OREM – 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 Lockhart Arena. The loss snaps a 34-match win streak for the Aggies against WAC opponents and is the first loss since the Wolverines handed NM State a 3-2 loss on Nov. 3, 2018, in Lockhart Arena.
 
With the win, UVU improves to 9-3 on the season, including 9-2 in WAC play. The Aggies fall to 10-1 on the year and 10-1 in conference play.

"They are a really good team and they execute at a high level and our adjustments allowed us to catch up and gave us a chance," said Utah Valley head volleyball coach Sam Atoa. New Mexico State did a nice job of running their quick offense and we were struggling to catch up at first. We made some adjustments to get in the right positions which allowed us to get some defensive help.  We focused on controlling what we could control and that combination led to our turnaround.
 
"The last two points ended up being blocks that we had been working on and after struggling with that early, we were able to get five blocks in the fifth set. In athletics, there are going to be times when players aren't able to play and our team really rallied around playing for Kazna tonight with everyone stepping up a little bit and coming together to execute and to get the win without her."
 
Both teams alternated the first 11 points of the first set as UVU got out to a 7-5 lead. After going back and forth again, the Wolverines scored three-straight points to extend its lead to 11-7. NM State countered with a 7-1 run to take a 14-12 lead. The Aggies extended its advantage to 19-16 before Utah used a 4-0 run to retake the lead, 20-19. After NM State tied it back up at 21 apiece, the Wolverines scored three of the next four points to get to set point, 24-22. The Aggies scored the set's final four points to rally and take the first set, 26-24.
 
New Mexico State got off to an early 5-3 lead before the Wolverines rallied with a 6-2 run to take a 9-7 advantage. The Aggies countered with a 7-1 surge to push its lead out to 14-10. UVU chipped away at the deficit, cutting the lead down to 19-17 but were unable to get any closer as NM State took the second set, 25-20, extending its lead to 2-0.
 
After falling behind 3-1 in the third set, UVU ripped off three-straight points to take the lead at 4-3. The Aggies responded with a 10-5 run to give NM State a 13-9 advantage but UVU surged ahead with an 11-3 run, giving the Wolverines a 20-16 lead. The Aggies trimmed the lead down to two but UVU scored the final three points of the set to give Utah Valley the set, 25-20, snapping a 20-set win streak by the Aggies. The five-point loss is also tied for the largest loss of the season for NM State.
 
The Aggies came out hot in the fourth set, getting out to an early 4-1 lead. UVU ripped off a 6-1 run to take an 7-5 advantage. After going back and forth, Utah Valley scored three-straight points to push its lead to 11-7. NM State countered with three-straight points of its own to cut the lead down to 11-10. Both teams went back and forth before the Wolverines took control of the set with a 6-0 run to extend its lead to 21-14. The Aggies rallied with a 4-0 run but were unable to challenge from there as UVU took the second set, 25-22, tying the match up at two sets apiece, marking the first time all season that NMSU has lost multiple sets.
 
UVU raced ahead to start the final set, 4-1. NM State chipped away at the lead but Utah Valley used a 3-0 burst to extend its lead to 9-4. With the Wolverines up 12-8, roared back with a 7-2 run to put the UVU on the brink of losing the match, 15-14. A kill by Tori Dorius kept the Wolverines alive before another Aggie point against put Utah Valley on the edge, 16-15. After a long rally, Jaysa Funk Stratton ripped a kill across the court to tie the set up, 16-16. Sadie Hamson led two straight UVU blocks to close out the set, giving the Wolverines the win, 18-16, in the set and 3-2 for the match.
 
Funk Stratton set a new career-high for assists, finishing the night with a game-high 35 helpers to go along with nine digs, and three blocks. Kristen Bell led the Wolverines with 17 kills to go along with five digs while Dorius chipped in 13 kills and three blocks. Caleigh Vagana added a career-high eight kills and four kills and  Hamson finished with seven kills and a team-high six blocks. Seren Jardine led UVU with 13 digs, Abbie Miller collected 12 digs and seven assists, and Abbie Vincent finished with eight digs.
 
The Wolverines will wrap up the series with New Mexico State in Lockhart Arena on Tuesday, March 9. The match is set to begin at 12:00 p.m. MT. UVU then hits 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.