EDINBURG, Texas — The Wolverines hit the road for its final road trip of the season, taking on UT Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg, Texas on Monday and Tuesday, March 15-16, in UTRGV Fieldhouse. Monday's match is set to begin at 5:00 p.m. MT and Tuesday's contest will start at 11:00 a.m. MT.
UTRGV is currently 2-10 on the season and 2-8 in WAC play. The Vaqueros were picked to finish third in the conference in the preseason WAC poll. The Vaqueros are led by preseason All-WAC junior libero/outside hitter Samaret Caraballo and senior middle blocker Veronika Jandova. The Wolverines and Vaqueros have met 41 times with UVU holding a 32-9 record, including an 11-6 record one the road. The Wolverines have won three of the last four contests, including 3-0 sweep of the Vaqueros in the WAC quarterfinals a year ago. UVU and UTRGV split during the regular season a year ago with UT Rio Grande Valley winning in five sets in Edinburg.
The Wolverines split last week's series with WAC-leader, New Mexico State, in Lockhart Arena. Utah Valley stormed back from a 2-0 deficit to hand New Mexico State its first loss of the season, 3-2 (24-26, 20-25, 25-20, 25-22, 18-16) in the first match. The loss snapped a 34-match win streak for the Aggies against WAC opponents and is the first loss since UVU handed NM State a 3-2 loss on Nov. 3, 2018, in Lockhart Arena. Utah Valley dropped the series finale against New Mexico State, 3-0 (23-25, 18-25, 16-25) in Lockhart Arena.
Senior libero Seren Jardine ranks third all-time in UVU history with 1714 digs. Jardine needs 18 digs to move into second place, passing Allyce Jones (1731) and needs just 34 digs to pass Mckenna Tait (1747 )to become the school's all-time leader in digs for a career. Jardine also now ranks in the top 10 for career services aces with 67 and second all-time in service attempts with 1512.
Junior outside hitter Kazna Tanuvasa (1122) passed Lauren Bakker for fourth all-time in career kills. The Orem native is 280 kills away from passing Jessica Endres (1401) for third in the record books. Tanuvasa (2999) also passed Lexi Thompson (2802) for fourth in total attacks and now needs 161 more attacks to pass Endres for third. Tanuvasa also ranks sixth in career points (1254.5) and needs just 53 points to enter the top five. Senior setter Jaysa Funk Stratton (1128) became the seventh player in UVU history reach the 1000 assist plateau. Funk Stratton is also an ace away from ranking in the top 10 in career service aces. Junior outside hitter Kristen Bell now ranks in the top 10 in career kills with 735 career kills.
