Sept. 22, 2007
Pocatello, Idaho - Sam Atoa notched his 200th career win on Saturday as Utah Valley defeated Idaho State 3-1 (30-16, 28-30, 31-29, 33-31), ending the Wolverines' four-match losing streak and improving to 6-5 on the season.
Atoa, currently in his 9th season as the head coach at Utah Valley, has recorded 62 of those wins in just over five seasons at the NCAA level. The remaining 138 came in his first four seasons in Orem, when the school competed at the junior college level.
"I'm honored and privileged to be able to do this at such a great institution and to be around long enough to succeed. This is all because of what the girls I've coached have done," said Atoa.
In the match, Camie Manwill had 24 kills and 12 digs, extending her streak of double double matches to 12, dating back to last season. Jessica Endres had 17 kills and hit .342 while also collecting five block assists. Kristi Lindley had 62 assists for the Wolverines, three shy of a four-game school record.
"Winning on the road is never easy," said Atoa. "The girls embraced the challenge and just made things happen."
Utah Valley came out on fire in game one, scoring an easy 30-16 victory while hitting .344 in the game.
After that though the rest of the match was neck-and-neck, with ISU edging UV 30-28 in game two to tie it up at one.
The Wolverines were staring a 2-1 deficit right in the face after falling behind 27-29 in game three, but four straight points on a kill by Endres and three consecutive kills from Manwill gave UV the win in the swing-game.
Game four went right down the wire again with both teams holding leads with chances to win. Utah Valley had leads of 29-28 and 30-29 before two straight Bengal points put the home team on the verge of tying the Match.
A Kristin Anderson kill, an ISU error and a block assist from Endres and Meagan Bluth gave the Wolverines the victory.
Up next, Utah Valley will travel to Bozeman, Montana for a match at Montana State on Monday night at 7pm MT. The game can be seen live at www.BigSkyTV.org for a $4.95 subscription fee.
