OREM – Utah Valley is set to host New Mexico State, on Thursday, Sep. 16, in Lockhart Arena. The match is set to begin at 6:00 p.m. This marks the 20th matchup on the court as the Wolverines hold an 5-14 record against the Aggies all-time. UVU took two of three matchups last season, including a thrilling 3-2 reverse sweep by UVU to snap a 34-match WAC winning streak by the Aggies, and a 3-0 sweep by the Wolverines in the WAC Tournament Championship.
New Mexico State is from Las Cruces, N.M., and calls the Western Athletic Conference home. NMSU is 9-3 this season, having swept its last six contests. The Aggies went 16-2 a season ago, winning the regular season WAC title. The Wolverines were the only team to knock off New Mexico State a season ago.
Utah Valley knocked off Idaho State, 3-1 (25-19, 25-22, 25-27, 25-15) and in-state rival Utah State, 3-1 (25-19, 20-25, 25-23, 25-20) in Lockhart Arena, marking the third-straight win the Utah State series for UVU. With the Wolverines' fourth-straight win, UVU improves to 5-5 on the season.
Against Idaho State, Fink led the Wolverines, finishing with 13 kills and tying a career-high with six blocks. Kennedy set career highs with 12 points on 11 kills and an ace while Nock added seven kills and a team-high seven blocks. Miller finished with 32 assists, her third game this season with 30 or more assists, and Palmer chipped in 12 assists and three aces. Bishop led the Utah Valley backline with a game-high 23 digs.
In the matchup with the Aggies, Tanuvasa and Bell led UVU with identical nights of 15 kills, eight digs, and four blocks each. Fink finished with 12 kills and Pollard led the Wolverines with six blocks. Abbie Miller led Utah Valley with 27 assists to go along with four digs and Natalie Palmer chipped in 15 assists and 11 digs. Bishop led the backline with 20 digs to go along with five assists.
Senior outside hitter Kazna Tanuvasa is currently fourth in UVU history in career kills (1352), needing 49 to pass Jessica Endres for third all-time. Tanuvasa also ranks third in career attacks (3448) and third in career points (1513.5). Senior outside hitter Kristen Bell currently ranks eighth in career points (1045.5), eighth in kills (882), and eighth in solo blocks (20). Abbie Miller now currently ranks eighth in career assists with 553 assists.
