Aug. 26, 2011
OREM, Utah - After dropping an epic opening set Utah Valley battled back to defeat Illinois State 3-2 in a five-set thriller to open the season Friday night at the Wolverine Invitational in Orem (33-35, 25-15, 16-25, 25-17, 15-7).
"The girls competed and showed great enthusiasm and a will to win," UVU head coach Sam Atoa said. "I'm proud of them and they way they responded after falling in a tough first set. I feel like that we have a chance against any opponent that we play. We had a lot of spirit and fight and it really helped us."
Senior Chelsey Heaps led UVU by putting up a double-double of 13 kills and 10 digs. Sophomore Lindsay Barker also had a solid match with a career-high 13 kills, nine digs and four service aces. Senior Sarah Clement finished with 10 kills and six blocks.
UVU junior Erica Nish might have had the best overall night of them all as she finished with six kills, five service aces, five blocks and three digs.
After a sluggish start in the first set the Wolverines got things going as they erased a three-point deficit and took their first lead at 15-14. The Redbirds then rallied to go up 21-17 but UVU came back and tied it at 23-all. The set then continued, as both teams wouldn't give in. The Wolverines went up a couple of times but in the end Illinois State scored a block and capitalized on back-to-back UVU attack errors to take the epic first set.
The second set was a different story however as the Wolverines scored 10 of the first 11 points to take a 10-1 lead. UVU then rolled the rest of the way and won the set 25-15. Barker added three of her 13 kills in the set.
Illinois State responded in the third set as they went on to win it by nine. The Redbirds built an early six-point lead and didn't look back winning it 25-16. The set victory put the Missouri Valley foe up two sets to one.
In a must-win fourth set UVU came out and looked strong by taking a 14-7 lead following a Clement and freshman Cassie Wahlin block. The closest ISU would get the rest of the set was within three, as the Wolverines won it by a score of 25-17. Heaps led UVU in the set with four kills, while Nish added three service aces.
The Wolverines' momentum continued into the decisive fifth set as they broke a 7-7 tie by scoring eight consecutive points to win the set and the match. UVU scored the final two points of the match on kills from Barker and sophomore Brookelyn Campbell.
The win improved the Wolverines opening day all-time record to 2-7. In home openers however UVU is now 7-2 all-time.
In other action in the Wolverine Invitational on Friday, Northern Arizona defeated CSU Bakersfield 3-0.
The Wolverines will continue the Wolverine Invitational Saturday with two more matches in the Activity Center. At 12 p.m., UVU will take on their old Div. I Independent rival CSU Bakersfield and at 7 p.m., the Wolverines will match-up against Big Sky foe Northern Arizona.
