Nov. 15, 2008

HONOLULU - Sophomore Kayli Broadbent led all attackers in a three-set loss (19-25, 14-25, 10-25) at No. 6 Hawaii Saturday night. With the loss UVU falls to 10-12 on the year and Hawaii improves to 23-3.

Broadbent had 11 kills in the match on 22 attempts with only one error for an attack percentage of .455. She also added three digs. Freshman Sarah Clement had three total blocks in the match, and junior Allyce Wilson chipped in six digs.

"We did a lot of things right tonight," UVU head coach Sam Atoa said. "I think this game is one of momentum, and it was exciting to out of the blocks the way we did. Hawaii is the best team we've played this year, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them go far in the NCAA Tournament this year."

Broadbent opened the match with a service ace and put down 8 kills on 12 attempts in the 25-19 first-set loss. The Wolverines and the Rainbow Wahine each hit .385 in the set, and Hawaii did not record a single block in contrast to Utah Valley's two. UVU led the set until UH took the lead at 14-13, and were within two as late as 18-20.

The Wolverines fell behind by nine points early in the second set, but two block solos from Clement were part of a 6-2 Wolverine run that closed the gap to four points at 10-14. The spurt was not enough, though, as Hawaii went on to win the set 25-14 hitting .312 with seven total team blocks. Broadbent had two kills on six swings to become the first hitter in the match to reach double digits in the category.

Freshman Melissa Fifita recorded her first two service aces of the season in the final set, but the Wolverines struggled to keep up the pace with the co-champions of the Western Athletic Conference and dropped the set 10-25.

Utah Valley's last volleyball action of the season will be next Friday and Saturday Nov. 21-22 as the Wolverines host the 2008 NCAA Division I Independent Championships. Information regarding match times for participating teams will be released as it becomes available.