Sept. 5, 2008
LAWRENCE, Kan. - Utah Valley University's women's volleyball team fell in three sets (21-25, 16-25, 20-25) to Kansas and in five sets (19-25, 20-25, 25-20, 25-21, 12-15) to Central Florida at the Jayhawk Invitational Friday. With the losses, the Wolverines fall to 0-4 on the season while Kansas improves to 2-1 and UCF evens its record at 3-3.
In spite of the loss, UVU set a school record for blocks assists in a single match with 37 against UCF. Junior Kristen Anderson also recorded the team's first double-double of the season with 15 kills and a school-record 11 block assists in the match with a .367 attack percentage. Junior Allyce Wilson was in double digits in both matches with 10 digs against the Jayhawks and 20 against the Knights.
"We lost a heartbreaker today," UVU head coach Sam Atoa said. "We were doing so well, but it just didn't bounce our way. It wasn't for a lack of trying. When it came down to it we made one more mistake than [UCF] did, and they capitalized on one more opportunity than we did."
In the day's second match, UVU led UCF early in the first set. The Knights were able to tie the match at 13-13 and earn the advantage at 14-13. Central Florida then outscored Utah Valley 11-6 down the stretch to take the first set 25-19.
The Wolverines had the lead again in the heart of the second set at 16-15, but fell 25-20 to fall behind two sets to none. UVU was strong at the net defensively and outblocked UCF five total team blocks to two.
The third set of the match was all Utah Valley, though, with the largest UVU lead of the set at eight points. The Knights made a run in the latter half of the set to close the gap to three points at 23-20, but the Wolverines won the set 25-20. Anderson had six blocks assists in the set, and freshman setter Chelsea Fa'alogo had three blocks and eight assists.
Utah Valley forced a fifth and deciding set with a 25-21 victory in the fourth set. The set was tied at 20-20 as the Knights looked to seal the victory, but Fa'alogo set a season record with 18 assists in the set as the team racked up 19 kills in all with a .349 attack percentage to earn the win. Eight of those kills were attributed to Anderson, who also added two more blocks to her total.
The fifth set went back and forth through the early points. UVU held a 10-9 lead before UCF went on a four-point run to take the largest lead of the set at 13-10. In the end, that spurt was enough to propel the Knights to a 15-12 victory.
"I have to say that I was proud of our effort," Atoa commented. "We came out and played hard. We just have to learn from these experiences and get better."
Sophomore Kayli Broadbent led the Wolverine attack against the Jayhawks with nine kills, one service ace, and one block assist. Anderson and redshirt freshman Jaicee Kuresa each tallied two block assists in the match, and sophomore Dani Robison recorded one block solo and one block assist on defense.
Kansas took an early five-point lead in the first set. Broadbent kept UVU in contention by putting away the first five sets that came her way and tallying a service ace to bring the team back within two at 9-11. Her lone block of the match tied the set at 14-14, and the Wolverines took their first lead of the match at 15-14 on a Jayhawk attack error. Kansas took the lead back at 18-17, though, and held the lead through to the 25-21 win. Three Utah Valley players recorded service aces in the set, and the team recorded two total blocks to Kansas' one.
The Wolverines dropped the second set 16-25, but made another strong run at the third set. After falling behind 12-18, Utah Valley won eight of the next 12 points to pull with two at 20-22 thanks in part to back-to-back aces from sophomore Lanni O'Reilly. The spurt was not quite enough, though, as the Jayhawks won the next three points and took the first match of the Jayhawk Invitational in three sets.
UVU will face No. 13 Oregon Saturday at 10 a.m. MST in the Wolverines' last match of the tournament. A link to live statistics through Gametracker can be found on the women's volleyball schedule page at wolverinegreen.com.
