Sept. 2, 2011
OREM, Utah - Trailing 2-0, Utah Valley held a five-point advantage in the third set over No. 24 Michigan in Orem Friday evening. Despite taking the Maize and Blue all the way to game point, Michigan ultimately wrestled away the set, and the match, from UVU, 3-0 (17-25, 17-25, 25-27).
"We lost tonight, but we fought hard. And I hope that we can learn from that and come back and play harder tomorrow," said head volleyball coach Sam Atoa. "These challenges help us get better and will help us be stronger. I expect that because of challenges like tonight we can find the confidence we need to compete. Our disappointment tonight comes more so from the things that we haven't executed that we know we can be better at."
Ranked 24th in the AVCA Coaches Poll, Michigan (4-0) never trailed in either of the first two sets. Behind the strong play of Preseason All-Big 10 outside hitter Alex Hunt, the visiting Wolverines cruised to a 2-0 set lead. But in the third set, UVU (2-2) showed the kind of resiliency and fight that betrayed the story on the scoreboard.
After the break, UVU raced out to a 9-6 lead to begin the third set. The stretch was highlighted by two kills and a service ace from Lindsay Barker. Following kills by Sarah Clement and Chelsey Heaps, and a service ace from Erica Nish, UVU built the lead to 13-8, forcing a timeout from the Michigan bench. But Michigan regrouped after the break, slowly whittling away at the deficit and eventually tying the score at 19.
A kill from Jaicee Kuresa put the Wolverines in green back on track, and they appeared to be heading for a third set win after a combined block assist from Heaps and Nish, coupled with another kill from Heaps, put UVU ahead 22-19. Michigan answered the run, though, scoring three consecutive points of its own to level the score. The next two points belonged to UVU, however, after back-to-back Michigan errors. But the visitors lived up to their No. 24 ranking, scoring five of the next six points to put the match away.
Though disappointed at the result, Atoa appreciated the spark he saw in his team's third set effort.
"I'm proud of our girls. That's what we expect from them every set. We had a lot more fight in that last set, and everyone could see it. The girls could see it. We can play this game. If we can get out there and compete and be confident in our abilities, the results will come."
Barker led UVU in kills with six, while Heaps posted five. Brookelyn Campbell tallied 17 assists while McKenna Tait finished with 13 digs to lead the team.
UVU returns to the Activity Center on Saturday for the second and third legs of the La Quinta Inn and Suites Invitational. The Wolverines host Cal Poly at noon and will complete the tournament that night against Santa Clara at 7 p.m. Saturday also features two neutral site matches as Michigan meets Santa Clara at 10 a.m. and Cal Poly at 4:30.
