RALEIGH, N.C. – With four players in double figures in kills, the Utah Valley University volleyball team won its second consecutive five-set match in come-from-behind fashion on Friday morning at the Wolfpack/Camel Invitational with a 3-2 victory over Appalachian State at NC State's Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh (25-19, 23-25, 27-29, 25-23, 15-11). 
 
The Wolverines (7-3) have now won five in a row and six of their last seven matches, and will go for the weekend sweep on Friday evening at 5 p.m. MT/7 p.m. ET with a match against the host NC State Wolfpack. With the setback, App State, who was picked to finish third in the Eastern Division of the Sun Belt Conference, drops to 4-3 on the year. 
 
The reigning WAC Offensive Player of the Week Kazna Tarawhiti again led UVU with a team-high 19 kills, while Preseason All-WAC selection Kristen Allred followed with 16 and a .371 hitting percentage. Jasmine Niutupuivaha was next with a career-high 14 kills, a solid .500 attack percentage and a match-high four blocks, while Kaili Downs followed with a season-high 11 kills of her own. Madi Wardle topped UVU's three-setter attack with 22 assists and Seren Merrill led the way from the back row with 13 digs. 
 
Trailing two sets to one after dropping back-to-back two-point sets, UVU then responded early in a must-win fourth game by jumping out to a 13-7 advantage. Tarawhiti and Allred paced the run for Utah Valley with two kills apiece. Up 15-10, the Mountaineers then answered with a 7-1 run to take a 17-16 lead. With the score later deadlocked at 21-all, UVU then reeled off back-to-back-to-back points take a late 24-21 advantage. Tarawhiti led the clutch spurt with a solo block and a kill. App State then countered with consecutive points to make it a one-point score at 24-23, but the Wolverines responded on another kill from Tarawhiti to take the fourth game, 25-23, and force a decisive fifth set.
 
UVU then continued to hold the upper hand in the early stages of the fifth set, as it built a quick 5-1 lead thanks to a kill and an ace from Allred. The Mountaineers then responded, however, with a 7-2 run to take an 8-7 advantage. Behind a trio of kills from Allred, as well as a service ace from Merrill and a kill from the freshman Downs, the Wolverines then answered right back with a 5-1 spurt to take a 12-9 lead. App State then looked to make things interesting with back-to-back points, but following a UVU timeout the Wolverines would go on to reel off three unanswered points to put the set (15-11) and the match away (3-2). Downs and Niutupuivaha both pounded home kills for UVU during the decisive stretch along with a key service ace from Wardle. 
 
The victory marked Utah Valley's second of the weekend in less than 24 hours. 
With the opening set all knotted up at 16-16, UVU was the first to pull ahead with a 3-0 spurt take a 19-16 lead. Niutupuivaha and Downs led the spurt for the Wolverines with a kill apiece. With UVU later holding to a 20-18 advantage, Utah Valley managed to score five of the next six points to take the opening set by a score of 25-19. Niutupuivaha, Tarawhiti, Davies and Allred all pounded home kills for the Wolverines down the stretch of the opener.
 
With App State holding to a 9-7 lead in the second set, UVU reeled off five straight points thanks to a pair of kills from Downs and a trio of Mountaineer attack errors to give the Wolverines a 12-9 advantage. With UVU holding to a late 21-17 lead following back-to-back kills from Downs and Niutupuivaha, Appalachian State then made its move with seven unanswered points to take a late 24-21 lead. The Wolverines wouldn't go away, however, as they answered back to consecutive points to make it 24-23, but back responded App State with a clutch kill from Kara Spicer to take the second set, 25-23, and tie the match at 1-1. 
 
The Mountaineers again took an early 9-7 advantage set number three, but back responded Utah Valley with an 8-0 run to take a 15-9 lead. Allred and Niutupuivaha were key for UVU during the spurt with a pair of kills apiece. Leading 17-10, App State then countered back by scoring eight of the next nine points to deadlock the score at 18-18. The set then seesawed back and forth from there until the Mountaineers managed to break a 27-all tie with back-to-back points to take the tightly contested third game that featured 15 ties and seven lead changes by a score of 29-27. 
 
Despite dropping the contest, Melissa McMath led the Mountaineers with a match-high 25 kills, while Spicer added 19 more for App State. 
 
The Wolverines will close the Wolfpack/Camel Invite on Friday evening with a 5 p.m. MT/7 p.m. ET contest at the host NC State Wolfpack. Friday night's showdown will air live on ACC Network Extra/ESPN3. Following the match, UVU will return to Orem to host in-state foe Weber State on Tuesday, Sept. 11 at 6 p.m. MT at Lockhart Arena.