POCATELLO, Idaho – Avery Shewell had a season-high 19 kills as Utah Valley defeated Gonzaga on Friday evening at the Bengal Invitational. UVU (3-5) dropped the first set before winning the final three. Kendra Nock added five kills, three digs, and two blocks. She picked up her 20^th career solo block in the win to tie Lexi Thompson for tenth all-time.
 
Shewell was named the tournament's MVP after tallying 28 kills and seven service aces and was joined by Abbie Medeiros and Tori Price on the All-Tournament team.  
 
"Great win today! Proud of how we battled through adversity, especially when we had to battle from behind. Proud of Tori (Price) and Abbie for making the All-Tournament team and Avery being MVP, "said UVU head coach Sam Atoa.  
 
The Wolverines dropped the opening set after having a tough-hitting performance. Tori Ellis and Shewell each had two kills in the set.
 
Utah Valley found their rhythm starting in the second set behind five kills from Shewell and ten assists from Medeiros. UVU led 11-4 and forced a Gonzaga timeout, and the Bulldogs responded with a 7-0 run as Viktoriya Ivanova controlled the serve, and the Wolverines found themselves in a 22-20 hole. Following the second timeout called by Sam Atoa, Ellis provided a kill to make it 22-21.  Facing match point, Ellis once again came up with a big kill to make it 24-23, and Kalea Kennedy added one to tie the set at 24. Evalyn Chism had the serve when Shewell put UVU in a match point situation 25-24 before a service ace from Chism won the set.
 
The Wolverines used a 5-0 run early in the third set to take a 7-4 lead. Later in the set, a second five-point run fueled by a Chism service ace, two kills from Shewell, and one from Nock put UVU in front 18-12. Gonzaga had a 5-0 run of their own while trailing 23-16 to make it 23-21. Following a timeout by Utah Valley, Shewell closed the set with two kills.
 
Shewell continued to control the offense in the match in the fourth set, as UVU led 12-11 when she had back-to-back kills to make it 14-11. Three Bulldog errors between a kill pushed the lead out to 17-12 before a service ace from Shewell made it 18-12. Leading 18-15, the Wolverines used a 5-0 run with two kills from Hailey Cuff, two attack errors, and a bad set that put Utah Valley two points away from winning the match. An attack error made it a match point when Medeiros had her 97^th career service ace to go along with her 23 assists in the match.
 
Lani Matavao had her third match with 20 or more digs, as she recorded 22 in the match. Chism added 16 assists.
 
Utah Valley will stay on the road with a match at Weber State on Sept. 12 in Ogden. The Wolverines return home for a pair of matches beginning on Sept. 14 with Utah State and then host No. 8 BYU on Sept. 15.