Nov. 1, 2011
BOISE, Idaho - Despite 16 kills from Jaicee Kuresa, 14 kills from Erica Nish, 13 from Chelsey Heaps and a season-high 53 assists from Brookelyn Campbell, the Utah Valley women's volleyball team dropped a close 3-1 match to Boise State on the road Tuesday night (32-30, 22-25, 20-25, 24-26). The loss snapped UVU's (19-8, 8-1 GWC) four-match winning streak and was just the Wolverines second in their last 11 matches.
"We definitely have done some good things during this stretch and we are going to continue to do so," Wolverine head coach Sam Atoa said. "These couple of losses have been hard to take but the girls are playing well. In some situations we have played well enough to win, including tonight, but we just fell a little short."
In the first set the Broncos (14-13, 4-7 MWC) jumped out to a 14-10 lead after a Wolverine attack error. UVU chipped away at the deficit and thanks to a 5-1 spurt managed to tie the frame at 17-all after a Heaps kill. Boise State then took the upper hand once again and held a 24-21 set-point advantage. With their backs against the wall, the Wolverines got hot and rolled off four consecutive points to take a 25-24 lead. From there play continued to extra points as both teams battled back and forth until consecutive kills from Kalani Norris and Campbell gave UVU the opener, 32-30.
Following a Campbell and Nish block assist in the beginning of the second frame, the Wolverines jumped ahead by three at 5-2. But back came BSU as it took the lead and built a five-point advantage at 15-10 after a 4-1 run. UVU then threatened late in the set by pulling within two numerous times but the Broncos held their lead and took the set by three points.
The third set stayed tight in the early stages as both squads tied the score six times in the first 14 points. Kuresa led UVU with three kills during the back and forth stretch. BSU then worked a small lead and held it the rest of the way as it won the set by five points, 25-20, to take a 2-1 set advantage.
In a must win fourth frame the Wolverines jumped out to a quick five-point lead at 6-1 following a BSU attack error. Later UVU still held its led by five at 14-9 but a 7-1 Bronco run gave Boise State a 16-15 lead. Two straight kills and a solo block from Heaps put the Wolverines back on top at 18-16. Boise State later tied the score at 20-all and took a late 24-22 advantage. UVU then battled back with two straight points to tie the score at 24. Boise State then rebounded with two straight points of its own to take the tight set and the match.
"I'm not disappointed in our effort, I'm disappointed in the result," Atoa added. "We played a good match, however Boise played just a little better than we did. Sometimes it comes down to a game of inches and Boise did just enough to pull it out."
For the match both teams hit well as BSU hit .287 compared to UVU's .270.
The win for the Broncos evened the season-series at one win apiece between the schools with both teams winning at home. UVU still leads the all-time series over BSU 8-3.
The Wolverines will now return home for a season-ending three-match homestand. It will start Thursday with another non-conference contest against in-state rival Utah State at 7 p.m. in the Activity Center.
