OREM, Utah – Utah Valley women's volleyball team will make their first trip of three trips to the Lone Star State this weekend when they play Tarleton State in Stephenville. The match is slated for a 12:00 p.m. MT start from Wisdom Gym. UVU will return home on Monday, Oct. 14, for a 6:00 p.m. MT match with Seattle University.
 
BROADCAST PLANS
Both matches are scheduled to air on ESPN+. Matt Baiamonte and Kayli Doxey will be on the call for Monday's match with Seattle U. UVUstats.com will have live stats for both matches. 
 
SCOUTING THE TEXANS
Tarleton State is 5-12 on the year and is currently 0-4 in the WAC. Outside, Allison Bryant has tallied 237 kills on the year, and middle blocker Emma Burke has 61 total blocks this season. The Texans are leading the WAC in kills, attacks, attacks per set, assists, digs, and digs per set. UVU is 2-2 all-time in Wisdom Gym.
 
SCOUTING THE REDHAWKS
Utah Valley won the season's first meeting in four sets behind 19 kills from freshman Sami Blackett, and middle blocker Bella Wooden added six kills and ten total blocks. Arianna Bilby led Seattle U with 21 kills in the match and continues to hold the team lead with 170 this season. Libero Katlyn Sipes has tallied 219 digs and was named WAC Libero of the Week after averaging 4.89 digs/set and a season-high 29 against Tarleton State.
 
STAYIN BUSY
The Wolverines will start the third stretch this season by playing four games in a week. They did this after playing Boise State before going to play three in Georgia. They played five matches in seven days, starting with the match against Boston College and ending at BYU. The final stretch begins on Saturday and will end on Oct. 19 with California Baptist.
 
NEARING 1000
Setters Evalyn Chism and Natalie Palmer are both nearing 1,000 career assists. Palmer needs 14 assists to achieve the mark after seeing significant time during her first two years in Orem. Chism is currently at 979 and needs 21 to reach 1,000. She has already surpassed her freshman year total of 429 and enters this weekend with 550 assists.
 
HOME SWEET HOME
Utah Valley is in the middle of a stretch of five of six matches set to be played at home. They will break the home stand up with this trip to Tarleton and won't travel again until going to GCU on Oct. 24.
 
A IS FOR ACES
Utah Valley has 98 service aces this season and is chasing the program record of 201, set in 2007 and 2010. Shewell is leading UVU with 29 this year and checks in at No. 23 nationwide. She needs six aces to reach 100 for her career, making her the eighth to reach the mark.
 
UP NEXT
Utah Valley will remain home for matches with Abilene Christian (Oct. 17) and California Baptist (Oct. 19) before hitting the road for one match against Grand Canyon in Phoenix.