OGDEN, Utah – Despite a match-high 20 kills from Lexi Thompson and a career-high 61 assists from Sierra Starley, the Utah Valley University volleyball team found itself on the wrong end of a 3-1 decision to in-state rival Weber State on Wednesday night at Swenson Gym in Ogden (24-26, 20-25, 25-14, 23-25).
 
The Wolverines drop to 5-8 overall and 2-1 versus in-state opponents on the season with the setback, while the Wildcats improve to 2-9 with the win.
 
"You've got to give credit to Weber State, they played better than we did. We definitely had some chances there late in the match, but overall I was proud of the girls for responding after that second set," head UVU coach Sam Atoa said. "Unfortunately, certain things just didn't bounce our way tonight. It's kind of the nature of the game, but we'll work on some things and come back and expect to be better."
 
A total of three players topped double figures in kills for the Wolverines in the contest, as Madison Dennison too tied a career-high with 17 and Kristen Allred added 11. Thompson and Starley both finished just one dig shy of recording double-doubles as they both finished with nine digs apiece. Starley and Jasmine Niutupuivaha led the Wolverines at the net with five blocks each, while Seren Merrill put up a match-best 21 digs and Izzie Hinton too had a nice night with nine kills.
 
"These girls come and work hard every single day, and Sierra is one of the hardest workers of them all. She's constantly working at her craft and I'm proud of her efforts tonight," added Atoa. "I also thought that Lexi and Madison too did a nice job of hitting for us. Everyone kind of contributed for us, but it just wasn't our night."
 
The Wildcats were the first to get things going in the opening set, as they jumped out to a 13-9 advantage following back-to-back service aces from Megan Gneiting. With UVU trailing by just two, at 14-12, WSU answered back with a 3-0 run to extend its lead to 17-12. The Wolverines then countered right back with a 5-1 spurt to pull within one at 18-17. Niutupuivaha led the UVU run with a block and a kill. Following a Weber State point, Utah Valley then managed to reel off three straight points to take a 21-20 lead. Dennison led the spurt with a kill and a block. With the frame later deadlocked at 24-24, the Wildcats managed to drive home consecutive kills from Gneiting to take the tightly contested opener by a score of 26-24.   
 
With the second set all knotted up early at 9-9, Weber State managed to take a 14-10 lead following a 5-1 run. After a Niutupuivaha kill, the Wildcats responded with back-to-back blocks to extend their lead to 16-11. Trailing 20-14, the Wolverines would counter back with a trio of consecutive points to make it 20-17. Weber State then reeled off three unanswered points to hold a 23-17 advantage, but back responded UVU three straight points of its own to make it 23-20. The Wildcats would answer right back, however, with back-to-back points to take the second set, 25-20, and a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
Following the intermission break, the Wolverines looked determined to turn things around as they built a quick 11-5 third-set lead. Hinton capped the strong UVU start with a pair of kills. With Utah Valley later holding to a 14-10 advantage, the Wolverines managed to drive home three straight points to extend their lead to seven, at 17-10. Weber State later cut the deficit to five, at 17-12, but UVU immediately responded as it went on to stretch its lead to as many as 11 en route to a 25-14 third-set victory. Thompson led the Utah Valley attack in the frame with seven kills and a .462 hitting percentage.
 
UVU continued to hold the upper hand early in the fourth set, as it jumped out to a hasty 6-2 lead following a trio of kills from Dennison. The Wildcats then answered right back, however, with a 5-1 spurt to tie the score at 7-all. With UVU later holding to a 12-11 advantage, the Wolverines managed to drive home back-to-back kills from Megan Boudreaux and Dennison to take a 14-11 lead. WSU then managed to reel off a key 7-1 run to take an 18-15 lead of its own. The Wolverines struck right back, however, with a trio of consecutive points to deadlock the score at 18-18. The set then seesawed back and forth from there until the Wildcats managed to drive home back-to-back points to take a 24-22 set-point advantage. After a clutch Boudreaux kill pulled the Wolverines to within one, at 24-23, the Wildcats managed to take the set, 25-24, and the match, 3-1, on a controversial net violation call.  
 
Despite dropping the match, UVU managed to outhit the Wildcats, .282 to .261, as Dennison posted a solid .394 attack percentage and Thompson followed with a .357 clip.
 
Four players topped double digits in kills on the night for the Wildcats led by 14 from Amanda Varley.
 
The contest marks just Weber State's second win in its last nine tries against the Wolverines.
 
The Wolverines will now continue the in-state rivalry week when No. 16 Utah and No. 14 BYU come to town on back-to-back nights this weekend. UVU will first welcome the Pac-12 Utes to Lockhart Arena on Friday at 5 p.m., before closing the week with a UCCU Crosstown Clash against the Brigham Young Cougars on Saturday at 7 p.m.