OREM, Utah – The Utah Valley University volleyball team recorded its third consecutive victory and sixth of its last seven on Saturday afternoon with a 3-0 sweep over conference foe Chicago State in the PE Building (25-20, 25-16, 25-15).
 
With the win, the Wolverines improve to 11-10 on the season and remain in second place in the WAC standings with a 7-2 league clip.
 
"The girls played well," head coach Sam Atoa said. "I was happy to have the opportunity to get everybody into the match and I was real proud of our effort."
 
Lexi Thompson paced the UVU in the contest with a match-high nine kills, three blocks and a solid .400 attack percentage. Lauren Bakker, Jaramey Barney, Madison Dennison and Abby Jensen were next for the Wolverines as they all finished with four kills apiece. Sierra Starley and Kelcee Munk both tallied double digits in assists for UVU, with respective tallies of 15 and 10, while Starley also chipped in a career-best five service aces and Sabrina Tanner added a match-high 14 digs.   
 
The Cougars (1-22, 0-9 WAC) were the first to get going in the early stages of the opening set, as they jumped out to an 8-5 advantage. The Wolverines quickly erased the deficit, thanks to a 4-0 run to take a 9-8 of their own. UVU later used a 5-0 spurt to take a four-point advantage, at 15-11, and it held its lead from there as it went on to take the opener by a score of 25-20. Thompson paced the Wolverines in the first frame with five kills.
 
UVU continued to hold the upper hand in the second set, as it jumped out to a quick 10-3 lead following five unanswered points. The Wolverines later reeled off a 7-0 spurt to put the set away, as they went on to take the second frame by nine points.
 
With Utah Valley holding to an early one-point lead in the third frame, the Wolverines managed to reel off five of the next six points to double the Cougars up at 10-5. UVU managed to stretch its lead to as many as 11, as it went on to take the third and final set, 25-15.
 
As a team, UVU outhit (.289-.000), outblocked (10-4) and outserved (8-3) the Cougars en route to the victory. The win also marked the Wolverines' 18th straight over CSU, as UVU improves its unblemished all-time clip over Chicago State to 18-0.
 
A season-high 14 Wolverines saw action in the Saturday's contest and all 14 recorded at least one kill, one block, one assist or one dig in the match.
 
The Wolverines will have a busy week next week, as they will begin a four-match road stretch at in-state foe Weber State on Monday night. Following UVU's final non-conference contest of the season, the Wolverines will return to WAC play next weekend at Grand Canyon on Thursday night (Oct. 29) and CSU Bakersfield on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 31). 
 
"We need to keep focused," added Atoa. "This is great momentum for us, but we need to stay poised and continue work hard as we head out on the road."