OREM, Utah – Utah Valley women's volleyball will make their final road trip of the season and their first-ever trip to UT Arlington and Stephen F. Austin. All other meetings have taken place in Orem or on a neutral floor.
The Wolverines are coming off a pair of sweeps over Abilene Christian and Tarleton State. As they used their defense at the net to set the tone, UVU had their most total blocks in a three-set match with 21 against the Wildcats. Senior outside
Tori Ellis led the way recording a double-double with 13 kills and 11 blocks, as
Caleigh Vagana added ten, and
Kendra Nock added eight.
Utah Valley turned the defense into offense with a sweep of Tarleton State as they hit .460 over the match, with
Avery Shewell recording 15 kills on 21 attacks for a .714 hitting percentage. Ellis and Vagana finished with a .500 hitting percentage for the match. Nock added an impressive four kills in five attempts while adding five blocks in the match.
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS
The Mavericks enter the matchup 17-8 on the year and are currently tied with UVU with a 6-6 WAC record. They are led by outside Brianna Ford, who has tallied 359 kills on the year and averages 3.99 kills/set. UTA leads the WAC and is 13th in the country in assists per set, with setter Mollie Blank being over 800 for the year and averaging 9.07 assists/set. The Wolverines fell in the first meeting this year in Orem after 18 blocks and ten service aces.
ABOUT THE LADYJACKS
The Ladyjacks have won their first 12 conference matches this year, including a sweep of UVU in Orem. They are led by Preseason WAC Player of the Year, Ieland Bradley, who has 316 kills entering the match. SFA enters No. 2 nationally in team blocks, with middle blocker Izabella Ortiz leading the WAC in total blocks and coming in at No. 3 in the country.
ELLIS & MATAVAO EARN WAC WEEKLY HONORS
Ellis, a senior from Heber City, Utah, recorded a double-double with 13 kills and 11 blocks to aid the Wolverines in a sweep of Abilene Christian. She followed up the stellar performance with nine kills in 14 attacks against Tarleton State. She had 22 kills and averaged .367 kills a set and 13 blocks for a 2.17 blocks/set average.
Matavao won her second WAC Libero of the Week honor, as she was honored after her opening week performance against Utah and NC State. This week, she tallied 24 digs in six sets, with 15 against Abilene Christian and nine against Tarleton State, with a pair of service aces in the sweep of the Texans.
UP NEXT
The Wolverines return home for their final two regular-season matches when they host Southern Utah on Nov. 9 before hosting Utah Tech on Nov. 11, where UVU will honor seven who will be playing in their final match inside Lockhart Arena.
