OREM, Utah – Utah Valley University defeated Weber State University, 3-1 (25-22, 20-25, 29-27, 25-23) on Tuesday night inside Lockhart Arena.
Sami Blackett matched a career-high with 22 kills and six digs, with
Madi Standifird recording a double-double with 12 kills to set a new career-high while adding ten digs to lead UVU (8-2) past the Wildcats (3-6), who was led by Ashley Gneiting with 12 kills.
"I think our resilience was awesome tonight. In a match where you have family vs. family and old high school and club teammates going at it, it makes for a fun environment with lots of emotions. We struggled in a couple of sets and will continue to learn from our mistakes for future matches. Sami and Madi both played excellent when we needed them to play their best tonight," said UVU head coach
Sam Atoa.
Utah Valley won the first set behind eight kills from
Avery Shewell. The Wolverines went up 5-2 in the opening set with two kills from Shewell, a service ace from Blackett, and a kill from
Bella Wooden adding on to the run. The Wildcats hung around in the first set before UVU broke a 17-17 tie with two more kills from Shewell before a block assist from
Maranda Woolf and
Steliyana Chakarova forced a WSU timeout with a 19-17 lead. After the second Weber State timeout, the Wolverines responded and went up 22-17 before they closed out the set.
The Wildcats used an 11-2 run to start the second set to even the match with a 25-20 victory, holding off a UVU rally midway through the set. Pleasant Grove's Gneiting had seven of her 12 kills during the set. The Wolverines saw Standifird enter the match during the set, and she finished with four kills in the set with a balanced offensive attack of Blackett,
Bella Wooden, and
Eliza Hakes with two kills each.
In the third set, Utah Valley rallied after trailing 20-16. They started to chip away after two kills from Wooden to make it 20-18 WSU. After the Wildcats pushed the lead back out to 22-18, the UVU defense helped ignite a 5-0 run, starting with a block assist by Chism and Wooden before Standifird added a kill to make it 22-20 to force a Weber timeout. Following the timeout, Wooden and Chism had their second of three blocks to make it a one-point set. The tandem put their team in front when they blocked WSU's Baylee Bodily for the second time in three rallies. Trailing 26-25, Standifird tied the match with a kill before Hakes inched UVU in front and made it set point. The set was tied one final time when Blackett and Hakes added kills for a 29-27 set victory.
Blackett caught fire in the fourth set, recording 12 of her 22 kills in the final set to help UVU secure the match. The Wolverines trailed in the last set as the Wildcats held an early 8-3 lead before Blackett recorded four straight UV points to make it 13-9. The Weber State lead was pushed back to 18-14 following a timeout. Standifird started a run with a pair of kills to cut the deficit to 18-16. The lead was cut to one after Hakes added a kill before an attack error opened the door for Blackett to cap the comeback by scoring the final six points for the 25-23 win.
The victory marks the first time UVU has beaten Weber State since 2016. Chism secured a new career-high with 53 assists, four blocks, and three kills.
Lani Matavao tied a career-high with 25 digs in the match, and Hakes added eight kills for a new career-high.
The Wolverines are on the road for two matches this week. They will play Utah State on Thursday at 8:00 p.m. MT inside the Spectrum. The week will conclude with No. 19 BYU on Sept. 21 at 6:00 p.m. MT at the Smith Fieldhouse.
