OREM, Utah – Behind a single-match school record 15 blocks from Makaila Jarema and nine kills and seven blocks from senior Alexis Davies, the Utah Valley University volleyball team capped its 2018 regular season with a 3-1 victory over Western Athletic Conference foe Grand Canyon on Senior Day at UVU on Saturday afternoon (25-17, 25-19, 25-27, 25-21).   
 
With the victory, Utah Valley (17-12, 9-7 WAC) closes its regular season having won six of its last seven matches to earn the No. 4 seed for next week's WAC Volleyball Tournament. The Wolverines will open their 2018 WAC Tournament run against the No. 5 seed and host CSU Bakersfield on Thanksgiving Day at CSUB's Icardo Center. GCU falls to 11-17 on the season and 4-12 in WAC play. The Antelopes were also eliminated from WAC Tournament play with the setback.  
 
Jarema finished with nine kills to go along with her impressive tally of 15 block assists, while UVU's lone senior Davies compiled nine kills on .286 hitting, as well as adding seven blocks and five digs on Senior Day. As a team, UVU recorded an impressive amount of 21.0 total team blocks to GCU's 8.0. The 21.0 team blocks is just one shy of the single-match school record (22.0) that the Wolverines set earlier in the season. 
 
"You always want to win on Senior Day, and this was just a great result," head UVU coach Sam Atoa said. "It was a fun atmosphere and I'm very pleased with the way that we were able to send off Lexi (Alexis Davies) here today. She's someone that a coach dreams to coach. She has worked hard to get to where she has at this point, and has earned everything that she has done. That's exactly what you want as a coach; she truly has given her all for the program." 
 
The Wolverines cruised in the opening set, jumping out to a 7-1 lead. The Lopes close to within two, 9-7, on a service ace, but UVU scored the next four with the last two points coming on kills from Kaili Downs and Kazna Tarawhiti. The cushion remained at least four points the rest of the set, with a service error from GCU ending it.
 
Utah Valley jumped out quickly in the second set as well, scoring five straight early to lead 6-1. A Bailey Nixon kill gave the Wolverines an 8-2 advantage and force a Grand Canyon timeout. Jarema gave UVU a 15-8 lead with a kill before Grand Canyon chipped into the lead with a 5-0 run. The Wolverines led 21-19 after GCU got a kill from Kaira Moss, but UVU would close out the set with four straight, capped by another kill from Nixon.
 
The third set was tight throughout, with GCU's three-point lead early on the largest for either team. The Lopes had game point at 24-23, but Davies tied it with a kill. Another GCU point set up game-point again but this time Jarema kept the Wolverines alive. In the end though, Grand Canyon got a block from Sarah Hagge and Kaira Moss and a Tressa Schuler ace to stay alive and win the set.
 
With the fourth set all knotted up at 14-14 following a 4-1 GCU run, Utah Valley responded with five unanswered points to take a 19-14 lead. Tarawhiti led the spurt with a pair of kills and a block while Kenzie Guimont added two blocks and a kill of her own. The Wolverines later stretched their lead to six at 23-17 following a Lope service error, but Grand Canyon responded by scoring four of the next five to make things interesting at 24-21. UVU managed to put things away, however, on a final kill from the senior Davies in the home match of her collegiate career. 
 
The reigning WAC Offensive Player of the Week Tarawhiti led UVU with 13 kills, while Nixon was right behind her with a new career-high of 12 kills on .393 hitting. Nixon also added a career best tally of five blocks and eight digs on the afternoon. Madi Wardle led the way for the Wolverines in assists with 23 and Seren Merrill paced the team's effort from the back row with a match-high 24 digs. 
 
By finishing with an impressive total of 121 total blocks in WAC-only play. Jarema set a new Western Athletic Conference single-season record. Her stellar 1.92 blocks per set average in conference-only play is also good enough for fifth in the all-time WAC record books. With 316 digs in conference play, Merrill now ranks seventh all-time in the WAC in league-only play. Jarema is also one of the nation's leading blockers with a 1.78 blocks per set average overall on the season.   
 
The fourth-seeded Wolverines will now head to Bakersfield, California, for the 2018 WAC Volleyball Tournament (Nov. 22-24). UVU will open play against the host and fifth-seeded CSUB Roadrunners on Thanksgiving Day at 5:30 p.m. MT/4:30 p.m. PT. The winner will then move on to Friday's semifinal round while the loser will head home. 
 
UT Rio Grande Valley is the WAC's regular-season champion and No. 1 seed, while New Mexico State will enter as the No. 2 seed, UMKC the No. 3 seed and Seattle U the No. 6 seed. 
 
To view the WAC Tournament bracket, click HERE.