OREM, Utah – Utah Valley's women's volleyball team completes a four-match homestand as they welcome in UT Rio Grande Valley on Saturday, Oct. 7 at 1:00 p.m. MT, and Seattle U will visit Orem on Monday, Oct. 9 at 6:00 p.m. MT. Both matches are set to air on ESPN+ with live stats on UVUstats.com.
The Wolverines were swept by Stephen F. Austin and UT Arlington last weekend in the first home conference matches of the year. UVU's senior setter
Abbie Medeiros recorded her 100
th career service ace in the win over UTA. She entered last weekend tied with her former teammate
Kazna Tanuvasa for seventh with 99 aces. Her next milestone is 1,800 career assists, as she needs 11 for the accolade.
Kendra Nock is currently 11
th in total blocks with 264 after passing Jaicee Kuresa last weekend, and she is currently second on the team in total blocks with 38 on the year. Senior
Caleigh Vagana leads UVU with 58.
Senior
Tori Ellis became the 11
th in program history to achieve 800 career kills. She needs 17 kills to pass Kalani Norris and enter the Top 10 with 822 kills, and she can also move into the Top 10 in career points as she needs seven points to pass Norris for 10
th in points.
ABOUT UTRGV
The Vaqueros enter Orem at 10-8 and 4-1 in WAC play. They have won three straight matches by sweeping their opponents. Junior setter Luanna Emiliano helps run the offense and averages nearly ten assists a set. She has been great from the service line, leading UTRGV in service aces with 26. Luisa Silva Dos Santos is second on the team with 148 kills, as the duo made up the two preseason All-WAC selections.
ABOUT SEATTLE U
The Redhawks enter Orem 5-11 and 0-5 during WAC competition. They have been swept in four of their five conference matches. Ariana Bilby leads the offense attack with 205 kills and 3.60 kills/set and is leading the conference in attacks/set. Freshman Naima Foster is third with over ten attacks per set.
LORI RICHARDS MEMORIAL PINK GAME
Lori Richards was the head coach for UVSC's highly successful women's volleyball program for 18 years, from 1981 to 1998.
Highly respected in collegiate volleyball circles, Richards was named to the NJCAA Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2000 after posting 482 career wins. In her final year at UVSC, she was named the NJCAA Coach of the Year after leading the Wolverines to a 46-9 record. UVSC was ranked as high as third in the nation that season, and the 46 wins Richards earned were the most ever for a Wolverine team.
Richards had an admirable .743 overall career winning percentage at UVSC, with a 482-167 record. In Scenic West Athletic Conference play alone, she was even more impressive with an .815 percentage. In 18 years, she won 10 conference titles and had a 145-33 league record. She won four region titles and finished as high as third in the nation at the NJCAA nationals. She was named Region Coach of the Year four times. Her teams were perennial conference, regional, and national contenders.
After retiring from coaching in 1998, Richards stayed on at UVSC as a member of the health and physical education faculty. In 2001, she was named the Teacher of the Semester, as voted on by the UVSC athletes.
Before coming to UVSC, Richards coached two years at BYU and a year in Hawaii. Previous to that, she was an outstanding collegiate volleyball player at BYU and at Long Beach City College in California.
Richards and her husband, Dave, resided in Orem, Utah. They had four children: Lauren, Kristen, Andrew, and Taylor. Lori passed away on February 4, 2012.
Tickets can be purchased for both matches this weekend. Fans attending the match on Monday who wear pink will be admitted for free. It is also Family Night, where UVU is offering tickets for $2.00.
The Wolverines will travel starting next week for the next four with matches at Utah Tech on Oct. 12 at 5:00 p.m. MT and Southern Utah on Oct. 14 at 1:00 p.m. MT.
