SALT LAKE CITY – Kazna Tanuvasa broke Utah Valley University's all-time kills record in Friday's season opener against No. 23 Kansas at the Utah Classic inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center. The Wolverines dropped the match in three sets (20-25, 14-25, 19-25) to the Big 12 Jayhawks. The Wolverine (0-2) also fell later Friday to Loyola Marymount in three sets (14-25, 19-25, 17-25).
Tanuvasa surpassed Kayli Doxey — who will provide color commentary on UVU home broadcasts this season — with her sixth kill of the match and finished with a team-high eight in the contest. The record-breaking kill came early in the third set and was number 1,601 in Tanuvasa's career, to supplant the nearly 12-year-old mark.
In the opener against Kansas, the Jayhawks used an early run in the first set to pull away from UVU. The Wolverines came within one at 5-4 before the Jayhawks ran off eight straight to take a 13-5 lead. A kill by Tanuvasa would end the the run but Kansas kept a cushion throughout the rest of the set to take the opener.
The Jayhawks used a 6-1 run to open set two. The Wolverines got back within four at 13-9 after a kill from
Jules Fink, but Kansas answered with six straight to pull away 19-10 before finishing the set at 25-14.
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Kalea Kennedy kill made it 5-4 KU early in the third set, but that's as close as Utah Valley would come the remainder of the match. The Wolverines stayed within striking distance and got within three on Tanuvasa's record-breaking kill. Kennedy later had back-to-back kills to make it 18-13, then added a block assist with
Makayla Broadbent to get UVU within four and a Tanuvasa service ace made it 21-18. The Jayhawks finished off the match by scoring four of the last five points, ending it with their defense to add to their total of 10.0 blocks in the match.
Tanuvasa led UVU with eight kills in the game,
Bryton Nixon added seven digs, and
Makayla Broadbent added three blocks. Kansas' Anezka Szabo had a match-high 11 kills.
Against Loyola Marymount, the Wolverines jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the opening set behind three service aces — two coming from
Natalie Palmer to begin the match. The Lions responded though, chipping into that lead and eventually taking a 10-9 lead during a 9-3 run that eventually became a stretch of 20 of 24 points going LMU's way. UVU dropped the opening set 25-14 with Loyola Marymount hitting .409 to go along with four blocks in the set.
The Wolverines led 12-11 in the second set before a 7-1 run by the Lions put Utah Valley in a 19-13 hole en route to the 25-19 victory for LMU. The third and final set saw a run of seven straight by Loyola Marymount that broke a 6-6 tie and gave the Lions a 13-6 lead on their way to the victory.
Tanuvasa again led the way for Utah Valley with seven kills while
Tori Dorius added six. Loyola Marymount got a match-high 10 kills from Audrey Kemp while the team hit .375 overall and also totaled 9.0 blocks.
The Wolverines will close out the weekend on Saturday against No. 22 Utah, the host of the tournament, at 4 p.m. MT. Utah Valley will host Cal Poly on Monday at 6 p.m. MT in the 2022 home opener. Tickets are available at
GoUVU.com/tickets.
