Nov. 1, 2007
OREM, Utah - Utah Valley picked the right time to play one of its best matches of the season, stopping a hot Utah State team with a 30-18, 30-26, 30-26 sweep on Thursday night in Orem.
The win for the Wolverines (18-9) tied the school record for wins in a season, snapped Utah State's six-match winning streak and also gave UV the first win in four tries against their in-state rival.
"This was the biggest win this season...for sure," said head coach Sam Atoa. "(Utah State) is a team that just beat Utah, we had never beaten them and with where they're at right now in the WAC...this is huge for us, especially with all the momentum they had going in."
Senior Jessica Endres had a huge match, hitting .520 with 15 kills, six block assists and six digs. Camie Manwill had a double-double with 11 kills and 17 digs while Kristi Lindley had 43 assists.
"It was amazing, especially to win in three," said Endres. "We've had matches this year against good teams that we've played well but lost...and there were other in-state matches this year that we didn't step up. This was a good chance to learn from those mistakes. It's a great feeling."
The Wolverines set the tone early with a 12-point game one win that saw them out-hit the Aggies .382 to .190. Leading 16-12 in the first game, UV went on a 9-1 burst capped by two Endres aces to build a 25-13 lead in cruising to the 1-0 advantage.
In game two the teams were deadlocked at 15 when three straight Aggie attack errors led to an 18-15 Wolverine lead. Utah State got within one point on a couple of occasions after that, but UV held the lead the rest of the way before Kathleen Stevens finished the game with an ace.
Utah State seemed poised to push the match past game three, scoring five straight points midway through to take a 16-11 lead. The Wolverines crawled back with a big 8-3 run and eventually took the lead for good at 22-21. Meagan Bluth ended the match with one of her seven kills.
For the match, Utah Valley hit .236 compared to .095 by the Aggies. The Wolverines also had six aces and 13.0 team blocks.
It was the final in-state match of the season for Utah Valley, who finished 2-4 in those matches. The Wolverines will wrap up the regular season on Saturday, November 10th when another WAC school, Nevada, comes to Orem. Utah Valley is also hosting the year-end Division I Independent Championship on November 16-17.
