LARAMIE, Wyo. – Utah Valley University defeated Washington State University 3-0 (25-22, 25-13, 25-20) on Thursday night. UVU (21-10) hit .379 as a team, the second-highest mark this season while holding WSU (16-12) to only .210. Bella Wooden broke the single-season total blocks record with her 192^nd of the year, and head coach Sam Atoa reached 500 wins.
 
Sami Blackett aced the Cougars on the match's opening serve before the Wolverines used a balanced offensive attack in the opening set and went on to hit .387 in the first set. Avery Shewell led the attack, finishing with five kills and six swings. Blackett, Bella Wooden, and Eliza Hakes all added three. UVU lead the entire first set, including holding a 15-12 edge at the first media timeout. The Cougar's errors started to pile up, aiding Utah Valley to build a solid lead, including a 19-16 lead after a service error before later the first set ended after a service error.
 
The Wolverine's offensive attack was relentless, as they topped the .387 hitting percentage in the second set by hitting .407 in the second. Wooden and Alyvia Jaffa in the middle for UVU helped lead a 5-0 run before they would push the lead out to 11-4. Shewell killed three balls in a row to get the Utah Valley lead out to 18-8 before they looked to close out the set. Six of the next eight points went to their side to help make it 22-10. It started with a kill from Hakes before Jaffa and Evalyn Chism combined for a block, and Shewell had two consecutive aces to put her one away from tying the single-season record of 55.
 
Washington State held its first lead in the third set, going up 1-0, but the balanced offensive attack continued to overwhelm the Cougars. Blackett, Jaffa, Shewell, and Wooden recorded three kills in the final set. A 7-1 run put UVU in front with two kills from Steliyana Chakarova and Blackett, acing the Cougars on two straight serves. The run ended after the second block assist from Chism and Jaffa. WSU chipped away at a 20-13 deficit and climbed back in 24-20 before Madi Standifird came in to close the match.
 
Shewell has now tallied 998 kills in her UVU career and could reach 1,000 on Friday night. She also has the potential to tie or break the single-season aces record of 55.
 
The Wolverines return to court on Friday, Dec. 7, at 6:00 p.m. MT, where they will face the winner of Idaho State or Wyoming. The match will air on the Mountain West Network.