PHOENIX – Despite dropping a tightly contested opening set, the Utah Valley University volleyball team bounced back nicely by winning the next three en route to earning a 3-1 victory at Grand Canyon on Saturday afternoon in Phoenix (23-25, 25-23, 25-9, 25-12).
 
The victory marks the fifth in a row for UVU, as it improves to 9-11 overall and remains in a tie for second place in the WAC standings with a 5-2 conference clip. GCU falls to 4-15 on the season and 0-7 in league play with the loss.
 
"I'm very proud of the girls for being able to bounce back and take control of the match. I was very, very happy with how this match evolved and how it ended up," said head UVU coach Sam Atoa. "We struggled a bit early on, however, we made some adjustments and everything fell into place very nicely from there." 
 
The reigning WAC Player of the Week Madison Dennison paced the Wolverines on the day with a match-high 15 kills and seven blocks. She also posted a season-best .583 hitting percentage, two digs, an assist and a service ace. Lexi Thompson and Kiahna Vernon were next for UVU by recording 11 kills apiece, while Kelcee Munk came through again with 42 assists, nine digs, six blocks, two kills and two aces and Nakisha Willden led all players from the back row with a match-high 29 digs. As a team, UVU outhit GCU, .312 to .086, in the match.
 
The Lopes were the first to get things going in the opening set, as they jumped out to an early 8-5 advantage. UVU quickly responded with three straight points, on back-to-back kills from Izzie Hinton and another from Thompson, to tie the score at 8-all. With GCU later holding to a one-point lead at 11-10, the Wolverines reeled off a 5-1 run to take a 15-12 lead. Utah Valley later extended its lead to five at 20-15 following a 4-0 spurt, but back answered GCU with a 5-0 run of its own to tie the score at 20-all. Both teams traded points from there until Grand Canyon drove home three consecutive points to take a late 24-22 set-point lead. Following a UVU point, the Antelopes put the set away on a Wolverine service error to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
GCU once again opened an early lead in the second set by jumping out to a quick 5-2 advantage. The Wolverines then bounced right back with a 6-1 run of their own to take an 8-6 lead. With UVU later holding to a one-point advantage at 13-12, the Wolverines drove home four of the next five points to take a 17-13 lead. Dennison led the spurt for Utah Valley with a kill and a block. The Lopes then struck right back with a 7-1 run to overcome the deficit and take a 20-18 lead. The Wolverines answered back with a block and a kill from Brighton Taylor to tie the score at 20-20. With GCU later holding to a late 23-21 lead, Utah Valley countered with a clutch 4-0 run to take the set, 25-23, and even the match at 1-1. Lindsey Tagge and Thompson led the final spurt with an ace and a kill, respectively.
 
Utah Valley's momentum carried over to third set, as it opened up a 16-6 advantage following a 13-2 run. Dennison led the spurt with a trio of blocks while Munk chipped in a pair of blocks of her own, as well as an ace and a kill. With UVU later holding to an 18-9 lead, the Wolverines put the set away by reeling off the final seven points of the game to take the third set by a score of 25-9. As a team, Utah Valley outhit GCU, .375 to -.129, in the game and outblocked the Lopes, 6.0 to 1.0.
 
The Wolverines looked strong once again in the fourth set by erupting out to an early 10-4 lead. GCU battled back to pull within three at 11-8, but back answered UVU with a 7-0 run to take an 18-8 advantage. Dennison led the spurt for Utah Valley with a trio of kills. Following a back-to-back Lope points, the Wolverines put the match away thanks to a final 7-2 run. Vernon capped the decisive run for UVU by driving home kill on match-point.
 
Taylor and Hinton too played well for the Wolverines on the afternoon, as they finished with eight and seven respective kills. Taylor also added four blocks and a solid .412 attack percentage, while Hinton chipped in three blocks and a .312 hitting clip.
 
The victory caps a perfect 2-0 road trip for UVU, as it previously also pulled out a five-set victory over CSU Bakersfield at the Icardo Center in Bakersfield, California, on Thursday. It also propels Utah Valley in a tie for second place in the WAC standings at the season's halfway point with UT Rio Grande Valley with a 5-2 conference mark.
 
The Wolverines will now return home for a pair of key conference matches next week. UVU will first welcome the defending conference champion and first-place New Mexico State Aggies on Thursday, Oct. 20 at 7:30 p.m. before capping the weekend against the second-place UTRGV Vaqueros on Saturday at 1 p.m. Both matches will be Utah Valley's final two contests of the season to be held in the UCCU Center, as renovations to the PE Building are anticipated to be completed in time for the Weber State match on Tuesday, Nov 1.