ANNAPOLIS, M.D. – Utah Valley women's volleyball dropped the opening match in the Kristen Dickmann Invitational on Friday night by 3-0 final to the United States Naval Academy. Jordan Lewellyn had 14 kills, and Jamie Lewellyn added 12 to lead the Midshipmen (3-1). Utah Valley (1-3) was led by
Avery Shewell, who had eight kills in the match, and
Abbie Medeiros, who added 17 assists.
"That was a tough match tonight, but Navy deserved that win, and they played much better than us. There are some things that we need to do better, and we will make those adjustments and be the team that I know we are capable of becoming," said UVU head coach
Sam Atoa.
The two teams traded runs early in the opening set. First, the Wolverines got out to a 7-2 lead in the first set after Navy errors, two kills from Cuff, and a kill from
Tori Ellis. UVU forced the Midshipmen into a timeout before a block assist from
Caleigh Vagana and Ellis made it 7-2. Navy responded with an 8-0 run to take their first lead of the set at 10-7, but later, Utah Valley regained the lead at 18-16 and forced the second timeout by Navy before they closed the set on a 9-2 to win the opening set.
In the second set, it was tied at 11 before Navy used a 4-0 run to go up 15-11, and they held the lead until the Wolverines tied the set following kills from Vagana, two from Shewell, and a Navy attack. The Midshipmen outscored UVU 4-1 to win the second set. Shewell had six of her eight kills in the second set, as Medeiros and
Evalyn Chism each had six assists.
Utah Valley played Navy close in the third set, but the Midshipmen pulled away with an 11-2 run to go from an 8-8 tie to a 19-11 lead. UVU fought hard to get back closer in the set. A short run started after a service error from Navy before Shewell added a service ace. Following a Navy timeout,
Kalea Kennedy and
Kendra Nock teamed up for a block assist. UVU fell in the third set and lost the match.
The Wolverines are back in action on Saturday, Sept. 2 against Old Dominion at 9:00 a.m. MT and then Maryland at 11:30 a.m. MT. UVU will then return to Orem before heading to Pocatello, Idaho for the Bengal Invitational next week.
