ARLINGTON, Texas – Utah Valley University defeated Southern Utah (25-23, 21-25, 25-23, 25-17) on Thursday morning in the quarterfinals of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament.
Avery Shewell led all hitters with 20 kills in the match for UVU (20-9, 10-6), who won the battle at the net with a 12-6 block advantage over SUU (10-19, 6-10).
The Wolverines took a hard-fought opening set that had 12 ties and three lead changes behind six kills from All-WAC First Team selection
Avery Shewell, who helped lead a balanced offensive attack that saw three or more kills from three hitters, including
Alyvia Jaffa,
Sami Blackett, and
Eliza Hakes. UVU went on a 4-0 run to take a 13-10 lead after kills from Jaffa, Blackett and Shewell. SUU fought back and retook a 21-19 lead. The UVU defense responded with two block assists to help close out the set and an ace from
Natalie Palmer.
The Thunderbirds built an early 12-8 lead in the second set before The Wolverines answered back with a kill from Blackett before Shewell added two of her own to make it 12-11 and force an SUU timeout. Utah Valley tied up the set at 12 before a 5-0 run pushed the deficit back to 17-12. They would go on to drop the second set.
The Wolverines used an 8-0 run to take a 15-10 lead in the third set after a pair of SUU attack errors and kills from Blackett and Shewell. Blackett's service ace pushed the lead to 12-10 before Palmer added a kill, and Wooden recorded a solo block. The defense at the net continued with a block assist from Jaffa and Chism to take a 17-11 lead and force SUU's first timeout of the set. The Thunderbirds fought back and chipped away at the lead and cut it down to 22-19. Utah Valley held on for the victory.
Leading 2-1 heading to the fourth set, Utah Valley used a pair of big runs to open up the set. The first one came while trailing 5-4 to take a 9-5 advantage. The 6-0 run pushed the lead out of reach for Southern Utah, leaving the Wolverines in front 16-9. UVU used a 6-0 run to close out the match by taking advantage of three errors and kills from Blackett and Shewell.
The Wolverines' offensive attack was balanced overall, with Wooden finishing with 11 kills, Blackett added ten and Jaffa with nine. Chism had a strong match from her setter spot with 46 assists, eight digs, and four total blocks.
Utah Valley will move on to play tomorrow afternoon in the WAC Semifinals at 3:00 p.m. CT / 2:00 p.m. MT against either No. 2 Grand Canyon or No. 7 Seattle U. The match will air on ESPN+.
