Oct. 13, 2011
EDINBURG, Texas - Sarah Clement and Erica Nish helped lead the Utah Valley women's volleyball team to its fifth consecutive win Thursday night in Edinburg, Texas with a 3-0 sweep of Texas-Pan American (25-16, 25-20, 25-18). Clement and Nish both finished with a match-high 11 kills apiece as the Wolverines (15-6, 4-0 GWC) remain unbeaten in Great West Conference play.
"The girls executed and played well tonight," UVU head coach Sam Atoa said. "Our serve and pass game really helped us take control of the match even when we struggled a little in the second set. We did a nice job and we're excited to now head to Houston to take on a good HBU team on Saturday."
In the early stages of the first set UVU's Brookelyn Campbell hit two quick service aces to give the Wolverines a quick 4-1 lead. Leading 11-6 a bit later, the Wolverines enjoyed a 5-0 spurt to take a commanding 16-6 advantage. UVU maintained its lead the rest of the way by taking the opener by nine points.
The second set was a different story however as the Broncs (5-16, 1-3 GWC) kept it close and even led by four at 15-11. The Wolverines bounced back though and tied the set at 16-all after a UTPA attack error. Nish later scored a kill to put UVU ahead by one at 18-17. The momentum stayed with the Wolverines as they scored six of the final nine points to win the second set, 25-20. Chelsey Heaps led UVU in the set with four of her nine kills. She also added two service aces and three of her 13 digs in the frame.
The Broncs once again put up a fight in the early stages of the third set but UVU broke a 6-6 tie with a 6-1 run to go ahead 12-7. The Wolverines stayed in control the rest of the way and following a kill from Kalani Norris went up by seven at 21-14. UVU then extended its late advantage to eight after a Heaps kill at 23-15. The Wolverines then won the set and the match on two more kills from Nish. Clement led Utah Valley in the third frame with six kills, while Nish and Heaps each added four.
In other notable performances for the Wolverines, McKenna Tait led all players in digs with a match-high 14, while Campbell just missed a double-double with 33 assists and nine digs.
The win improves UVU's all-time record versus UTPA to 17-1.
The Wolverines will conclude their two-match Texas road trip on Saturday when they head to Houston to take on the second place Houston Baptist Huskies (16-6, 3-1 GWC) for a 1 p.m. MT start.
