OREM, Utah – Utah Valley women's volleyball continue play at Lockhart Arena with matchups with Abilene Christian on Thursday, Oct. 17 at 6:00 p.m. MT and California Baptist on Saturday, Oct. 19 at 1:00 p.m. MT.
The Wolverines are coming off a 2-0 weekend with a five-set battle at Tarleton State before sweeping Seattle U on Monday night inside Lockhart Arena.
Avery Shewell finished with 15 kills against the Texans and was aided by 14 kills from
Sami Blackett. The balanced offensive attack saw four reach ten kills in the win. On Monday,
Madi Standifird sparked UVU to a first set win over the Redhawks before Utah Valley was able to complete the sweep, with Blackett having 16 kills and Standifird adding a career-high 13 kills.
Shewell has recorded 226 kills this season, and Blackett added 216 kills, making them one of the best duos in the WAC. The two have led UVU in every match this season, with Shewell topping out at a season-high 21 kills at Utah State and Blackett recording 22 kills against Southern Miss and Weber State.
BROADCAST INFO
This week's matches will air on ESPN+, and live stats will be available on UVUstats.com. Matt Baiamonte will handle the play-by-play on Thursday, and
Abbie Medeiros will provide color commentary.
ABOUT THE WILDCATS
Abilene Christian enters Thursday's contest 8-9 and 3-3 in the WAC. The combination of outside Bryley Steinhilber and Hannah Gonzalez leads them. Steinhibler has tallied 180 kills this season, while the Wildcats are hitting .151 toward the bottom of the conference. The Wolverines are one of the better-hitting teams in the conference. Hannah Gonzalez has 53 blocks to lead ACU, who also leads them in hitting percentage at .221. Utah Valley has a 4-0 record all-time in the series, including a sweep last year in Orem.
ABOUT THE LANCERS
California Baptist starts the week 1-17 and 1-5 in the WAC. Their lone victory of the season came in September when they posted 21 service aces in Riverside. They will be making their first visit to Orem since 2021 and will look to extend their three-match winning streak. The Lancers are led by Eliana Posada, who has 120 kills this year, and Mia Jerue, who has tallied 29 aces and 183 digs for the CBU.
THE WALL OF BELLA
Utah Valley's
Bella Wooden has reached 100 total blocks this season, which places her No. 5 nationally with seven solo blocks and 93 block assists. She went head-to-head with the national leader, Julia Haggerty from Boston College, who has tallied 130 total blocks this season. Wooden is No. 4 in blocks per set this season with 1.59, leading the WAC in both categories.
ACE UP THEIR SLEEVE
Shewell currently leads the WAC in aces/set, coming in with 31 aces this season and an average of 0.53 aces/set. Right behind her is CBU's Mia Jerue, who has tallied 29 this year and is averaging 0.47 aces/set. Blackett rounds out the top 10 for the Wolverines, who averages 0.32 aces/set and has 19 this season.
UP NEXT
The Wolverines will face WAC leaders next week when they travel to Grand Canyon on Thursday, Oct. 24, at 7:00 p.m. MT and then return to host UT Arlington on Saturday, Oct. 26, at 1:00 p.m. MT.
