OREM, Utah – Utah State defeated Utah Valley, 3-2 (25-21, 20-25, 25-18, 22-25, 15-12), on Tuesday night inside the UCCU Center. The Aggies (2-6) were led by Mara Stiglic, who finished with 17 kills.
Avery Page tied her season high with 19 kills and added a team-best 15 digs for UVU (3-7).
The Wolverines hit .360 in the opening set and used a balanced attack with six players recording points. Former Aggie
Bella Wooden sparked UVU early with back-to-back kills to make it 6-2. After the set was tied 11-11, Utah Valley went on a 5-1 run behind a service error, blocks from
Alyvia Jaffa and
Alyssa Erickson, and a kill from Page to go up five. UVU held on to win the first set and take a 1-0 lead.
Utah State responded in the second set with four straight points and a 6-2 lead. Despite kills from Page and
Sami Blackett, the Aggies maintained control to take the set 25-20.
Olivia Gloeckner had four kills and a block assist in the frame, with her final kill cutting the deficit to 23-20.
In the third set, UVU pulled ahead with a 5-0 run that included a kill and block assist from Gloeckner. WAC service ace leader
Natalie Riggs then served three straight points, including an ace, to make it 17-10. Utah Valley held USU to a -.053 hitting percentage in the set to reclaim a 2-1 match lead.
The fourth set featured 16 ties and seven lead changes. UVU had three service errors in the frame, and the Aggies capitalized to win 25-22 and force a fifth set. Page had five kills on 10 swings, while Gloeckner added three.
In the decisive set, Page put UVU ahead 4-3 with back-to-back kills, but Utah State answered and took an 8-7 lead at the media timeout. With the Aggies up 12-9, Jaffa pulled UVU within one with a solo block, but Utah State closed out the match by scoring three of the final four points.
Page moved into fifth place on UVU's all-time career points list, surpassing Lauren Bakker (1,389).
Evalyn Chism finished with 29 assists and 11 digs for her 24th career double-double, extending her streak to 29 straight matches with at least 20 assists.
UP NEXT
Utah Valley will travel to Weber State on Thursday, Sept. 18, for a 6 p.m. MT match before closing non-conference play against No. 16 BYU on Saturday, Sept. 20, at 3 p.m. MT inside the UCCU Center.
