BAKERSFIELD, California – Despite holding a 2-1 lead in the match and a late advantage in the fifth set, the Utah Valley University volleyball team found itself on the wrong end of a five-set battle to WAC foe CSU Bakersfield on Saturday afternoon at CSUB's Icardo Center, 3-2 (26-28, 25-22, 25-23, 16-25, 15-17).
 
The Wolverines drop to 7-11 on the season and 2-1 in WAC play with the setback, while the Roadrunners improve to 10-8 and a perfect 4-0 in league play with the win.
 
"Anytime that we get together it's going to be a brawl, and it was that way again today. You've got to give Bakersfield credit for making one more play than we did," UVU head coach Sam Atoa said. "It was good volleyball, competitive volleyball, and we were just one swing away."
 
Despite suffering the defeat, Lexi Thompson led all players with a match-high 19 kills for the Wolverines. She also added a double-double with 11 digs, while the reigning WAC Player of the Week Madison Dennison too put up a double-double with 10 kills and a season-high 10 blocks. Kristen Allred too topped double figures for UVU in kills with 10, while Madi Wardle posted her first collegiate double-double with career-best tallies of 46 assists and 16 digs.
 
The Roadrunners got off to a strong start in the opening set, as they jumped out to a 12-5 lead. UVU responded with a trio of consecutive point to make it 12-8, but back answered CSUB with a 3-1 run to make it 15-9. Later trailing 17-12, the Wolverines managed to reel off a 5-1 spurt to pull within one at 18-17. Dennison led the UVU run with a block and an ace. With Bakersfield up 20-18, Utah Valley struck back with back-to-back block assists from Dennison and Alexis Davies, and Davies and Brighton Taylor to deadlock the score at 20-20. The set then seesawed back and forth from there until the 'Runners managed to drive home three crucial points to take the opening set, 28-26. Mattison DeGarmo capped the CSUB run with a service ace.
 
In a tightly contested second set that featured seven ties and four lead changes, the Wolverines were the first to pull ahead, at 14-11, following a trio of consecutive points. With UVU later holding to a one-point advantage, at 17-16, the Wolverines drove home four straight points to take a 21-16 lead. Thompson, Taylor and Allred all had kills for the Wolverines during the stretch. CSUB struck back with a 4-1 spurt to pull within two, at 22-20, but back answered Utah Valley by scoring three of the final five points to take the second set, 25-22, and even the match at 1-1.
 
The Wolverines continued to hold the upper hand early in the third game, as it jumped out to a quick 9-5 advantage following a six unanswered points. Thompson and Dennison led the rally with a trio of respective kills and a pair of service aces. CSU Bakersfield then battled right back, however, with a 4-0 spurt to tie score at 9-9. The set then remained tight from there, until UVU managed to drive home five clutch straight points to take a 22-18 lead. Thompson led the spurt with a pair of kills and a block. Later holding to a 23-19 advantage, CSUB struck back with three straight points to pull within one, at 23-22, but the Wolverines responded by driving home two of the final three points to take the set, 25-23, and a 2-1 lead in the match. Thompson led the UVU attack in the set with eight kills.
 
With Utah Valley holding to a 12-11 advantage in the fourth set, CSUB managed to piece together a key 7-0 run to take an 18-12 lead. Fabiana Andrade led the 'Runner rally with a pair of aces. UVU struck back with back-to-back points – on a kill from Izzie Hinton and a block assist from Dennison and Wardle – to make it 18-14. But that was as close as the Wolverines would get the rest of the set, however, as CSUB would respond back to take the set by a score of 25-16 and send the contest to a decisive fifth game.   
 
The Wolverines responded early on in the fifth set, as it jumped out to a quick 7-3 lead following a 5-1 run. Taylor and Thompson led the UVU run with a block and a kill apiece. CSUB then countered back with three unanswered points to make it a one-point score at 7-6, but back responded Utah Valley with consecutive points to make it 9-6. Bakersfield then once again answered with a 4-1 run to deadlock the score at 10-10, but the Wolverines responded with three unanswered points to take a 13-10 advantage. With UVU later holding to a 14-12 match-point advantage following a solo block from Allred, the 'Runners managed to battle back with back-to-back points to tie the score at 14-14. After a Dennison kill then once again gave the Wolverines a 15-14 match-point lead, CSBU responded with a trio of consecutive kills from Bailey Smith to take the set, 17-15, and the epic match three sets to two.
 
"The match came down to our passing, an area that we need to continue to keep getting better at," added Atoa. "We had our chances. It came down to us not siding out as well as we should have in that fifth set. We've got to be better than that."
 
The contest marked the fifth consecutive five-set battle between the Wolverines and 'Runners. Despite suffering the loss, UVU holds a 3-2 lead during the stretch.
 
Four players finished in double figures in kills for the Roadrunners led by Haylee Roberts' team-high 14.
 
Despite dropping the match, UVU posted 10 more team blocks than the 'Runners in the contest (17-7).  
 
After playing its first three WAC matches away from home, UVU will now return Orem for its first home conference matches of the season when it host UT Rio Grande Valley and New Mexico State next weekend. Utah Valley will first host the 2016 WAC tournament champion UTRGV Vaqueros on Thursday, Oct. 5, before facing off against the 2016 WAC regular season champion NM State Aggies on Saturday, Oct. 7.