UTAH VALLEY at SEATTLE U
Thursday, Oct. 4  |  7 p.m. MT/6 p.m. PT
Redhawk Center  |  Seattle, Wash.
WAC Digital Network  |  Live Stats  |  UVU Notes  |  SU Notes

UTAH VALLEY at GRAND CANYON
Saturday, Oct. 6  |  4 p.m. MT/3 p.m. PT
GCU Arena   |  Phoenix, Ariz.
WAC Digital Network  |  Live Stats  |  UVU Notes  |  GCU Notes
 

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UTAH VALLEY CONTINUES WAC PLAY THIS WEEK IN SEATTLE & PHOENIX
OREM, Utah – The Utah Valley University volleyball team will look to end a six-match skid when it continues Western Athletic Conference play on the road this week. The Wolverines will first head to Seattle for a Thursday (Oct. 4) showdown against Seattle U, before closing the trip with a Saturday (Oct. 6) afternoon contest in Phoenix at Grand Canyon.
 
Thursday's contest is scheduled for a 7 p.m. MT/6 p.m. PT at SU's Redhawk Center, while Saturday's road trip finale will take place at GCU Arena at 4 p.m. MT/3 p.m. PT. 
 
Both contests will be streamed live on the WAC Digital Network and live stats can also be followed for both by visiting UVUStats.com.
 
The Wolverines (8-9, 0-4 WAC) will enter the week having played four straight five-set matches, as well as eight full five-set affairs in their last nine contests. Last week, UVU dropped a pair of heartbreakers in the full five sets by falling to California Baptist at home (16-25, 18-25, 25-14, 25-17, 15-17) and CSU Bakersfield on the road (23-25, 23-25, 26-24, 25-21, 14-16). After dropping the first two sets to both CBU and CSUB, Utah Valley did a nice job of bouncing back by winning the next two sets to force a decisive fifth game in each match. The Wolverines then also forced play past 15 in the final set of both matches, but both the Lancers and Roadrunners managed to outlast UVU down the stretch in each tightly contested five-set battle.
 
Despite falling to CSU Bakersfield last Saturday, freshman Kazna Tarawhiti posted a season-high with 26 kills while Makaila Jarema led the way at the net with a single-match school record 14 blocks. With the impressive tally of 14 block assists in the match, Jarema became UVU's new single-match school record holder in both total blocks and block assists. As a team, the Wolverines also recorded a new single-match school record by compiling an impressive tally of 22.0 total team blocks in the five-set setback to CSUB. 
 
Despite having dropped six consecutive matches, UVU is 6-6 over its last 12 contests after previously reeling off a six-match winning streak. During the winning stretch, Utah Valley recorded wins over NC State of the ACC, Utah State, Long Beach State, Appalachian State, Campbell, and Arkansas-Pine Bluff before falling to No. 24 Utah, Weber State, and WAC foes UMKC, Chicago State, CBU and CSUB. UVU has also played a total of nine five-set contests during the 12-match stretch. 
 
Tarawhiti leads the Wolverines and the WAC in kills on the season with a 4.07 kills per set average, while Jarema paces the team and the league in blocks with a 1.50 per set clip. Tarawhiti also ranks ninth in the entire nation in total kills with 285, 10th in points (317.5) and 46th in kills per set average. As a team, UVU ranks fourth nationally in blocks (178.5) and 44th in the country in blocks per set average (2.48). 
 
ABOUT THE OPPOSITION
The Redhawks will enter Thursday's contest with an 8-8 overall record and a 1-2 start to WAC play. After recording a conference-opening sweep over Chicago State at home on Sept. 22, SU then dropped back-to-back road matches at NM State and UT Rio Grande Valley last week. Prior to opening conference play, Seattle U picked up non-conference victories over Weber State, Idaho State, Campbell, South Dakota State, UC Riverside, Sacramento State and Tennessee Tech. SU was picked to finish seventh in the WAC this year after going 11-17 overall last season and 7-7 in league play. 
 
Eve Kerschenbaum leads the Redhawks with a 2.86 kills per set clip while Sofia Sanchez follows with a 2.53 per set average. Maja Stojanovic front the team at the net with a 1.07 blocks per set clip.
 
Thursday's contest will mark the 14th all-time meeting between UVU and SU. Utah Valley will enter play holding to a 7-6 series advantage and having won three of the last four meetings. The Wolverines have also won each of the last two meetings in Seattle. 
 
GCU will enter the week with a 7-8 overall record and an 0-3 start in conference play but will first face California Baptist on Thursday in Riverside before hosting UVU on Saturday. The Antelopes have dropped their first three WAC matches to three of the top four teams in the league standings in UMKC, UTRGV and NM State. Grand Canyon holds its seven wins on the year over New Mexico, Santa Clara, Southern Utah, Jacksonville State, Columbia, Marist and Belmont. GCU was picked to finish sixth in the WAC this season after going 8-18 and 3-11 in league play a season ago. 
 
Kyla Matthews paces the Lopes offensively on the year with a 2.51 kills per set average, while Kaira Moss and Annabelle Kubinski front the team at the net with identical averages of 0.84 blocks per set. 
 
Saturday's match will mark the 11th all-time contest between UVU and GCU. Utah Valley will enter play holding an unblemished 10-0 series record, which includes a perfect 5-0 mark in Phoenix. 
 
ATOA'S JUST TWO WINS SHY OF 400
After going 6-6 over his last 12 matches, head Utah Valley volleyball coach Sam Atoa will enter the weekend just two wins shy of recording his 400th career victory. Atoa, who is currently in his 20th season as UVU's head coach, will enter the week with a 398-230 career record (.634 winning percentage). Atoa, who earned WAC Coach of the Year honors in 2016, holds a 260-199 mark during his 16 seasons of coaching UVU at the NCAA Division I level, as well as a 138-31 clip during his four seasons of coaching the Wolverines during the school's NJCAA era.
 
UP NEXT FOR UVU
Following this weekend's road matches, the Wolverines will return home for one of just two home matches during the month of October when it welcomes UT Rio Grande Valley to Lockhart Arena on Thursday, Oct. 11. After the match, UVU will hit the road to hit the road again the following week to face NM State in Las Cruces on Oct. 18 and UTRGV in Edinburg on Oct. 20.