UTAH VALLEY at CALIFORNIA BAPTIST
Thursday, Nov. 1  |  8 p.m. MT/7 p.m. PT
Van Dyne Gym  |  Riverside, Calif.
WAC Digital Network  |  Live Stats  |  UVU Notes  |  CBU Notes

UTAH VALLEY vs. NEW MEXICO STATE
Saturday, Nov. 3  |  1 p.m. MT
Lockhart Arena   |  Orem, Utah
WAC Digital Network  |  Live Stats  |  UVU Notes  |  NMSU Notes  |  Tickets
 

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WOLVERINES TO PLAY AT CBU THURSDAY, HOST NM STATE SATURDAY
OREM, Utah – Fresh off of a 3-1 conference victory over Seattle U last week, the Utah Valley University women's volleyball team will continue Western Athletic Conference play with a pair of tough matches this week. UVU will first head to Riverside, California, for a Thursday (Nov. 1) contest at first-place California Baptist, before returning home to host the three-time defending WAC champion New Mexico State Aggies on Saturday (Nov. 3). 
 
Thursday's contest at new WAC member California Baptist is set for an 8 p.m. MT/7 p.m. PT start at CBU's Van Dyne Gym, while Saturday's home match against NM State will begin at 1 p.m. MT at UVU's Lockhart Arena. Both matches will be streamed live on the WAC Digital Network, and live stats will be available for Thursday's at CBULancers.com as well as Saturday's on UVUStats.com.
 
UVU will enter the week with a 12-11 overall record and currently in sixth place in the WAC standings with a 4-6 league record. After dropping a pair of road matches at NM State and UT Rio Grande Valley two weeks ago, the Wolverines responded with a 3-1 home win over Seattle U last week. 
 
After dropping the opening set to Seattle U (25-22), UVU responded to win the next three (25-20, 26-24, 26-24) to take the tightly contested conference contest. Trailing the Redhawks 22-15 in the fourth and final set, the Wolverines managed to reel off a clutch 11-2 run to finish of the match in four sets with a 26-24 come from behind fourth-set victory. 
 
Freshman Kazna Tarawhiti led UVU in last week's contest against SU by recording a match-high 19 kills on .292 hitting. She also added her sixth double-double of the season with 10 digs. Sophomore Kristen Allred too played well by notching her team-high eighth double-double of the year with 10 kills and 16 digs, while junior Makaila Jarema led the way at the net with six blocks, junior Madi Wardle fronted the team's efforts from the setter position with 24 assists and seven digs, and sophomore Seren Merrill led the way from the back row with 23 digs. 
 
Tarawhiti leads Utah Valley and the WAC on the season offensively with 387 total kills and a 4.12 kills per set average. She also will enter the weekend ranked 17th nationally in points (430.0), 18th nationally in total kills, 21st in total attacks (1058), 38th in attacks per set (11.26), 40th in kills per set, and 44th in points per set (4.57). Jarema also tops the WAC in blocks with a 1.50 per set clip. Her 1.50 blocks per set average would also be good enough to rank her ninth nationally if she had played in enough total sets on the season to qualify for the statistical minimums.
 
As a team, the Wolverines will enter the weekend leading the WAC and ranked 13th nationally in total blocks with a total of 243.5, as well as 38th in blocks per set average (2.54). 
 
WAC STANDINGS UPDATE
California Baptist will enter Thursday's match leading the WAC standings with a 9-3 conference clip. UMKC and UTRGV are just a half a game back tied for second place with identical 8-3 records, while NM State is in fourth at 7-3 and CSU Bakersfield fifth at 5-6. UVU then sits in sixth with a 4-6 league record, Grand Canyon follows in seventh at 3-7, Seattle U eighth at 2-8 and Chicago State ninth at 2-9. The top six teams will advance to the WAC Tournament other than CBU, as the Lancers are currently transitioning from NCAA Division II to Division I Athletics and ineligible for postseason competition. 
 
ABOUT THE OPPOSITION
The Lancers are 19-6 overall and will enter Thursday's match leading the WAC standings with a 9-3 record. CBU had won eight straight matches until falling to UMKC in four sets at home in their most recent contest last Saturday. California Baptist is in its first season of NCAA Div. I competition this season after recently making the move from the DII ranks. The Lancers were picked to finish eighth in their first season of WAC play this season but went 29-1 overall in 2017, which included a NCAA DII West Regional appearance in its final year of DII competition last season.
 
Tesa Oaks leads California Baptist offensively and ranks third in the WAC with a 3.65 kills per set average, while Yagod Jedrzejczak paces play at the net with a 0.98 blocks per set clip. Natalie Zimmerer is the WAC's assist leader with a 10.71 assists per set average. 
 
Thursday's contest will mark just the second all-time meeting between UVU and CBU. California Baptist holds a 1-0 series advantage after pulling out a five-set thriller over Utah Valley on Sept. 27 in Orem (16-25, 18-25, 25-14, 25-17, 15-17). 
 
New Mexico State will enter the week with a 17-6 overall record and currently in fourth in the WAC standings with a 7-3 league mark. The Aggies had won seven straight until falling in their most recent contest to UTRGV in five sets at home last Saturday. The setback snapped a 20-match home winning streak. NM State was again picked to win the WAC this season after having won the conference title in each of the past three seasons. 
 
Two-time first team All-WAC performer Tatyana Battle leads the Aggies and ranks fifth in the WAC with a 3.36 kills per set average. Julianna Salanoa fronts the team at the net with a 1.13 blocks per set clip, while Megan Hart leads NM State and ranks third in the WAC with a .347 hitting percentage. 
 
Saturday's match will mark the 12th all-time meeting between the Wolverines and Aggies. NM State will enter play holding to a 9-2 series lead and having won eight of the last nine matches, which includes a 3-1 victory over UVU in Las Cruces on Oct. 18. Utah Valley is 2-3, however, against the Aggies in Orem. 
 
UP NEXT FOR UVU
The Wolverines will next head to the Midwest for their final road trip of the regular season next week, as they'll play at UMKC on Thursday, Nov. 8 and at Chicago State on Saturday, Nov. 10. UVU will then close its regular season by hosting CSU Bakersfield (Nov. 15) and Grand Canyon (Nov. 17). The WAC Tournament will then be held on Nov. 22-24 in Bakersfield, California.