PROVO, Utah – Utah Valley University defeated UT Arlington, 3-0 (25-16, 26-24, 25-21) on Thursday night at the Smith Fieldhouse. UVU (7-9, 3-1) hit .307 as a team, their second highest of the season and best since the sweep of St. John's in Hawaii.
Sami Blackett had a double-double, finishing with 12 kills on 27 attempts (.370), and adding 15 digs, with right side
Olivia Gloeckner going for ten kills on 19 swings (.474).
Bella Wooden had a solid match, recording seven kills and six blocks. UTA (9-7, 1-3) was led by Jalie Tritt, who finished with 14 kills and 11 digs.
Utah Valley opened the first set with consistent offensive execution, highlighted by early kills from Blackett and Wooden. A key turning point occurred as the Wolverines capitalized with a 4-0 run to go up 8-4 after a pair of kills from
Alyssa Erickson before she added a block with
Alyvia Jaffa and Blackett helping out on other blocks. The hot hand stayed with Blackett, who scored three of the UVU's next four points to go up 12-6. Utah Valley closed the set on a 7-1 run, while as a team, they hit .538, making only one error.
Utah Valley tallied 15 total blocks in the match and won the battle at the net with a 15-1 differential on blocks. In the second, it was the defense that swung the set as the Wolverines tallied seven in the set. The nation's total block leader, Wooden, had four block assists as she climbed into a tie for sixth all-time in total blocks with 314. Fellow middle blocker, Jaffa, added three to hold UTA to just a .122 hitting percentage in the set. The Mavericks came back from a 20-13 deficit and tied it up at 24 before
Avery Page and Blackett had back-to-back kills to end the set.
The defensive effort continued into the third set as the Wolverines limited UTA's chances by holding them under .100 for hitting and taking advantage of seven attack errors. UVU broke an 8-8 tie after swings from Page and Erickson to go up 10-8. The defense took over with a pair of blocks at the net, extending the lead to 12-9. Utah Valley started to work for their WAC sweep of the season after two kills from Wooden made it 16-12, and later a 4-0 run pushed the lead out to 20-16. Page recorded a solo block during the stretch for her 24
th of her career, which ties her for tenth all-time with Kendra Nock. The Mavericks once again chipped away at the deficit, but it was enough as Erickson and Gloeckner had kills down the stretch before a service error from Provo native, Alondra Hernandez, ended the match.
UP NEXT
The Wolverines will not play for another week when they travel to Riverside to take on California Baptist on Thursday, Oct. 16, before wrapping up the road trip on Saturday, Oct. 18, at Southern Utah. They will next be home for a potential first-place showdown with Utah Tech on Saturday, Oct. 25. The match is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. MT inside Lockhart Arena.
