OREM, Utah – Utah Valley women's volleyball swept Southern Utah (25-16, 25-17, 25-22) on Saturday afternoon inside Lockhart Arena. UVU (19-9, 10-6) recorded 13 blocks in the match led by Freshman Alyvia Jaffa, who had eight in the match. Eliza Hakes, Avery Shewell, and Bella Wooden added five. The Wolverines limited SUU (10-17, 6-10) to a .069 hitting percentage, the season's second-best opponent hitting percentage.
 
Utah Valley built a 9-5 lead early in the first set after a strong start from behind the service line, with three of their first nine points coming from aces. Sami Blackett aced the Thunderbirds on the second serve of the match before Avery Shewell had two of her five services during the run. The UVU junior has reached 115 in her career and is in fifth place all-time in service aces. She has 50 this season and needs six to break Lacee Koelliker's school record of 55 back in 2005.
 
The lead in the first frame was pushed out to 21-14 following a 5-0 run with a pair of kills from Sami Blackett before Evalyn Chism had a block assist and a kill. Hakes finished with five kills in the match and helped UVU close out the set before Shewell and Wooden added a block, and Blackett had her second ace of the set.
 
A 5-2 run to open the second helped the Wolverines take control and establish a 9-3 lead. Wooden and Natalie Palmer had aces before Jaffa got hot with a pair of kills and a block. Southern Utah chipped away, but Jaffa kept the pressure on with two kills, making it 18-13. Utah Valley's final push was a 7-2 run to close it out with a kill from Shewell before a service ace and an SUU attack error. Steliyana Chakarova and Blackett extended the lead to 23-16 before a service error, and a block assist by Wooden and Hakes ended it.
 
The third set started differently, with the Thunderbirds climbing out to an early lead and putting the Wolverines in comeback mode. UVU started chipping away at the 13-8 deficit. Hakes got the offense going before Shewell helped block a ball and then scored the next three points for the Wolverines to make it 16-14. They continued to chip away and tied up at 16 on a kill from Blackett before Shewell put them back in front with an ace.
 
Looking to close out the match, Utah Valley continued on a 4-0 run, with libero Lani Matavao adding to UVU's 11 aces in the match to help UVU out to a 21-17 advantage. The Wolverines held off SUU's bid to force a fourth set after holding them to a .053 hitting percentage in the final set to earn their ninth sweep of the season.
 
The Wolverines are close to some exciting milestones heading to the postseason. Wooden has now tallied 174 total blocks this season and is tied for third all-time with Madison Dennison (2016). The school record is 191, set by Dennison in 2017. Blackett is now third all-time in the most points scored in a season with 483.5.
 
The Wolverines will head to Arlington for next week's WAC Volleyball Tournament hosted by UT Arlington. The schedule and bracket will be announced following play on Saturday.