OREM, Utah – Utah Valley University fell in a five-set heartbreaker to UT Arlington on Saturday afternoon inside Lockhart Arena. UVU (15-7, 6-4) was led by Sami Blackett, who finished with a match-high 23 kills and 12 digs. WAC Preseason Player of the Year Brianna Ford led the Mavericks with 19 kills in the match. The match was UVU's third consecutive five-set match and their fifth of the season.
 
Blackett and Avery Shewell lifted UVU to the opening set win. Blackett finished with eight kills on 12 swings with Shewell adding six kills on nine swings. The Wolverines rallied following a timeout from a 19-17 deficit. Trailing 21-18, they went on a 7-0 run to win the set. Steliyana Chakarova had a career-high eight kills with two down the stretch, and Blackett added two. Lani Matavao had consecutive service aces during the run.
 
Utah Valley broke an 8-8 tie after two attacks from Ford before Bella Wooden and Evalyn Chism blocked UTA middle Paige Reagor, making it 10-8. They pushed their lead out to 14-10 following a kill from Shewell and her 19^th career solo block, which moves into a tie for 13^th all-time with Caleigh Vagana. The Mavericks made 16 total errors in the set, including three errors during a 5-0 spurt to make it 19-13. UVU got to a set point after a block by Blackett and Wooden, and Natalie Palmer added a service ace before they went up 2-0.
 
Chakarova had one of her best sets in her first season in Orem, with four kills on six attempts to lead the Wolverines. UT Arlington tallied 16 kills in the third set, with seven coming from Ford, and had a couple of big runs, including a 10-1 run, to win their first set of the match. Wooden had three kills during the set.
 
The Mavericks broke a 7-7 tie in the fourth set with a 6-1 run to take a 13-8 lead. The Wolverines chipped back into it but still trailed 22-16 after a kill from Shewell. Alyvia Jaffa, playing in her third match of the season, teamed up with Chakarova for a block. The run continued with an ace from Chism and an attack error to bring the score to 22-19. UVU scored two of the following three points to make it 23-21 when Jaffa and Blackett blocked Reagor at the net. Despite the rally, UTA held on to force a fifth set.
 
UTA scored the first six points of the fifth set until UVU scored three of the next four, with Blackett starting it off with a block, adding a kill and an ace. The Wolverines continued to chip away with consecutive kills from Shewell before Jaffa's kill made it 8-6. The Mavericks had one final run in them with a 4-1 run to take the lead at 12-7 before finishing off the set.
 
Shewell finished the match with 19 kills for Utah Valley. Chism was one assist shy of her third consecutive 50-or-more assist match; she finished with 49 assists and ten digs. Matavao recorded 16 digs and five assists, and Palmer finished with 16 digs.
 
The Wolverines will travel for their next four matches, starting with Southern Utah and Utah Tech next weekend before heading to Abilene Christian and UT Arlington the following week.