OREM, Utah – Utah Valley University defeated California 3-1 (21-25, 25-15,25-18,26-24) on Thursday night inside the Lockhart Arena in Orem. UVU (2-3) played exceptional defense at the net as UVU out blocked the Bears (2-2) 15-8 as Makayla Broadbent led the charge at the net with eight block assists and one solo. UVU added 12 service aces on the night, with Avery Shewell giving UVU six on the night for 19.5 points.
 
UVU Head Coach Sam Atoa said, "We won this game because of our defense, I feel like we struggled offensively, but we gave ourselves opportunities defensively as we were able to defend both at the net and the back row."
 
California got off to an early start behind seven first-set kills from Lydia Grote to control the match early. The Bears led 5-1 before UVU worked their way back to 6-4 after a Cal attack error and a kill from Tori Dorius. The Bears responded with seven points out of the next eight to take control of set one. Shewell led the UVU offense with four kills in the opening set.
 
In the second set, UVU led 10-6 after a Cal service error and then ran off the following seven points to go up 17-6 as Shewell provided two service aces and two block assists from Jules Fink and Kalea Kennedy. Cal came in as one of the country's top blocking teams, but UVU, in the second set, used 12 block assists for a total of seven team blocks to aid them in the second set victory 25-15.
 
Abbie Miller capped off a 4-0 UVU run to make it 10-6 in the third set as the Wolverines never looked back. Following a quick Cal point, Utah Valley added the second run of 3-0 to pull away at 13-7 and later added a third 3-0 run after two attack errors and block assists from Broadbent and Dorius to put the Wolverines in front 17-9. UVU went on to win the third set 25-18.
 
UVU jumped to a 7-0 lead in the fourth set with two kills from Kazna Tanuvasa and Dorius. Block assists were added from Broadbent and Shewell. Later in the group, UVU led 8-2 before Cal scored four points to bring the set back to 8-6. The set favored UVU at 12-10 when UVU got kills from Kalea Kennedy and Broadbent before a Cal attack error gave them a 15-10 lead. After Cal had gained momentum and tied the set up at 24, UVU took advantage of a Bear attack error before Dorius finished the match with a kill.
 
Dorius led UVU with 12 kills on 24 attacks on the night. Natalie Palmer had a career-high 25 assists, surpassing 500 assists in her UVU career.
 
The Wolverines will enjoy a day off tomorrow for the tournament before meeting Northern Arizona on Sept. 3, 2022, with a 2:00 p.m. first serve. Utah Valley will head to the northeast next weekend for matches against Harvard and Northeastern. Tickets are available at the link above for the match vs. Northern Arizona.