STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Utah Valley women's volleyball team fell in their conference opener on Thursday night to Tarleton State University 3-1 (25-18, 19-25, 15-25, 18-25). Avery Shewell recorded her second double-double of the season with 11 kills and 11 digs for the Wolverines (3-9, 0-1). Freshman Evalyn Chism had her fourth double-double of the season with 20 assists and 11 digs. Tarleton (10-5, 1-0) was led by Emma Burke, who had 13 kills and five blocks.
 
"This is a tough loss for us. We were not the better team tonight, and we have to give Tarleton credit; they played better than we did. We definitely had moments but didn't take care of it in the match like in the first set. We will learn from this and get better," said UVU head coach Sam Atoa.
 
The Wolverines used a match-high .321 hitting percentage while tallying 13 kills in the opening set to build early offensive momentum and built an early 5-2 lead after a kill from Kalea Kennedy. The Texans kept the set very close and held an 11-8 lead before Utah Valley responded and tied the set at 12 and added a 4-0 run fueled by three kills from Avery Shewell on her way to a team-high 11 on the night to put UVU in front 16-13. Lani Matavao had six straight serves as they went to the end of the set, and Utah Valley capitalized on attack errors late to help win the set.
 
Caleigh Vagana finished the first set with three blocks, as UVU had five in the opening set. Kendra Nock recorded her 259^th career block to tie 2008 alum Kristin Anderson for 12^th all-time.
 
Tarleton State was clinging to a 10-8 lead in the second set before they pulled away, going on a 6-2 run to take a 16-10 advantage. The Wolverines got the deficit back to within three at 18-15 after a service ace from Chism, and later, they were back within three a second time at 21-18 after a kill from Kennedy, who finished with a season-high nine kills.  Kennedy and Vagana each had three kills in the second set loss.
 
TSU outhit the Wolverines .200 to .108 in the third set en route to a 25-15 win. Tori Ellis caught fire in the set for UVU with five of her eight kills in the match. A 5-2 run from the Texans aided them to take a 16-9 advantage and force a UVU timeout. Shewell added a service ace out of the timeout, UVU added points on a kill from Hailey Cuff, and a block assist from Vagana and Kennedy.
 
The final set saw a match-high five ties and two lead changes, with Utah Valley taking their first lead at 7-6 following a ball-handling error. The Texans responded with a 4-1 run to regain a 10-8 lead. UVU tied the set at ten after a kill from Vagana and a TSU attack error, but the tie did not last long as Tarleton went on a 6-2 run to take a 17-13 edge in the match, and the deficit was too much for the Wolverines.
 
Utah Valley will travel to Abilene Christian for a match on Saturday, Sept. 23 at Noon MT. UVU will return home next week for Stephen F. Austin on Sept. 28 and UT Arlington on Sept. 30.