team-high .314.
Utah State got 16 kills, 15 digs and a .316 hitting percentage from Osterloh and 22 digs from Christine Morrill.
Prior to Thursday's loss Utah Valley was a perfect 7-0 in four-game matches.
The Wolverines will host Idaho State on Saturday night at 7pm MT in the Shurian Family Activity Center. UV beat the Bengals in Pocatello 3-1 earlier in the season in a match that saw Atoa notch his 200th career coaching win.
