PROVO, Utah – No. 19 Brigham Young University defeated Utah Valley University on Saturday night inside Smith Fieldhouse. BYU (7-3) hit .346 for the match while limiting one of the best blocking teams in the country to only three blocks in the match. UVU (9-3) was led by Sami Blackett who finished ten kills in the match.
 
"We have rebounded twice before after our losses to Montana and Georgia. It's a part of the game, and I'm proud of the way the girls played in our preseason," said UVU head coach Sam Atoa. "We are going to come back better; every time that we've gone through a loss like this, we have rebounded, and now we need to do that to be prepared for conference play."
 
BYU took the opening set after hitting .357 while holding UVU in the negative in the opening set. The Wolverines continued to put on an offensive attack led by Avery Shewell and Sami Blackett, who both finished the first set with two kills, but the Cougars won the battle at the net with a 9-0 block advantage.
 
The Wolverines narrowed the gap in the second set behind Blackett's six kills during the set. Madi Standifird provided a lift off the bench with a pair of kills and a service ace. Eliza Hakes finished the set with two kills. The Cougars stayed hot in the second set and finished with a match-high .440 and only committed two attack errors.
 
Steliyana Chakarova came in with a pair of kills in the third set as the Wolverines took advantage of the Cougar's attack cooling off. Bella Wooden blocked three balls, including a solo block and a pair of assists to add to her season total.
 
The Wolverines will open conference play on Thursday, Sept. 26, at 6:30 p.m. MT against California Baptist in Riverside before traveling on Monday, Sept. 30, to Seattle for an 7:00 p.m. MT match.