OREM, Utah – Utah Valley University volleyball's comeback attempt against CSUN fell just short, as it dropped a 3-2 contest to the Matadors in the UVU/BYU Challenge finale on Saturday evening in the UCCU Center (21-25, 21-25, 25-22, 25-19, 15-17).
 
With the contest all deadlocked at two sets apiece, UVU (4-9) and CSUN (4-8) took the decisive fifth set down to the wire. With the score all knotted up at 13-13 late in the final game, Madison Dennison and Kiahna Vernon each drove home go-ahead kills to give the Wolverines a pair of match-point advantages. But the Matadors somehow managed to answer back each time, as CSUN went on to take the final set by a score of 17-15 and win the match in five.
 
"I was proud of the girls for being able to turn things around here in this one. We seemed to be playing with a little lackluster energy in those first two sets and we needed to get ourselves going. I was proud that the girls were able to come back and truly want to play," said head coach Sam Atoa. "It's a heartbreaking loss, but last night's loss was tougher to take than this one. We had our chances here tonight but just unfortunately couldn't put a couple of balls away there at the end." 
 
Despite suffering the loss, Dennison and Sierra Starley both recorded double-doubles for the Wolverines in the contest. Dennison put up 12 kills and a career-high 12 blocks for her second double-double of the season while Starley notched 36 assists and seven 13 digs en route to her second as well. Starley also added a career-best seven blocks, five kills and four service aces in the match, while Dennison added four digs, an ace and an assist. Overall Vernon led the Wolverines offensively in the contest with a team-high 14 kills, while Lexi Thompson added nine kills and nine digs. Brighton Taylor too had a nice outing by putting up seven kills and a season-high 10 blocks, while Nakisha Willden led UVU from the back row with a team-high 21 digs.
 
The Matadors were the first to take an early lead in the opening set, at 8-5, following a trio of aces from CSUN's Kristey Markle. Utah Valley bounced right back with a 5-2 run to even the score at 10-all thanks to a three block assists during the spurt. The Matadors later regained the upper hand and took a 17-13 advantage following a 5-1 run. UVU then pulled to within one, at 17-16, after a kill and an ace from Dennison, but CSUN responded with a 4-0 to pull ahead for good as it went on to take the set by four points.
 
UVU responded quickly in the second set by jumping out to an early 12-3 lead. Dennison led the spurt for the Wolverines with a trio of blocks and a kill. The Matadors then wasted no time answering back, as they quickly tied the score at 13-all following a 10-1 run. The set then seesawed back and forth from there until CSUN managed to reel off a 4-1 run to take a 20-17 lead. Utah Valley countered right back with a block assist from Dennison and Starley and a Thompson kill to pull within one at 20-19, but the Matadors answered back with a 5-2 run to put the set away at 25-21 and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The Wolverines once again looked determined to get things going in the third set, as they jumped out to an early 10-4 lead. Starley led the rally with a pair of aces and four assists. CSUN later cut the deficit to three, but back answered UVU with an 8-3 run to take a 19-11 lead. With Utah Valley later holding to a 21-14 advantage, the Matadors managed to reel off a 4-0 spurt to pull with three at 21-18. The Wolverines countered right back, however, by driving home four of the next eight points to put the set away at 25-22. Vernon paced the UVU attack in the set with five kills while Thompson added four.
 
Utah Valley was again the first to take the upper hand in the fourth game, as it took a quick 8-4 lead following a 5-0 run. The Matadors then struck back with a 5-1 spurt to tie the score at 10-all. After trading side outs for a while, the Wolverines managed to reel off three straight points to take a 17-14 advantage. But back came CSUN with a 3-0 run of its own to deadlock the score at 17-17. UVU then once again got hot by coming through with a clutch 6-1 run to take a late 23-18 lead. The Wolverines finished off the set a couple of points later on a CSUN attack error to force a decisive fifth game.  
 
The Matadors were the first to pull ahead in the fifth set as they jumped out to a 7-4 lead following a 3-1 spurt. Utah Valley then quickly erased the deficit thanks to a 3-0 run to tie the score at 7-all. After trading points for a couple of rallies, the Wolverines managed to regain the lead at 13-10 following back-to-back block assists and a pair of Thompson kills. CSUN wouldn't go away however, as it once again countered right back with three straight points to tie the score at 13-13. Utah Valley then held a match-point advantage on two occasions but couldn't put the contest away as CSUN managed to reel off a clutch 3-0 run to seal the victory.
 
Despite suffering the defeat, UVU recorded a season-high 20.0 blocks in the contest as it outblocked the Matadors 20.0 to 14.0 on the night.   
 
Willden earned all-tournament team honors on the weekend for the Wolverines after leading the way from the back row with a team-high 21 digs and six assists against the Matadors. Over two matches on the weekend, Willden averaged 5.22 digs per set and 1.00 assists.
 
The Wolverines will next hit the road to open 2016 Western Athletic Conference play at UT Rio Grande Valley and preseason favorite New Mexico State next weekend. UVU will first take on UTRGV on Thursday, Sept. 22 in Edinburg, Texas, before heading to Las Cruces, New Mexico, to close out the trip against the NM State Aggies.
 
UVU/BYU Challenge All-Tournament Team
Whitney Young Howard – BYU
McKenna Miller – BYU
Katie Sato – CSUN
Bree Hammel – UNLV
Alexis Patterson – UNLV
Nakisha Willden – Utah Valley
MVP: Amy Boswell – BYU