LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Utah Valley continues on the road for its final road match of the season with a rematch of last year's WAC Volleyball Tournament Championship against New Mexico State. The match is set to begin at 1:00 p.m. MT and will be broadcasted on ESPN+. This marks the 21st matchup between New Mexico State and Utah Valley on the volleyball court, with UVU holding a 5-15 record. The Wolverines dropped the previous matchup this season, 3-1, in Orem.
New Mexico State is from Las Cruces, N.M., and calls the Western Athletic Conference home. NMSU is 17-7 this season, including an 8-4 record in WAC play. The Aggies went 16-2 last season, including a loss to the Wolverines in the WAC Volleyball Tournament championship.
Kazna Tanuvasa moved into third all-time in school history for career points as Utah Valley fell to conference foe, Grand Canyon, 3-1 (23-25, 24-26, 25-21, 17-25) on the road. Tanuvasa led the Wolverines with a 20 kill, 10 dig double-double.
Kristen Bell added 16 digs to go along with a team-high five total blocks while
Sadie Hamson and
Kendra Nock chipped in four blocks each.
Abbie Miller finished with 19 assists and six digs and
Natalie Palmer had a 17 assist, 12 dig double-double.
Bryton Bishop led UVU with 17 digs to go along with four assists.
With her 23 points, senior outside hitter
Kazna Tanuvasa passed Jessica Endres for third all-time in UVU history for career points. She also became just the third player in school history to surpass 1700 career points. Tanuvasa is now just three kills away from passing Camie Manwill for second on the all-time kills leaderboard at Utah Valley after becoming the third player with over 1500 career kills.
The Wolverines currently rank #16 in the nation in block assists as a team with 378. Utah Valley also ranks in the top 25 in the country in both total blocks (176.5) and blocks/set (2.67) as a team, good enough for #20 and #22 in the nation, respectively. UVU leads the WAC in each of those categories.
Kendra Nock and
Sadie Hamson lead the Wolverines with each ranking in the top 60 in the country in blocks/set. Nock also leads the WAC in blocks/set.
Senior outside hitter
Kazna Tanuvasa is currently third in UVU history in career kills (1518), needing three to pass Camie Manwill for second all-time. Tanuvasa also ranks third in career attacks (3986) and third in career points (1701). Senior outside hitter
Kristen Bell currently ranks seventh in career points (1172), sixth in kills (985), fifth in career attacks (3115), seventh in solo blocks (24), and eighth in aces (75).
Abbie Miller now currently ranks eighth in career assists with 794 assists.
