Aug. 28, 2010

COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Utah Valley women's volleyball team fell to 0-3 on Saturday when they dropped a 3-0 decision to the Missouri Tigers at the Tiger Invitational (18-25, 12-25, 21-25).

Following the match, senior libero Kathleen Stevens was named to the All-Tournament team after she had a good showing on the court for the Wolverines. She finished with a game-high of 13 digs against Mizzou.

"This weekend we learned that we can play and we can compete but we have to be better at sustaining it throughout the match," UVU head coach Sam Atoa said. "There were moments where we played very, very well and then others where we didn't. Hopefully we can capitalize on those areas of the game that we did well at so they can help carry us at our upcoming competitions."

"Sometimes defense doesn't get much recognition but I'm proud of Kat (Stevens). I felt like she contributed well at giving us second and third opportunities as she played some very good defense. I also was very pleased with Brookelyn's (Campbell) play this weekend. It was her first tournament and there is a lot of pressure for a setter but I thought the freshman did a nice job."

In set number one UVU started out with a quick 3-0 lead thanks to some fine serving from Stevens. The Wolverines went back up by three at 6-3 when freshman Brookelyn Campbell scored a kill. That was the last time UVU would lead by that much in the set as Mizzou (3-0) eventually caught up and went on to win the set 25-18.

The Tigers continued to score the ball in set number two as they quickly built a decent lead over UVU. The only tie the Wolverines managed in the set was when they scored on a junior Jaicee Kuresa kill to knot it at one-all. Mizzou took control of the set from their on and went on to win it 25-12.

In a win-or-go-home third set, the Wolverines were focused early as they took a 10-7 lead after a kill from sophomore Erica Nish. The set then went back-and-forth until it was tied at 15-all. After that Mizzou did what they had to do to get the victory and the Tiger Invitational title as they went on to win the final set 25-21.

Senior Kayli Doxey just missed a double-double as she finished the match with 11 kills and nine digs.

UVU's next match is a highly anticipated rematch against the University of Utah on Tuesday at 7 p.m., in Salt Lake City. Last season the Wolverines upset the No. 17 ranked Utes 3-1, to pick up their biggest win in school history.