Utah Valley vs. Seattle U
Saturday, Oct. 10, 2015   |   1:00 p.m. MT
Orem, Utah   |   PE Building
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WOLVERINES WELCOME SEATTLE U SATURDAY FOR KEY CONFERENCE MATCH
OREM, Utah – The Utah Valley University volleyball team will close a three-match conference homestand Saturday afternoon when Seattle University comes to town. The key Western Athletic Conference contest is set to begin at 1 p.m. in the PE Building.
 
Saturday's conference showdown will feature a pair of second-place teams, as both the Wolverines and Redhawks will enter the contest with identical 3-1 league records. UVU holds its conference wins over Chicago State, CSU Bakersfield and Grand Canyon so far in 2015, while SU has defeated CSU, GCU and Missouri-Kansas City.
 
The Wolverines (7-9) will enter Saturday having won two straight matches and three of their last four. UVU opened their current three-match homestand with back-to-back four-set victories over Bakersfield (25-22, 26-24, 21-25, 25-21) and GCU (25-12, 19-25, 25-15, 25-20) last weekend.
 
Senior middle blocker Lauren Bakker helped lead Utah Valley to the pair of conference wins last week, as she averaged 3.38 kills, 1.25 blocks and a .429 hitting percentage. Sophomore setter Sierra Starley also had a solid week last week for UVU, averaging 10.88 assists, 2.62 digs, 0.75 kills, 0.62 aces and 0.50 blocks.
 
The preseason conference player of the year Bakker leads the Wolverines on the season with an average of 1.31 blocks, 2.71 kills and a .331 attack percentage. Her 1.31 blocks per set average is also good enough to lead the WAC and rank her 38th in the nation in that category. 
 
ABOUT THE OPPOSITION
Seattle U will come to Orem with an 11-6 season record and having won five of its last six matches. SU's lone loss of the conference season came to CSUB in four sets in the Emerald City last weekend. Prior to last week's setback, the Redhawks had won five straight with wins over Bethune-Cookman, Florida International, UMKC, CSU and GCU.
 
The two-time WAC Player of the Week Martina Samadan paces the Redhawks with 3.03 kills, 1.14 blocks and a .453 hitting percentage. Her .453 hitting clip is good enough to lead the WAC and rank her fourth nationally.
 
Saturday's contest will mark the eighth all-time meeting between the Wolverines and Redhawks. SU will enter Saturday with a mere one-match advantage, as it holds a 4-3 all-time series lead after taking two of the three matches between the conference foes last season.
 
UP NEXT FOR UVU
The Wolverines will return to the road to face both New Mexico State and UT Rio Grande Valley next week. UVU will take on NM State in Las Cruces, New Mexico, on Oct. 15 before concluding the trip against UTRGV in Edinburg, Texas, on Oct. 17.