OREM, Utah - The Wolverines took on the Kansas City 'Roos Thursday morning in Lockhart Arena, a matchup between two out of three teams tied for second-place in WAC standings. Utah Valley dropped the match in a five-set contest, 2-3 (25-22, 22-25, 27-25, 23-25, 11-15).
In a first set victory over UMKC, UVU found themselves on top with a 8-3 lead early in the opening game. Kills from
Kaili Downs and
Kazna Tarawhiti would extend the lead to 12-4 and the Wolverines would maintain the lead through the rest of the first contest.
Jasmine Niutupuivaha posted three kills while
Makaila Jarema and Tarawhiti both added a pair in the opening win.
Sets two and three became point-for-point battles, with eleven total lead changes between both games. Tarawhiti led Utah Valley with 10 kills in the two sets, followed by
Megan Childs with six and Downs with five. Both teams marked a set, with Utah Valley still on top 2-1 as they headed to the fourth set.
Kansas City went on to claim the last two sets of the match, (23-25, 11-25). Both Childs and Tarawhiti posted five kills in the fourth set and one in the fifth and final set. UVU now moves to a 3-2 WAC record for a 6-11 overall record.
Tarawhiti posted another double-double against UMKC for now seven double-double's on the season as she collected 18 kills and 16 digs for the match. Jarema led UVU with six blocks on the day, while Childs took the net with 11 kills and four blocks and Niutupuivaha tallied nine kills and five blocks.
Utah Valley will meet Cal Baptist on Saturday, October 12 in Lockhart Arena beginning at 1pm MT.
