OREM, Utah – Utah Valley University defeated New Mexico State University 3-1 (25-18,36-28,25-22, 25-20) on Thursday night in front of 2,067. It was the third-largest crowd inside Lockhart Arena since 2003. Utah Valley (16-7, 10-1) was led by Tori Dorius and Avery Shewell, with 11 kills each in the match. NM State (12-11, 4-7) could not overcome 30 attack errors in the match.  
 
"That was a huge win for us. We didn't pass the best, but we did what we needed to execute our plan. I was happy with how we served and played defense today. It was a great team effort," said UVU head coach Sam Atoa.
 
Utah Valley set the tone early without having an attack error in the opening set. UVU went up 111-8 after kills from Shewell and Kazna Tanuvasa and an Aggie attack error. A 4-0 run a few minutes later put the Wolverines up 17-10 as UVU held control for the rest of the set.  Shewell had six of her 11 kills in the opening set to pace the Wolverines to a 25-18 win.
 
New Mexico State trailed 20-16 late in the second set before Molly Johnson, and Katie Birctil sparked an Aggie comeback as they came out on top 28-26. The Wolverines were limited offensively in the set to just a .047 hit percentage. Caleigh Vagana made her presence felt at the net with three block assists in the set for UVU.
 
It was the Wolverines' turn to come back in the third set after trailing 7-1. UVU turned up the pressure and used a 6-1 run to get the set back to 10-8 and took their first lead at 15-14 after a 5-0 run a few points later as Shewell and Dorius provided an offensive spark for UVU. The set was tied later at 21-21 before UVU would get kills from Kalea Kennedy, Vagana, and Dorius to help put the set away 25-22.
 
UVU pulled out the fourth set after a back-and-forth set. UVU used an 8-1 to close out the set and match. Ke'ilani Sedrick came up and provided a service ace before kills from Shewell and Kennedy before Vagana added one of her match-high ten blocks, and Dorius added one of her eight-block assists to secure the victory.
 
Utah Valley had a team-high 25 blocks in the match. Abbie Miller added 20 assists, and Bryton Nixon had 19 digs for UVU. Johnson led NM State with a match-high 18 kills. Utah Valley now has the program's longest winning streak in the Division I era at nine straight victories.
 
Utah Valley will close out the home schedule on Saturday, Nov. 5, with a 1:00 p.m. match against UT Rio Grande Valley. UTRGV and UVU are tied right now at 10-1 in WAC play, with three matches left. The Wolverines will also host senior day at Lockhart Arena. The Wolverines wrap up WAC play next week with matches at California Baptist on Nov. 10 and Grand Canyon on Nov. 12.