FARGO, N.D. – The Utah Valley University volleyball team forced a fifth and decisive set in its NDSU Baymont Inn & Suites Classic finale against Towson on Saturday afternoon in Fargo but in the end the Tigers managed to pull out the five-set thriller three sets to two (25-23, 23-25, 24-26, 25-17, 12-15).  
 
"I was proud of how the girls battled in tough conditions today. Unfortunately it just didn't bounce our way," head coach Sam Atoa said. "We had several opportunities to win it in that fifth set, but we just weren't the better team.
 
"Overall there's a lot to learn from and we're going to get to work when we get back and try to figure those out."
 
Despite suffering the loss, the Wolverines (2-5) outhit the Tigers (7-1) of the Colonial Athletic Association, .329 to .248, and outblocked them, 14-8.
 
Three Wolverines tallied double digits in kills in the contest, and freshman Abby Jensen led the way with a season-high 17 of them. Junior Macky Fifita and senior Lauren Bakker were next with 15 and 13, respectively. Jensen, Fifita and sophomore Sierra Starley all recorded double-doubles for UVU, as Jensen and Fifta added 10 and 11 respective digs while Starley put up a career-high 51 assists as well as 10 digs. Bakker also had a nice match at the net as she chipped in a match-high eight blocks, including two solos.  
 
After falling behind two sets to one, the Wolverines responded by taking a must-win fourth game. With the set all tied up at 16-16, Jensen helped UVU score nine of final 10 points to take the set by a score of 25-17. The freshman outside hitter delivered a trio of kills and a block during the crucial stretch to help the Wolverines force the fifth set.
 
In the final frame, UVU jumped out to a 7-4 advantage following back-to-back kills from Fifita. Towson, who has now won seven straight matches on the season after going a perfect 3-0 at the NDSU Classic this weekend, answered right back, however with three straight points to tie the score at 7-all midway through the final game. The set then seesawed back-and-forth from there until the Tigers took advantage of a couple of costly UVU attack errors to score the final four points of the match and take the final set by a score of 15-12.
 
Towson's Haley Pa'akaula led all players with a match-high 30 kills in the contest. Pa'akaula also recorded the fourth double-double of the match with 12 digs. 
 
Fifita was named to the NDSU Baymont Inn & Suites Classic All-Tournament Team for the Wolverines following the match as she led UVU with 38 kills, a 3.45 kills per set average, a .286 attack percentage and 28 digs in the three matches. 
 
Utah Valley opened the match by taking a tightly contested opening set before Towson managed to edge UVU out by a mere two points in both the second and third games.
 
The contest was the second of the day for UVU as it also fell to the host North Dakota State Bison in straight sets earlier on Saturday.
 
The Wolverines will continue their season-opening 11-match road stretch at the Washington State Cougar Challenge next weekend (Sept. 11-12) in Pullman, Washington. UVU will face Morehead State, Ball State and Washington State at the tournament.