Aug. 27, 2011
OREM, Utah - Chelsey Heaps put up a double-double of 15 kills and 17 digs while her teammate Lindsay Barker added a career-high 15 kills but it wasn't enough to defeat Northern Arizona in the title game of the Wolverine Invitational Saturday evening as the Lumberjacks defeated the Wolverines 3-1 (24-26, 26-24, 25-22, 27-25).
In the tightly contest match no set was won by more than three points and it saw 28 ties and 13 lead changes.
"We expected to win this weekend and I thought that we gave ourselves opportunities to do so. But tonight we were not the better team," said UVU head coach Sam Atoa. "It's a game of inches and each set was very, very tightly contested. We are going to learn from this weekend and continue to get better."
UVU's (2-1) Heaps and Sarah Clement were named to the Wolverine Invitational All-Tournament team after both played well. For the weekend Heaps finished with 39 kills and 28 digs, while Clement had 25 kills and 18 blocks.
"Chelsey and Sarah are going to continue to be solid players for us as well as others," Atoa added. "Their success comes because others are able to give them a dig or a set. They are seniors and I expect a lot from them and they will continue to help lead this team."
The Lumberjacks (3-0) struck first in the opening set as they went up by five at 11-6. UVU then came back and tied the set at 17-all after scoring three straight points. Northern Arizona then pulled back ahead at 23-19. The Wolverines responded by rolling off four consecutive points to tie it up again at 23-23. After a NAU point gave the Lumberjacks a set-point advantage, UVU's Clement and Brookelyn Campbell teamed up to deliver back-to-back-to-back block assists to give the Wolverines the set.
With the second set all knotted up at eight-apiece, NAU went on a run to take a 12-8 advantage. UVU answered by scoring three points in a row to cut the deficit to one. The Lumberjacks then responded to take a 19-14 lead. The Wolverines then came back late and tied it up at 23-all following a Barker kill but NAU then rallied to score three of the final four points to take the set.
Trailing 10-8 in the third set, UVU managed to score five straight points to go up 13-10. The Wolverines later extended their lead to four at 16-12 but NAU battled back to cut the lead to one at 16-15. From there the set remained close the rest of the way. With the score 23-22 NAU, the Lumberjacks scored the final two possessions to take another hard fought set and take a 2-1 overall advantage.
The Wolverines came out and looked determined in a must-win fourth set as they worked an early 8-3 lead following two consecutive Barker service aces. UVU held the lead until 18-all when Northern Arizona scored four out of five consecutive points to tie it. The Lumberjacks then took their first lead of the set at since 1-0 at 20-19. UVU quickly came back and went up 23-21 after two kills apiece from Barker and one from Heaps.
With NAU up 25-24 Heaps struck again with another one of her team-high tying 15 kills to tie the match at 25-all. The Lumberjacks proved to be too much however as Katie Bailey scored a kill and a service ace to give NAU the match.
In the match Campbell also added a double-double for the Wolverines with 44 assists and 16 digs while Clement just missed one with nine blocks and eight kills.
Earlier in the day the Wolverines scored 13 of the final 14 points in the third set against CSU Bakersfield to complete the 3-0 sweep over the Roadrunners.
UVU will be back in action Wednesday night when they host an exhibition match against Nova KBM Branik, a Slovian team. September 2 & 3 the Wolverines will welcome Michigan, Cal Poly and Santa Clara as part of the La Quinta Inn & Suites Invitational.
Wolverine Invitational All-Tournament Team:
CSU Bakersfield - Haleigh Haratyk
Illinois State - Shannon McGlaughlin
Utah Valley - Chelsey Heaps
Utah Valley - Sarah Clement
Northern Arizona - Lexi Sullivan
Northern Arizona - Katie Bailey
Defensive Player: Anna Gott, NAU
MVP: Kelli Dallmann, NAU
