OREM, Utah – The Utah Valley University volleyball team recorded its third straight victory on Tuesday night with a 3-0 sweep over in-state rival Utah State in front of a raucous crowd of 1,197 fans at UVU's Lockhart Arena. 
 
The Wolverines, who have now won four of their last five matches, improve to 5-3 on the season with the victory, while the Aggies drop to 1-6 with the setback.
 
The reigning WAC Offensive Player of the Week Kazna Tarawhiti and sophomore Kristen Allred led the way for the Wolverines with 15 and 10 respective kills, while senior Alexis Davies chipped in seven kills and added five blocks. Freshmen Kenzie Guimont and Kaili Downs too had nice matches for UVU by fronting the team at the net with eight and six blocks, respectively, while junior Madi Wardle notched a team-high 15 assists, sophomore Seren Merrill added a UVU-best 17 digs, and sophomore Jaysa Funk Stratton led the way at the service line with a season-high three aces. 
 
"We did a nice job of taking care of the ball tonight. When we had an opportunity to be able to convert, we put the ball away. We seemed to get better with that as the match went on, and played a seamless game there in the third set," head UVU coach Sam Atoa said. "The crowd was awesome for us. It was great to see the student section filling up before the match even began. It was a fun evening and it was great for us to be able to end up on top."
 
The Aggies were the first to get things going in the opening set, as they jumped out to quick a 7-1 lead. UVU later answered back with a 7-2 run to pull within a point at 11-10. The freshman Downs was key for Utah Valley during the spurt with a kill and a trio of blocks. USU then countered back with a 5-1 spurt of its own to take a 16-11 advantage. The momentum then shifted back in the favor of the Wolverines, as UVU responded with an 8-1 run to take a 19-17 lead. The former Aggie Funk Stratton helped spur the UVU run with a pair of service aces. USU later pulled within a point, at 21-20, but the Wolverines responded by scoring four of the next five points to take the opener, 25-21. The freshman Tarawhiti led UVU in the opening set with six kills, while Guimont added four blocks. 
 
The Aggies again got off to a nice start in the second set, as they opened a 7-3 lead. Utah Valley later bounced back with a 8-1 run to take an 11-8 advantage. Davies paced UVU during the spurt with a kill and a pair of blocks. The Wolverines later extended their lead to 16-11 following a 5-1 run. Allred capped the run with back-to-back service aces. UVU would go on to stretch its lead to seven, at 20-13, but Utah State would answer with a 5-1 run to pull within three at 21-18. Behind a pair of kills from Preseason All-WAC honoree Allred and two more from junior Jasmine Niutupuivaha down the stretch, UVU would go on to take the second set, 25-20, and a 2-0 lead in the match. 
 
Utah Valley continued to hold the upper hand in the early stages of the third game, as it erupted out to a quick 12-3 advantage. Tarawhiti again led UVU during the run with three kills. Utah State would later pull to within six, but that was as close as the Aggies would get the rest of the set as the Wolverines would go on to score the final nine points of the frame to finish off the set with a 25-9 victory. Tarawhiti paced UVU in the third and final set with six kills.
 
As a team, UVU outhit (.220 - .018) and outblocked (13.5 - 8.0) USU on the night.
 
Gabbi Shumway led the Aggies in the contest with eight kills, while the former Wolverine Izzie Hinton-Belnap added five kills and three blocks.   
 
The Wolverines will now head to the East Coast to take part at the NC State/Campbell Invitational in North Carolina this weekend. UVU will first face Campbell in Buies Creek on Thursday at 5 p.m. MT/7 p.m. ET, before heading to Raleigh to face both Appalachian State (9 a.m. MT/11 a.m. ET) and NC State (5 p.m. MT/7 p.m. ET) on Friday. Following the weekend tournament, UVU will return home for an in-state clash against Weber State next Tuesday, Sept. 11.