LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Utah Valley will take on WAC foe #5 Grand Canyon in the WAC Volleyball Tournament championship on Saturday, Nov. 20. The match is set to begin at 7:00 p.m. MT in the Pan American Center and will be broadcasted on ESPN+. UVU will be playing in the WAC tournamnent championship for the second-straight season, and will be looking repeat as WAC Tournament champions.This marks the 20th matchup between Grand Canyon and Utah Valley on the volleyball court, with UVU holding a 15-4 record. The Wolverines dropped both matchups between GCU and Utah Valley. A season ago, the Lopes and UVU faced off in the WAC Tournament semifinals with the Wolverines coming out victorious, 3-1.
Grand Canyon is from Phoenix, Ariz., and calls the Western Athletic Conference home. GCU is 19-6 this season, including an 9-5 record in WAC play. The Lopes went 11-4 last season, including 11-3 in WAC play.
Kazna Tanuvasa powered Utah Valley to a dominating sweep of WAC foe, #6 Stephen F. Austin to send the Wolverines to the WAC Championship. UVU advances to its third championship match in the last four sea- sons with a chance to repeat as WAC champions. Tanuvasa led the Wolverines with 13 kills to go along with four digs. Bell added 10 kills while Nock chipped in a team-high six blocks. Bishop led with 10 digs to go along with five assists and a pair of aces while Kennedy tied a career-high with four blocks. Abbie Miller finished with a team-high 16 assists to go along with eight digs and Palmer chipped in 11 assists.
Utah Valley senior outside hitter Kazna Tanuvasa has been named to the the All-WAC First Team, league officials announced on Wednesday. Tanuvasa becomes the first Wolverine to be named a first team all- conference performer in four-consecutive seasons. The All-Conference honors are voted on by the WAC's head coaches. Freshman outside hitter Jules Fink was nominated to the WAC All-Freshman team.
The Wolverines currently rank #11 in the nation in blocks/set assists as a team with 2.68 blocks per set.432. Utah Valley also ranks in the top 15 in the country in both total blocks (265.0) and blocks assists (432) as a team. UVU leads the WAC in each of those categories. Sadie Hamson and Kendra Nock lead the Wolverines while ranking first and second in the WAC in blocks/set. Nock also leads the WAC in total blocks.
Senior outside hitter Kazna Tanuvasa is currently second in UVU history in career kills (1576), needing 25 to pass Kayli Doxey for the most all-time. Tanuvasa also ranks third in career attacks (4114), third in career points (1766.5), and 10th in solo blocks (19). Senior outside hitter Kristen Bell currently ranks fifth in kills (1027), seventh in career points (1225.5), fourth in career attacks (3232), sixth in solo blocks (26), and eighth in aces (80). Abbie Miller now currently ranks eighth in career assists with 889 assists.
