OREM, Utah – Senior Kalani Norris put up a pair of crucial kills and a solo block late in the final set while junior Lauren Bakker sealed the match for Utah Valley University with a kill of her own as the Wolverines came from behind to defeat the University of Portland in five sets in the finale of the La Quinta Inn & Suites Invitational on Saturday night (25-18, 11-25, 21-25, 25-19, 15-13). The victory marked UVU's second five-set win of the day and helped the Wolverines take second at the Invitational with a 2-1 record.
"If we're going to find ourselves in situations like this, it's nice to know that we can come from behind," said head coach Sam Atoa. "There were moments where we really struggled and times when we thought we wouldn't be able to turn things around, but I thought the girls did a nice job of getting their composure back and taking control."
Bakker, who was named to the all-tournament team following the match along with freshman Madison Wolford, led UVU with 14 kills. She also posted a .435 hitting percentage and added five blocks. Sophomore Macky Treanor too notched a team-high 14 kills while Norris and sophomore Kiahna Steiner each added 11 kills of their own.
UVU (5-9) got off to a hot start in the opening set as it jumped out to a 10-2 lead over the Pilots (5-6). UP chipped away at the deficit and got to within three, at 16-13, but the Wolverines responded by scoring nine of the next 14 points to close out the set at 25-18. Bakker paced UVU in the frame with five kills on six attempts for an impressive .833 attack percentage.
Portland bounced back as it took the next two sets to take a 2-1 set advantage but back answered UVU. With the Wolverines trailing 13-11 in the fourth set, a kill from Wolford followed by back-to-back aces from Tait ignited UVU as it took a 14-13 lead. Utah Valley held the upper hand from there as it stretched its lead to 21-15 after a 5-0 spurt. The Wolverines finished off the frame a few points later, at 25-19, to force a fifth set.
UVU held a 6-4 advantage early in the fifth set but UP countered with four straight points to take an 8-6 lead of its own. With Portland later holding a dangerous 13-11 lead, Norris helped UVU take control with a kill, a block and another kill to give the Wolverines a 14-13 match-point advantage. Bakker then put the match away on the very next point as she drilled home the final kill of the night.
Senior McKenna Tait too played well for UVU in the contest as she put up a match-high 22 digs and three aces, while freshman Sierra Starley recorded her first-ever double-double with 21 assists and 10 digs and senior Jen Hardman finished a dig shy of a double-double of her own as she chipped in a match-best 31 assists and nine digs.
The freshman Wolford finished with seven kills against the Pilots but earned all-tournament honors after tallying 24 kills, eight blocks and a .404 hitting percentage on the weekend. Bakker too earned all-tournament accolades after compiling 35 kills, 12 blocks and a .545 attack percentage during this weekend's play.
Emily Liger paced UP in the contest with a match-high 18 kills while Makayla Lindburg was named to the all-tournament team after putting up 12 kills and 11 digs on Saturday night.
The Wolverines will now prepare for their second season of Western Athletic Conference play that will begin next Saturday at home against Seattle U.
La Quinta Inn & Suites Invitational All-Tournament Team
Bri Holmes, UC Riverside
Makayla Lindburg, Portland
Madison Wolford, Utah Valley
Lauren Bakker, Utah Valley
Whitney Bartschi-Harrington, Idaho State
Hayley Farrer, Idaho State
MVP – Kylee Searle-Sessions, Idaho State
