OREM, Utah – Boise State University defeated Utah Valley 3-2 (20-25, 25-18, 25-14, 22-25, 15-13) on Saturday afternoon inside the UCCU Center. UVU (1-2) was led by senior
Avery Page, who finished with a match-high 17 kills and earned All-Tournament honors. Boise State (3-0) outhit the Wolverines .195 to .145 to finish 3-0 in the tournament.
The Wolverines scored the match's first point on a block assist by
Bella Wooden and
Alyvia Jaffa before the Broncos took the lead at 8-5. Utah Valley turned up the defense during the set to record seven of their 14 total blocks during the opening frame as
Alyssa Erickson stepped in off the bench, setting new career-highs of eight kills, and six blocks to help UVU win the first set. The Wolverines' defense was able to hold control of the first set and limited the Broncos to a .026 hitting percentage. The defensive pressure was crucial late, including Erickson and Wooden recording three blocks in the final five points to close out the set.
In the second set, the Wolverines started strong with a kill from
Evalyn Chism, and Page added another point, keeping the score close early. Despite this effort, the Broncos went on a run to take an 8-4 advantage. Freshman
Brooke Stauffer saw action on the court for the first time and provided a service ace to cut the deficit to 10-8. The steady Boise State attack, though, kept up, and after a block by Wooden and Erickson had cut the lead to 18-17, they went on a 7-1 run to even the match up a set a piece.
Natalie Riggs started the third set off with one of her career-high five service aces in the match to put UVU up 1-0. She finished with two kills, 11 assists, and 11 digs for the Wolverines. but the Broncos answered quickly and went on a 9-3 run to take a 9-4 lead in the set. Utah Valley kept the set close behind four kills from Page and three added by Erickson, but trailing 16-13, Boise State went on another run, this time of 6-0, to take a 22-13 before closing out the set.
The fourth set opened with Boise State securing an early 3-2 lead, but Utah Valley responded with a key performance from Riggs, who served a remarkable 6-0 run starting with a service ace. This stretch saw freshman
Lauren Feiler make her Utah Valley debut, which included four total blocks and her first career kill. The Wolverines pulled away leading 16-10 before the Broncos started to chip away and cut the lead to 18-16. Still, the lead was extended, led by Feiler and
Olivia Gloeckner, who aided her freshman teammate with three blocks of her own and a kill during the fourth set to help UVU move to their second fifth-set match of the weekend.
In the fifth set, the Wolverines opened strong with a service ace by Riggs, immediately setting the tone at 1-0. The Broncos fought back and hit almost .300 as a team in the final set, with middle blocker Layla Smith recording six kills to lead the offensive charge for Boise State. The combination of Page and Blackett came up with five of the seven kills in the final frame, but it was not enough as Boise State came out on top 15-13.
The Wolverines have tallied at least 14 total blocks in all three of their matches in 2025. Junior libero
Lani Matavao moved up the ranks of UVU's career digs list, passing Nakisha Willden for tenth all-time with 892. Page also moved up in the record books this weekend as she is now fifth all-time in kills with 1,066 she passed both Lauren Bakker for sixth and Kristen Bell for fifth.
2025 UTAH VALLEY INVITATIONAL ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
MVP – Eliza Sharp (Boise State)
Alexis Batezel (Montana)
Ava Toppin (Navy)
Arleigh Hanson (Navy)
Avery Page (Utah Valley)
Kailyn Jager (Boise State)
Bre Mitchell (Boise State)
UP NEXT
Utah Valley will travel to the Hawaiian Islands for the Outrigger Invitational hosted by Hawai'i. They will play three matches beginning on Wednesday, Sept. 3, against another MWC foe, San Jose State. The tournament will wrap up with a match on Thursday (Sept. 4) against St. John's and Friday (Sept. 5) against the host Hawai'i.
