Sept. 10, 2011
USAF ACADEMY, Colo. - After dropping a five-set thriller to Northern Arizona earlier in the day, the Utah Valley women's volleyball team rebounded by sweeping South Carolina Upstate 3-0 (25-17, 25-13, 25-11), at the Falcon Invitational Saturday evening. With the win the Wolverines (8-3) placed second at their third consecutive tournament.
It was a balanced attack that led UVU in the match as five players finished with four or more kills. Sarah Clement posted eight kills to lead the Wolverines while Erica Nish had seven and Brookelyn Campbell had five. Campbell also added a match-high 29 assists and three service aces. Lindsay Barker and Kalani Norris each finished with four kills for the Wolverines.
"We suffered a tough loss to Northern Arizona and took it hard. But one of those challenges in this game is you have to be able to bounce back," UVU head coach Sam Atoa said. "Playing back-to-back matches is a hard thing so I knew a lot of girls would see playing time. The girls responded very well and took the challenge to be better."
For their play this weekend UVU's Nish and Clement were named to the Falcon Invitational All-Tournament Team. Nish totaled with 31 kills, hit .393 and added 17 block assists and two solo blocks for the tournament while Clement had 20 kills, hit .372 and added five block assists.
The first set stayed close in the beginning as both teams went back-and-forth early on. With UVU up just a point at 13-12, it went on a 5-0 run to take a 18-12 lead. The Wolverines later extended their lead to 23-14 following a Campbell service ace. UVU finished off the set at 25-17 on a Barker kill. Nish led the way with five kills while Campbell and Clement each added four kills.
In the second set UVU broke out to a quick nine-point lead at 14-5. After a Campbell kill the Wolverines later extended their lead to 12 at 21-9. UVU went on to cruise to the 12-point second set victory on a Nish kill. Katie Fritzler led the Wolverine attack with three kills. Seven different Wolverines scored a kill in the set.
UVU continued its solid play in the third set as it opened up a six-point advantage at 10-4 following a Campbell service ace. After a Norris kill, UVU went up 19-7. The Wolverines controlled the match the rest of the way as it went on to win the third set by 14 points. Campbell finished off the match for UVU with another service ace.
Clement had four kills for the Wolverines in the final set, while Norris had three.
Patti Flagg and McKenna Tait also had solid performances overall for UVU as they both recorded 10 digs apiece. Tait also added a match-high four service aces.
With the win UVU went 2-1 for the weekend to earn a second-place finish at its third consecutive tournament in the young 2011 season.
"The girls played well overall this weekend," Atoa added. They played well against Air Force, Northern Arizona and USC Upstate but it was unfortunate that we lost that fifth set (to NAU). We played well and did a lot of good things but not well enough to win the tournament."
The Wolverines will be off until next weekend when they will head to their final early-season tournament in Moraga, Calif., to play at the Saint Mary's Invitational. There UVU will face host Saint Mary's Thursday, Kansas State Friday and Sacramento State Saturday.
Falcon Invitational All-Tournament Team
Katie Bailey (MVP), Northern Arizona
Anna Gott, Northern Arizona
Lauren Campbell, Northern Arizona
Erica Nish, Utah Valley
Sarah Clement, Utah Valley
Ayesha Hein, Air Force
