ABILENE, Texas – Utah Valley University defeated Abilene Christian, 3-2 (21-25, 27-25, 24-26, 25-20, 15-12) on Thursday night at Moody Coliseum. UVU (17-8, 8-5) was led by the one-two punch of Avery Shewell, who finished with 29 kills, and Sami Blackett, who added 27. Setter Evalyn Chism finished with 58 assists to set a new career high. ACU (8-16, 3-10) had four different players finish in double figures in kills.
 
"It was a battle tonight between two good teams. We needed the performances tonight from Avery and Sami to put us over the top. This group continues to play together in the toughest moments of our matches, and we continue to grow and learn from one another. We will build off tonight to be ready for a very good UT Arlington team on Saturday," said UVU head coach Sam Atoa.
 
The Wolverines jumped out to an 8-3 lead after Blackett had four of her seven first-set kills during the stretch. Natalie Palmer added a service ace to help UVU get the early momentum in the match. The opening frame stayed close with 12 ties and five lead changes before ACU tied it up at 21-21 before scoring the next four points to win the opening set. Shewell finished with five kills in the first, but the Wildcats hit .424, and they would not keep up the hitting percentage in the second.
 
Blackett kept the hot hand going off for nine kills in the second set, including three early to make it a 6-2 lead. The Wolverines extended their lead to 14-8 with a pair of aces from Shewell, who has now recorded 108 in her UVU career and trails Camie Manwill by one for seventh all-time. She only needs 13 aces to pass Lacee Koelliker for first all-time. ACU quickly scored two points before a second run that ended with a block assist by Bella Wooden, and Alyvia Jaffa made it 17-10. The Wildcats responded to tie the game before the two sides traded points, including Abilene Christian pulled and had set point, 25-24. Blackett started a 3-0 run to win the set with a kill before she added a solo block and one final kill, ending the set.
 
Shewell opened the third set with three kills for UVU before Palmer aced the Wildcats for the second time in the match to make it 4-2. Two more kills from Shewell helped make it 8-4, Wolverines in the third set. The pressure stayed on both sides, with ACU going on a 7-3 run to regain the lead at 16-15. They extended the lead to 21-18 before Utah Valley responded with a pair of kills by middle Maranda Woolf, who added a block with Jaffa to go in front 23-21. The set ended after the home team's 5-1 run to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
Utah Valley controlled the fourth set, starting with a 7-0 run to open it up. Everyone contributed to the run, with Shewell having three kills, Jaffa adding one, and teaming up with Wooden on one of her two blocks. The Wolverines had four aces, with Blackett, Chism, Matavao, and Palmer all having aces in the set. ACU continued to chip away at the UVU lead, but this time, the Wolverines came out on top to force a fifth set.
 
The Wolverines hit their best when it mattered most by hitting .450 in the final set. Trailing 7-5, everything turned in UVU's favor, starting with a service error before Blackett had four kills to tie it up at 10-10. After ACU took an 11-10 advantage, UVU finished it off with a 5-1 run with four kills from Shewell and an ace from Matavao.
 
Utah Valley won their fifth match this season in five sets. Woolf tied a career-high with eight kills, adding three blocks and two digs. Chism claimed her 21^st career double-double tonight and is now eighth all-time in the category.
 
The Wolverines will play on Saturday, Nov. 9, at 10:00 a.m. MT before returning home to Lockhart Arena to close out the regular season with matches against Tarleton State on Thursday, Nov. 14, at 6:00 p.m. MT before they host Southern Utah on Saturday, Nov. 16, to close out the regular season.