Oct. 4, 2008

OREM, Utah - Victory came back to the Utah Valley University women's volleyball team (4-8) Saturday afternoon as it beat Cal State Bakersfield (10-9) in five sets (25-22, 25-19, 23-25, 23-25, 15-9) at the Shurian Family Activity Center.

Junior middle blocker Kristin Anderson tied the team's season high with 23 kills and sophomore Kayli Broadbent had 20 herself for the second time this season. Defensively, junior libero Allyce Wilson tallied a season high 33 digs in the match, and Anderson led all blockers with eight block assists. Redshirt freshman Jaicee Kuresa also chipped in 10 kills in the match. Overall, UVU hit .327 as a team and recorded 15 total team blocks.

The Wolverines fell to Bakersfield Friday evening in four sets to mark the first home loss for his team this season. UVU head coach Sam Atoa said he made adjustments after Friday's match, but credited his team for improving their performance Saturday.

"Today we focused on trying to play our game," Atoa said. "For the most part we did and controlled the match. We stayed focused and were able to eliminate errors. Our team played with passion, and that was the big difference from our match last night."

Utah Valley held the lead in the first set for all but two points when the score was tied at 19-19 and 20-20. The Wolverines hit .294 in the set and were led by redshirt freshman Jaicee Kuresa with four kills on eight swings with no attack errors. Anderson also had three kills on three attempts with two block assists. UVU recorded 3.5 total team blocks on its way to a 25-22 first-set win.

After trading points with the Roadrunners early in the second set, the Wolverines took control mid-way through and rolled to a 25-19 win to go up two sets to none at the break. Broadbent and Anderson each had seven kills apiece as the team hit .457 on 18 kills, two attack errors, and 35 swings in the set. Utah Valley's defense held Bakersfield to a .189 attack percentage in the set.

Bakersfield won 10 of the last 12 points in the third set to win 25-23. UVU hit .297 in the set to CSUB's .263, but the Roadrunners' 20 digs in the set helped them to a 17-13 advantage in the kills column. Anderson led all attackers with six kills on nine swings in the set, and the Wolverines as a team tallied five total team blocks to the Roadrunners' one.

The fourth set went to CSUB 25-23 to force a fifth and deciding set. Bakersfield's largest lead of the set stretched to 18-13, but Utah Valley pressured CSUB late and pulled with one at 20-21. UVU hit .364 and had 16 kills in the set with Anderson and freshman middle blocker Sarah Clement each putting away five kills. Bakersfield hit .323 with 14 kills.

The Wolverines scored the first five points of the fifth set. The Roadrunners scored the next three points, but that is as close as they would get. UVU won the set 15-9 on an ace from sophomore middle blocker Dani Robison to win the match 3-2. Broadbent had six kills on 13 swings in the set to lead all attackers. Wilson had nine digs in the set and helped hold Bakersfield to only four kills in the set.

The Wolverines will be back in action Tuesday at home as they host Chicago State at 7 p.m.