SEATTLE – The Utah Valley University volleyball team overcame a late first-set deficit en route to a 3-0 sweep over Seattle University in Western Athletic Conference play on Saturday afternoon at the Connolly Complex in the Emerald City.
 
UVU has now won nine of its last 11 matches with the victory, as it improves to 13-13 overall and 8-4 in WAC play. Seattle U falls to 12-13 on the year and 5-7 in league play with the setback. The Wolverines also remain in third place in the conference standings with the win and just a game back of second-place CSU Bakersfield with two matches to play.
 
"I was very pleased with the girls' effort. They did a fabulous job of making that run and turning things around in that first set," said head UVU coach Sam Atoa. "It was a great overall effort from all of our kids to absolutely own this game. They played well and it was great to see."
 
Kiahna Vernon paced UVU in the contest with a match-high 13 kills and Lexi Thompson was next with eight. Madison Dennison led way at the net with six blocks while Sierra Starley and Brighton Taylor each added five blocks apiece. Starley also chipped in a match-high 27 assists, six digs, three service aces and three kills.
 
The Redhawks were the first to pull ahead in the opening set, as they jumped out to an early 13-5 lead following a 9-1 run. With SU later holding to a 16-8 advantage, UVU managed to piece together a 5-1 spurt to pull within four at 17-13. Utah Valley later reeled off nine clutch unanswered points to take a 24-21 set-point lead. Vernon led the Wolverine rally with a pair of kills and a pair of blocks. After back-to-back Redhawks points, UVU sealed the comeback on a SU attack error to take the first set by a score of 25-23.
 
With the second set all tied up early at 4-4, the Wolverines once again took command by reeling off a 9-0 run to take a 13-4 lead. Taylor helped spark the rally with two kills and a block. With Seattle U later trailing by eight at 16-8, Thompson drove home a kill and a block en route to leading UVU to a 4-0 run and a 20-8 advantage. The Wolverines held onto their lead from there as they went on to take the second set, 25-13, and a 2-0 lead in the match. Vernon paced the UVU offense with five kills second-set kills.
 
Seattle U jumped out to a quick 9-6 advantage in the third game but back answered Utah Valley with a trio of consecutive points to tie the score at 9-9. With the score still tied at 12-12, UVU reeled off a clutch 8-1 run to take a 20-13 lead. After a Redhawk point, the Wolverines then pieced together a 4-1 run to take a 24-15 match-point advantage. SU didn't go away however, as it made things interesting by reeling off six unanswered points, but UVU finally put the match away via a Thompson kill to take the third and final game by a score of 25-21.

As a team, UVU outhit SU, .214 to .066, in the match as well as outblocked the Redhawks, 12.0 to 5.0. 

The win marks Utah Valley's fourth road victory of the season (4-5) and its first over Seattle U at the Connolly Complex in four tries (1-3). UVU also improves to 6-5 in the all-time series against the Redhawks with the victory.
 
The Wolverines will return home for their final two matches of the regular season next week when it welcomes conference foes Grand Canyon and CSU Bakersfield to town. UVU will first take on GCU on Thursday, Nov. 10 (7 p.m.) before closing its regular season with what could be a battle for second place and a first-round bye in the WAC Tournament against CSUB on Saturday, Nov. 12 (1 p.m.). Both matches will be contested in Utah Valley's newly renovated PE Building.