Sept. 17, 2011
MORAGA, Calif. - Jaicee Kuresa, Erica Nish and Chelsey Heaps helped lead Utah Valley to a 3-0 sweep over Sacramento State in the Wolverines' (9-5) final match of the Saint Mary's Tournament in Moraga, Calif., (25-23, 26-24, 25-19). Kuresa led everyone with a match-high 12 kills, while Nish and Heaps finished with 10 and nine respectively.
The trio of Wolverines all hit .300 or better for the match as well as Nish topped the group with a .500 attack percentage, while Kuresa hit .385 and Heaps .300. As a team UVU outhit the Hornets (5-8) .291 to .165 and the Wolverines also outblocked Sac State 13 to eight.
"It was a great team effort and the girls as a whole did an excellent job of staying focused," UVU head coach Sam Atoa said. "We stayed composed even when we were down late in the second set as we knew that we could come back from that. Overall we played well and met our goals that we had set."
In the opening set the Wolverines got off to a good start as they opened up a quick 3-0 lead after a Nish and Lindsay Barker block assist. UVU later extended its lead to five at 12-7 following another block as Nish teamed up with Kuresa this time. The Hornets later pulled within one a couple of times down the stretch but each time the Wolverines had an answer as they held their lead. Up just one at 24-23, Nish finished the set with a kill for UVU. Nish had six of her 10 kills in the set and also put down three of her match-high seven block assists in the first one as well.
In a very tightly contested second set that saw 10 ties and four lead changes Sacramento State pulled ahead by three at 19-16. The Wolverines immediately answered with four straight points to take a 20-19 lead. Sac State then scored five of the next six points hold a 24-21 set-point advantage. UVU didn't quit however as it rallied to score the next five points and win the set 26-24. Nish and Barker had kills during the stretch and Nish and Brookelyn Campbell scored the winning point on a block assist. Kuresa led the way this set by tallying six of her 12 kills and three of her six blocks.
After another close first half of the third set the Wolverines opened up a 21-15 lead after a 5-0 run. Kuresa and Sarah Clement scored the next couple of points for UVU via kills and Rachel Anderson helped the Wolverines finish off the set and the match with a service ace. Heaps led UVU in the set with six of her nine kills. Campbell too had a nice set as she added 14 of her match-high 39 assists.
For her play this weekend Nish was was named to the Saint Mary's Tournament All-Tournament Team. In the three matches against Saint Mary's, Kansas State and Sacramento State she tallied 26 kills, 18 blocks and five service aces.
UVU will now come back to the state of Utah and take on its first in-state opponent of the season on Tuesday, Sept. 20 when it travels to Ogden to play at Weber State. Next week the Wolverines will also travel to Pocatello, Idaho to face Idaho State on Sept. 24.
Saint Mary's Tournament All-Tournament Team
KSU Caitlyn Donahue S
KSU Kathleen Ludwig OH
SMC Lauren Corp OH
SMC Samantha Tinsley OH
Utah Valley Erica Nish MB
Sacramento State Breanne Menees L
MVP Kansas State's MB Kaitlynn Pelger
