OREM—Kazna Tanuvasa recorded 10 kills with 12 digs, while Tori Dorius had 11 kills to lead the Utah Valley volleyball team to a 3-0 shutout win over California Baptist on Thursday evening at Lockhart Arena. Utah Valley improves to 12-12 overall and 6-6 in WAC play. CBU falls to 13-10 overall and 8-5 in league play.
The Wolverines jumped out to a 7-2 lead after UVU forced CBU into back-to-back attack errors. The Lancers came out of a time out to score four unanswered points to cut the UVU lead to 8-6. Natalie Palmer connected on a service ace to spark a run of three straight UVU kills to extend the lead to four points, 12-8. Leading 20-15, UVU scored four straight points to jump out to a 24-15 advantage before a Dorius kill secured set one, 25-17.
Leading 5-4 in set two, Kaili Downs recorded a kill as UVU scored three straight points to extend the lead to an 8-4 advantage. The Wolverines held on to the four-point lead midway through the match, 18-14, but CBU then scored four of the next five points to cut UVU's lead to just one point, 19-18. UVU rallied with three of the next four points with take a 22-19 lead. UVU held on to the lead down the stretch with kills by Tanuvasa, Sadie Hamson, and Kristen Bell to win the second set, 25-23.
The third set included four ties as the two teams played to a 6-6 tie on a kill by Jules Fink. UVU had a run of six straight points to take a three-point, 9-6 lead. Leading 12-11, UVU's Makayla Pollard knocked down a kill to spark a 5-0 run as the Wolverines jumped out to a 17-11 lead. CBU rallied with five straight points to cut the UVU lead back to just one point, 17-16. Utah Valley then scored five of the next six points as UVU went up by five points, 22-17. The Wolverines scored three of the final points with kills by Tanuvasa and Bell as Utah Valley won the third set, 25-21, to secure the 3-0 shutout.
Dorius led the Wolverine attack with a match-high 11 kills on 25 total attacks. She also had a block and an assist. Tanuvasa had 10 kills on 22 attacks for a .318 hitting mark and a .455 kills percentage. She added 12 digs for the double-double. Tanuvasa also had three blocks, one assist, and a service ace. Abbie Miller led the Wolverines with 19 assists, followed by Natalie Palmer with 17.
As a team, Utah Valley tallied 42 kills with 52 digs and 41 assists. The Wolverines limited CBU to 30 kills with 48 digs and 28 assists.
Utah Valley will wrap up regular season play at home on Saturday, Nov. 13 against Seattle U for Senior Night. Opening serve is set for 1 p.m.
