OREM, Utah – Utah Valley University defeated the University of Texas Arlington 3-1 (25-16, 25-23, 23-25, 25-23). UVU (10-7, 4-1) recorded 16 blocks on the night as
Caleigh Vagana had a career night with ten kills and nine blocks,
Tori Dorius added 11 kills with seven blocks, and
Kazna Tanuvasa had 15 kills to lead UVU offensively. UTA (11-7, 3-3) was led by Brooke Townsend who had 15 kills.
"I was proud of the poise and fight from our team especially when it mattered. Winning those close sets are huge for us. I was excited for Caleigh both on offense and defense. She played awesome for us," said UVU head coach
Sam Atoa.
Utah Valley used a 7-0 run in the first set to go up 11-6. The run featured two blocks from Dorius, two blocks from
Makayla Broadbent, who added a kill, and one kill from Tanuvasa. Later in the set, UVU used a 6-0 run to push their lead to 22-12 after three Dorius kills and two kills from Vagana. The Wolverines held control of the first set for a 25-16. The Wolverines hit .409 in the first set, while UT Arlington had -.032.
UTA held an early lead in the second set before the Wolverines went on a 7-1 run in the second set to go up 14-11. The UVU front row directly impacted the set with kills from Tanuvasa and Broadbent, and three assists from
Natalie Palmer aided UVU on the run. The Mavericks kept the set close, trailing 16-15 before a 3-0 UT Arlington run swung the momentum of the set in UTA's favor, and later, they won the set 25-23.
The Mavericks held a 9-7 lead in the third before
Avery Shewell scored the next three points on a kill, solo block, and a block assist during a 5-0 run for UVU to put the Wolverines in front 11-9. UVU's defense started to chip into the UTA lead with back-to-back blocks from Kennedy and Vagana to tie the match at 21-21. The set ended on an 8-2 UVU run that included a service ace from
Chloie Brinton. Vagana and Dorius teamed up for a block assist in the important stretch.
UVU came from behind in the fourth set after trailing 7-3 early in the set as they started outscoring UTA two to one on every point. The Wolverines rallied to go up 18-15 with two straight kills from Vagana. The Mavericks made a late push at 24-20, but the Wolverines got the 25-23 set four victory. Utah Valley improves now to 6-0 in four-set matches this year.
The Wolverines will return to the court on Saturday, Oct. 15, when they host Stephen F. Austin for an 11:00 a.m. contest. Utah Tech visits Lockhart Arena on Oct. 20 in the Old Hammer Rivalry before UVU plays the next three matches on the road.
