OREM, Utah – Behind a career-high 17 kills and eight block assists from Madison Dennison and a match-high 43 assists from Sierra Starley, the Utah Valley University volleyball team concluded the Wolverine Invitational with a 3-1 victory over Long Beach State on Saturday afternoon at Lockhart Arena (25-21, 12-25, 27-25, 25-18).
 
With the win, the Wolverines improve to 3-4 and the season after taking second in the weekend tournament with a pair of victories. LBSU falls to 1-5 after going winless on the weekend.
 
"Our team really showed some grit and determination, especially after getting beat up in that second set. We knew that we were going to be in a brawl here today, and I was very pleased that the girls brought their 'A' game," head UVU coach Sam Atoa said. "We've constantly been working on improving our offense and this was a nice breakthrough match, not only for Madison and Sierra, but for the whole team."  
 
The Wolverines got off to the nice start in the opening set by scoring the first five points to jump out to an early 5-0 lead. Kristen Allred led the early rally with a pair of kills and a block. With UVU later holding to a 6-3 advantage, the Wolverines managed to reel off six unanswered points to extend their lead to 12-3. The 49ers later pulled to within three, at 24-21, but back answered Utah Valley with a kill from Megan Boudreaux to put the opening set away by a score of 25-21. Dennison led the UVU attack in the set with five first-set kills.
 
Long Beach State responded by scoring the first four points of the second set to take a quick 4-0 lead. With LBSU later holding to an 11-7 advantage following a Jasmine Niutupuivaha and Alexis Davies block assist, the 49ers drove home a trio of consecutive kills to extend their lead to 14-7. Long Beach State would go on to stretch its lead to as many as 13, as it went on to take the set, 25-12, and tie the match at 1-1.
 
In a much tighter third set that featured a total of 11 ties and four lead changes, the Wolverines were the first to pull ahead, at 15-12, following consecutive kills from Brighton Taylor and Lexi Thompson. The 49ers would later respond with three unanswered points to tie things up at 19-19, but back answered UVU with a 4-1 spurt that was capped by a Dennison and Starley block assist to take a 23-20 lead. LBSU wouldn't go away, however, as it battled back to tie things up at 24-24. After a Long Beach State point, UVU then managed to deliver three straight clutch points to take the set, 27-25, and a 2-1 lead in the match. Starley and Thompson led the crucial stretch with a respective service ace and a kill.
 
In another tightly contested fourth game, the Wolverines reeled off a 6-0 spurt to take a 15-11 lead. Allred and Dennison led the rally with a pair of kills and block assists. Long Beach State later pulled to within three, at 20-17, but back responded UVU with three straight points to take a 23-17 advantage. Following a kill from LBSU's YiZhi Xue, Utah Valley then put the match away, at 25-18, following back-to-back points. Dennison drilled home the final kill of the contest to seal the victory for the Wolverines.
 
Dennison and Starley were both named to the Wolverine Invitational All-Tournament Team for UVU following the conclusion of the contest. Dennison not only tied a career-high in Saturday's match but she also added a match-high eight blocks and a solid .444 attack percentage. Starley too had a big match for the Wolverines on Saturday by tallying five digs, four blocks, two kills and an ace to go along with her match-high 43 assists.
 
Allred also had a nice outing on the day for UVU by tallying a season-high 14 kills, nine digs and four blocks. Thompson followed with seven kills, while Seren Merrill led the way from the back row with a season-best 27 digs.
 
Megan Kruidhof paced LBSU with a double-double of 19 kills and 11 digs.
 
The Wolverines will now hit the road for back-to-back matches at Idaho State on Monday, Sept. 4 and in-state foe Utah State on Tuesday, Sept. 5. Monday's contest will begin at 6 p.m. in Pocatello while Tuesday's will start at 7 p.m. in Logan. Following the pair of matches, UVU will head to Fort Worth, Texas, for the TCU Fight in the Fort next weekend (Sept. 8-9). There, the Wolverines will face Lehigh, Duke and the host Horned Frogs.
 
Wolverine Invitational All-Tournament Team
Megan Kruidhof, Long Beach State
Bailey Permann, Montana
Madison Dennison, Utah Valley
Sierra Starley, Utah Valley
Jada Burse, Kansas
Madison Rigdon, Kansas
MVP - Kelsie Payne, Kansas
 
Wolverine Invitational Team Champion, No. 9 Kansas