Nov. 21, 2009

HOUSTON - Utah Valley University's bid to win the first-ever Great West Conference Volleyball Tournament Championship fell short with a 21-25, 17-25, 25-23, 18-25 loss to North Dakota in the title match Saturday in Houston.

Kayli Broadbent led the Wolverines with 23 kills and eight digs, while Camie Manwill had six kills and six digs, and Chelsea Fa'alogo tallied four kills, six digs and 35 assists in the loss. Allyce Jones led UVU with 26 digs and six assists and Kathleen Stevens added 11 digs.

"Hats off to North Dakota. I thought they played a very, very good match and they deserved to win," UVU volleyball coach Sam Atoa. "For us, we played well but not well enough. We had a great year and I am real proud of the girls for their efforts."

The Wolverines (22-10) end the year with a school-record 22 wins, one better than the 2007 squad. The 10 losses ties the record for the fewest losses in a season also set in 2007.

Utah Valley didn't lead in the first set until a kill by Jaicee Kuresa gave the Wolverines the 14-13 lead. The set was tied four more times before UND led by two at 20-18. UVU cut the lead to two points two times but UND scored three straight points to take it to set point, and then won the set, 25-21, with a kill.

The Wolverines had no answer for the Fighting Sioux in the second set. North Dakota, which went 11-1 in league play, jumped out to the 10-2 lead and never looked back. UND had the lead as high as nine on several occasions before winning 25-17.

Utah Valley hit at -.056 in the set, while UND hit at .250.

Broadbent had a huge third set with eight kills as the Wolverines won their first set of the match, 25-23.

Two errors by UND, a kill by Broadbent and a service ace by Stevens broke a 10-10 tie and gave the Wolverines a 14-10 lead. North Dakota pulled within a point at 17-16, but a kill by Broadbent and two UND errors extended the UVU lead back to four.

Again the Fighting Sioux cut the lead to one at 24-23, but Broadbent ended the set with a kill. UVU hit at .119 in the set and UND hit at .040.

Utah Valley recorded the first point of the fourth set, but after UND took the lead at 2-1, the Wolverines never led again, although they did tie the score twice at 6-6 and 8-8. At that point, UND scored eight of the next nine points to build 16-9 lead. UVU would pull within five the rest of the match.

Broadbent and Jones were named to the all-tournament team.