PROVO, Utah – The Utah Valley volleyball team slated the opening of the 2019 season against #16 Marquette (14-25, 18-25, 22-25) and #9 BYU (21-25, 21-25, 20-25), dropping both contests Friday night at the Smith Fieldhouse in Provo.
 
UVU found themselves in a point-for-point fight right out of the gate in set one versus Marquette, tying the score back and forth at 10-10, until a pair of kills from Hope Werch pushed the Golden Eagles ahead. MU took their biggest lead over the Wolverines at 11-14 with a run of kills. Despite a late rush of points from Utah Valley, Marquette finished the first set, 25-14.
 
Utah Valley came out in the second set to a 4-1 lead, with a momentum-building kill from sophomore Kaili Downs, followed by a monster double-block from Jasmine Niutupuivaha and Kazna Tarawhiti. A trickle of diving digs from libero Seren Merrill, accompanied by Tarawhiti's strong play at the net pushed both the Wolverines and the Golden Eagles to a tied game at 14-14. Another point-for-point finish would end the Wolverines stand in the second set due to an MU ride of points and Marquette's Allie Barber power at the net, to place the Golden Eagles on top, 18-25.
 
In the closest and final set of the morning against Marquette, the Wolverines battled back from a 3-7 deficit to take a mid-set lead, 15-14 over the Golden Eagles. UVU and Marquette would answer play-for-play until MU pulled away with a pair of hits down the UVU corner and an ace at the back line late in the third to top the Wolverines, 22-25. Despite the loss, UVU outblocked Marquette, 7-2.
 
Tarawhiti opened a strong sophomore campaign on the front row, leading the Wolverines against Marquette with 13 kills and 10 digs to tally a .241% hitting average. Tarawhiti would later add another 11 kills against BYU for 24 kills on opening day for Utah Valley.
 
Barber helped Marquette to their three-set victory with 14 kills to average a .444% hitting percentage, followed by teammate Hope Werch with 8 kills.
 
Against long-time rival BYU, the Wolverines battled in the opening night cap, setting an even pace of points earned between both teams. BYU gradually went up against UVU at a 3-8 lead, but a string of five hits from UVU's side of the net shaved BYU's lead to 14-17. Back-to-back blocks from Makaila Jarema would keep UVU in a late 19-20 contest with the Cougars. A pair of attack errors on the Wolverines proved costly, and Utah Valley would come up just short in set one at 21-25.
 
UVU went down 1-4 right away in the second set, but a handful of reception and attack errors on the Cougars' side of the court allowed the Wolverines to come back to even the score early at 5-5. Through the middle of the second set, UVU and BYU would go back and forth at 15-15. BYU's Heather Gneiting and Taylen Ballard-Nixon would scrape together a string of kills to put the Cougars on top of the Wolverines at 18-16. Kills from Jarema and Tarawhiti kept the Wolverines in it late into the second, forcing a close 21-23 as BYU's head coach Heather Olmstead called a timeout. BYU came out to finish the set with a kill down the line followed by a double-block to end the set, 21-25.
 
Tarawhiti and Jarema opened up the third set strong with a pair of back-to-back stuff blocks to put the Wolverines at their largest lead of the night, 7-3. A late surge of kills to respond from BYU put UVU in the backseat, 13-19, where the Cougars took over the remainder of the third set, outhitting UVU 16-8, for a finishing score of 20-25.

"I was proud of the way the team battled tonight," commented UVU's head coach Sam Atoa, "We gave ourselves chances in all three set, which only happened because we came prepared to work hard and fight. Even with the loss, good things are happening on the court and I couldn't be more excited for this teams future."
 
Utah Valley will face-off against the Broncos of Boise State on Saturday, August 31 at 12 p.m. back in the Smith Fieldhouse to close out opening tournament play of the 2019 season for the Wolverines.