KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Despite holding a two sets to one advantage over the defending WAC champion Missouri-Kansas City Kangaroos on Saturday afternoon at the Swinney Recreation Center, the Utah Valley University volleyball team dropped the final two sets to suffer its first conference setback of the season, 3-2 (22-25, 25-23, 25-20, 17-25, 12-15).
 
"We gave ourselves chances but got too complacent in that fourth set. We looked to have even more opportunities in that fifth set, but again just didn't take control of what we needed to on our end to put the match away," head coach Sam Atoa said. "I felt like we did some really good things, but overall UMKC was the more aggressive team."
 
Despite suffering the setback, three Wolverines (5-9, 1-1 WAC) finished in double figures in kills in the contest. Senior Lauren Bakker led the way with a team-high 14 kills and eight blocks, while sophomore Lexi Thompson added a double-double with 12 kills and 12 digs and fellow sophomore Madison Dennison chipped 11 kills of her own. Freshman Abby Jensen too had a solid match as she finished one kill shy of a double-double with nine kills and 13 digs, while sophomore Sierra Starley put up a match-high 41 assists and nine digs. 
 
After dropping the opening set by three points, UVU bounced back in the second frame as it jumped out to a 16-11 advantage following a Starley kill. The 'Roos (8-6, 1-1 WAC) later cut the deficit all the way to one late in the game at 23-22, but the Wolverines countered by scoring two of the final three points to take the set by a score of 25-23.
 
Utah Valley kept the upper hand in the third set as it took a 17-10 lead following a 10-1 run. The Kangaroos made it interesting down the stretch, however, after an 8-2 run of their own to pull within one at 21-20. But UVU managed to reel off a 4-0 run to put the set away at 25-20 thanks to a couple of UMKC attack errors.
 
The home Kangaroos bounced back in the fourth set, jumping out to a 14-7 lead following a 6-1 spurt. UMKC held its lead from there as it went on to even the match at two sets apiece as it took the fourth set by eight points.
 
In a tightly contested fifth and final frame, the Wolverines tied things up midway through the set at 9-9 following a block assist from Bakker and Thompson. The game then seesawed back-and-forth from there until UMKC managed to score three straight points, including a pair of clutch kills from Jessica Hendin to put the set and the match away with a fifth-set score of 15-12.   
 
Hendin led the 'Roos in the contest with a match-high 22 kills, while Skyler Muff added 13 kills and six blocks.
 
Freshman Sabrina Tanner too played well for UVU in the match, as she finished with a season-high 15 digs and two aces.
 
The Wolverines will now return to Orem for a three-match conference homestand that begins Thursday, Oct. 1 against CSU Bakersfield. UVU will also welcome Grand Canyon (Oct. 3) and Seattle U (Oct. 10) to town during the stretch.
 
"It's always great to be home. We can't take it for granted, however, and we'll still have to work hard," added Atoa. "We had an opportunity to be coming home with a 2-0 record in the WAC, but we expect to get back in our gym and protect our home court."