OREM, Utah – Utah Valley University volleyball battled against a nationally-ranked in-state opponent for the second consecutive night, but in the end fell to No. 14 BYU on Saturday evening in front of 1,726 fans at Lockhart Arena (21-25, 25-22, 24-26, 17-25).
 
The Wolverines drop to 5-10 on the season with the setback, while the Cougars improve to 11-1 with the UCCU Crosstown Clash victory.
 
"Our goal wasn't just to take a set, our goal was to give ourselves chances. I felt like there were moments when we did that. We really did some great things in that second set and gave ourselves other opportunities, but overall they were the better team," head UVU coach Sam Atoa said. "It's a game of inches, and it looked like it came down to the serve and pass game. They nailed their targets and we kind of struggled at that tonight."
 
A total of three players topped double figures in kills in the contest for the Wolverines led by a team-high 12 from Lexi Thompson. Alexis Davies was next for UVU with 11, while Madison Dennison added 10 kills on .389 hitting along with a match-high eight blocks. Megan Boudreaux too had a strong outing with a season-high nine kills and five blocks, while Sierra Starley and Seren Merrill led the way in assists and digs with respective tallies of 41 and 11.  
 
The Wolverines were the first to take the upper hand in the opening set, as they jumped out to a quick 7-3 lead. Thompson led the early run with a trio of kills. The Cougars countered right back, however, with a 6-2 run to tie the score at 9-9. Following a kill from Boudreaux, BYU struck back with an 8-1 spurt to take a 17-11 advantage. With the Cougars later holding to a 19-13 lead, Utah Valley drove home three straight points to pull within three at 19-16. Boudreaux led the run with a pair of blocks. Trailing 22-17, the Wolverines responded with a 4-1 run to pull within two at 23-21. The Cougars then struck back, however, with back-to-back points to put the opener away by a score of 25-21.
 
In a tightly contested second set, Utah Valley took a 13-9 lead following a 3-0 spurt. Dennison led the way with a pair of blocks during the stretch. BYU answered back to pull within one, at 13-12, but back responded UVU with a clutch 7-1 run of its own to take a 20-13 lead. Boudreaux and Thompson led the rally with a kill and a block apiece. The Cougars later struck back with a late 6-2 run to pull within two, at 24-22, but back responded UVU with a set-point kill from Davies to take the frame, 25-22, and tie the match at 1-1. Davies led UVU in the set with five kills.
 
With Utah Valley holding to an early 8-6 advantage in the third game, BYU countered back with three straight points to take a 9-8 lead. With the score deadlocked at 10-10 following a block assist from Dennison and Starley, the 14th-ranked Cougars reeled off six unanswered points to take a 16-10 lead. Later trailing 19-12, UVU responded with a 5-0 run of its own to pull within two at 19-17. Boudreaux led the UVU rally with a pair of kills and a block. BYU then bounced back to stretch its lead to 23-17, but back answered Utah Valley with four straight points to pull within two at 23-21. Following a BYU point, the Wolverines responded back with three key points to deadlock the score at 24-24. After a UVU service miscue, BYU then took the set, at 26-24, on a kill from Cosy Burnett.
 
The momentum then seemed to swing BYU's way in the fourth set, as it built a quick 11-3 advantage following a 6-0 run. With Brigham Young later holding to a 20-8 lead, UVU responded with a 5-1 spurt to make it 21-13. Following a Cougar point, the Wolverines once again countered back with a 4-1 run to make it 23-17. Boudreaux and Bailey Nixon capped the Utah Valley rally with a block assist. BYU then managed to put the set and the match away, however, with a kill from McKenna Miller followed by a final block assist from Emily Lewis and Kennedy Redding.
 
"You've got to give BYU credit," Atoa added. "They've got a great team that is well coached, but we were right there with them. We just made a few too many mistakes."
 
Veronica Jones-Perry led the Cougars in the contest with a match-high 23 kills.
 
Despite dropping the match, UVU outhit the Cougars, .214 to .185, as well as matched BYU at the net on the night with 14.0 blocks apiece.
 
The matchup marked UVU's final in-state contest of the 2017 season. The Wolverines finished their in-state slate with a 2-3 record with wins over Utah State and Southern Utah.
 
With the non-conference portion of the 2017 schedule now complete, UVU will open Western Athletic Conference play on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 4 p.m. MT/3 p.m. PT at Seattle U. The Wolverines were picked to finish third in the league this season after tying for second place a year ago.