Sept. 15, 2011
MORAGA, Calif. - The Utah Valley women's volleyball erased a 2-0 deficit Thursday night at the Saint Mary's Tournament and took host Saint Mary's to five sets but in the end the Gaels (5-5) took the match 3-2 (25-20, 25-16, 17-25, 22-25, 15-10).
"We were playing awful in the beginning and I challenged the girls to play better in the third and fourth sets and they did," UVU head coach Sam Atoa said. "We put ourselves in a position to win the match but playing catch-up finally caught up to us in the fifth set."
"Saint Mary's did a nice job and took advantage of certain concerns that we had and we just weren't able to finish it off. We can be better but I was pleased with our effort that we made in our last three sets."
After falling behind two sets to none the Wolverines (8-4) bounced back and won the third and fourth sets to force a fifth and decisive set over SMC who is receiving votes in the AVCA top-25 poll.
In a must-win third set, UVU's Patti Flagg helped her team go up 4-1 early after consecutive service aces. The Gaels battled back with five straight points to go ahead 6-4. The Wolverines then took back the lead at 10-9 following back-to-back Jaicee Kuresa kills. After a McKenna Tait ace UVU extended its lead to six at 17-11. Saint Mary's later closed the gap to three at 19-16 but the Wolverines scored six of the next seven points to win the set 25-17. Erica Nish paced UVU with four kills and three block assists in the set.
UVU's momentum carried over into the fourth set as it quickly took a 4-0 advantage. The Gaels answered back and went ahead 5-4 after they scored five straight points. After a 6-1 UVU spurt, the Wolverines later went up 12-7. UVU then extended its advantage to seven at 20-13 after a Nish kill. SMC came back late and closed the gap all the way to one at 23-22 but the Wolverines responded by scoring the next two points to win the set 25-22 and tie the match at two sets apiece.
The Gaels jumped out to a quick 3-0 advantage to begin the crucial fifth set. After a Chelsey Heaps kill the Wolverines pulled within two at 6-4. SMC answered by scoring five straight points to take an 11-4 lead. UVU then chipped away at the deficit late and pulled within two at 12-10 after a Saint Mary's attack error. The Gaels battled back however and scored the next three points off of UVU errors to win the match.
Nish and Kuresa finished in double figures in kills for UVU in the match. Nish had 12, seven block assists and five service aces while Kuresa put up 10 kills and four block assists. Setter Brookelyn Campbell finished with another double-double for UVU by adding 40 assists and 12 digs. McKenna Tait, Flagg and Baker all also topped double digits in digs as they had 11, 10 and 10 respectively.
Earlier in the match Nish drilled home a service ace to help UVU open up a 9-5 lead in the first set. The Gaels bounced right back however after of service ace of their own to take a four-point lead at 16-12. The Wolverines then scored six of the next eight points to tie the set at 18. SMC then got hot and took the set 25-20 after it scored eight of the final 10 points.
After back-to-back kills from Nish and Heaps in the early stages of the second set the Wolverines tied it up at 3-all. The set stayed close until Saint Mary's enjoyed a 7-1 run to take a 16-8 advantage. SMC maintained its lead the rest of the way and went on to win the set by nine.
The Wolverines will continue play at the Saint Mary's Tournament Friday at 6 p.m. with a match against Kansas State. UVU will then conclude its trip to the Bay Area, when it takes on Sacramento State Saturday at 5 p.m.
"Kansas State has a good young team but for us to be successful we need to take care things on our side," Atoa added. "I think that we are very capable of doing that."
