SAN JOSE, Calif. – The Utah Valley University volleyball team found itself on the wrong end of a pair of 3-1 contests to Pepperdine and Fresno State on Friday's opening day of the 2017 season at the SJSU/USF Invitational at San José State's Spartan Gym.
 
The Wolverines (0-2) dropped the first match to the Waves (1-0) by scores of 19-25, 25-23, 20-25, 27-29, before concluding the afternoon with a 16-25, 17-25, 26-24, 22-25 setback to the Bulldogs (1-0).
 
"It takes twice as much energy to try to claw your way back when you are playing from behind. I think a lot of times when those things happen you kind of wear out, but I was very proud of the girls for the way that they continued to bounce back and perform in some tough conditions in back-to-back matches here today," said UVU head coach Sam Atoa. "With basically only 30 minutes between matches, the girls did a great job of scrapping and continuing to play hard in that second match against Fresno State. I'm very proud of their resilience and their efforts. You never like going 0-2, but we're going to work on some things and be better tomorrow."
 
Match One vs. Pepperdine
In the opening set, the West Coast Conference Waves were the first to make a move as they jumped out to a quick 7-2 advantage. The Wolverines then countered back with a 9-4 run to tie the set at 11-11. With the set later still deadlocked at 16-all, The Waves managed to piece together an 8-1 run to take a 24-17 lead. Following a kill from junior Alexis Davies, Pepperdine then put the opening set away via a Wolverine service miscue.
 
Pepperdine once again jumped out to an early lead in the second set, as it reeled off four straight points to take a 4-0 lead. The Waves later managed to extend their advantage to 15-7 following a 6-2 spurt. With Pepperdine holding to a 17-9 lead, UVU got things going after capitalizing on a Wave service error and a trio of consecutive kills from senior Lexi Thompson to cut the deficit in half at 17-13. With Pepperdine up 21-15 late, the Wolverines managed to reel off a clutch 9-1 run to take a 24-22 set-point advantage. Freshman Kristen Allred led the rally for Utah Valley with three kills. The Wolverines then managed to take the set, 25-23, and even the match at 1-1 following back-to-back service errors. The Preseason All-WAC selection Thompson paced UVU in the frame with six kills and a .455 hitting percentage.
 
Following the intermission break, UVU built a 7-5 third-set lead after a solo block from sophomore Izzie Hinton. The Waves then bounced back with six unanswered points to take an 11-7 lead of their own. Hannah Frohling led the way for Pepperdine's spurt with back-to-back-to-back kills. With Utah Valley later trailing by three at 13-10, the Waves managed to piece together a 7-0 run to extend their lead to 20-10. The Wolverines then made things interesting by scoring nine of the next 11 points to make it a 22-19 score, but Pepperdine managed to put the set away, at 25-20, and a 2-1 lead in the match by scoring three of the final four points of the frame.
 
The Waves' momentum carried over into the fourth set, as they took an early 12-5 lead following a 7-1 run. With Pepperdine later holding to a 17-9 lead, UVU scored five of the next six points to pull within five at 18-13. The Wolverines later cut the deficit to three at 20-17 after a 4-1 run that was capped off with an ace from senior Sierra Starley. With the Waves later holding to a 23-19 lead, UVU reeled off a trio of consecutive clutch points to trail by just one at 23-22. The freshman Allred led the run with a pair of solo blocks and a kill. After a kill from Pepperdine's Jasmine Gross gave the Waves a 24-22 set-point advantage, the Wolverines once again answered back with back-to-back points on a kill and a block from senior Madison Dennison to tie the set at 24-all. The contest then seesawed back and forth from there until Pepperdine scored back-to-back points in extra time to take the marathon fourth and final set by a score of 29-27.    
 
Despite suffering the setback, Thompson and Dennison both topped double figures in kills for the Wolverines with 12 and 11, respectively. Dennison also added a team-high six blocks, while Starley notched her first double-double of the season with 31 assists and 11 digs, and true freshman Seren Merrill led the way from the back row with a 21 digs.
 
Match Two vs. Fresno State
The Bulldogs of the Mountain West Conference struck first in the opening set of UVU's second match of the day by jumping out to a 9-4 advantage. The Wolverines then managed to chip away at the deficit and pull within three, at 15-12, but UVU couldn't get any closer than that as it went on to drop the opening frame by a score of 25-16.
 
With Fresno State holding to a slight 4-3 advantage early in set number two, the Bulldogs drove home six of the next seven points to take a 10-4 lead. Utah Valley quickly pulled to within four on a couple of occasions, but Fresno State managed to hold on to its advantage as it would go on to extend its lead to 21-13. The Wolverines then countered back with a trio of consecutive points thanks to kills from Dennison and Allred to pull within five at 21-16, but it wasn't enough as the Bulldogs went on to take the set, 25-17.
 
In a very tightly contested third set that saw a total of 14 ties and four lead changes, the Wolverines held the upper hand early on by jumping out to an 8-5 lead following a Thompson kill. Fresno State then answered back with a 6-2 run of its own to take an 11-10 advantage. No team led by more than two points the rest of the frame, as the set went right down to the wire. Trailing 22-21, UVU recorded back-to-back key points thanks to a Thompson kill and a Starley ace to take a 23-22 advantage. With the set later tied up at 24-all, the Wolverines hammered home a pair of consecutive points once again to take the set, 26-24, and force a fourth game. Freshmen Allred and Merrill had the key clutch points for UVU at the end thanks to a respective kill and an ace.
 
The Bulldogs then bounced back by taking an early 6-4 lead in the set number four, before a 3-1 Wolverine run deadlocked the action at 7-7. With Fresno later leading by just one at 10-9, the Bulldogs drove home three straight points to extend their advantage to 13-9. Down 18-15, UVU managed to piece together a much-needed 4-1 spurt to tie the set at 19-19. The freshman Allred led the Wolverine rally with a pair of kills. The set then seesawed back and forth from there until Fresno State managed to break a 22-22 tie with three consecutive points to take the set, 25-22, and the match three sets to one.
 
A trio of players finished in double figures in kills for the Wolverines in the contest, led by Allred's team-high 13. Thompson and Dennison each put up 10 kills apiece, while Dennison added a match-high seven blocks, and Starley chipped in team-best tallies of 35 assists and eight digs.
 
Up Next for Utah Valley
The Wolverines will close their opening-season tournament by taking on Nevada on Saturday at 3 p.m. MT/2 p.m. PT at San Francisco's War Memorial Gym. Following the contest, UVU will head to Cedar City on Tuesday, Aug. 29 for an in-state matchup against Southern Utah. Utah Valley will then return home to welcome No. 8 Kansas to town for its 2017 home opener on Thursday, Aug. 31 at 7 p.m.