VERMILLION, S.D. – Utah Valley women's volleyball was defeated by Northern Iowa, 3-0 (20-25, 21-25, 17-25), on Friday evening in its second match at the South Dakota Classic. UVU (0-5) was led by Weber State transfer
Brielle Rueckert, who had five kills and six total blocks in the match.
Alyvia Watkins finished with a season-high six kills and three blocks for the Wolverines. UNI (3-2) had three players reach 10 or more kills, with Isabelle Elliott leading the way with 12 kills.
Alyvia Watkins finished with three kills in the first frame, including one that tied the set at 6 before UNI went on a run to take the lead. The Wolverines answered and made it a one-point set at 12-11 after a 5-2 stretch that featured an ace from
Chloe Hansen. She finished the match with two aces for the second time in the last three matches. Her second ace came later in the first set, cutting the Panthers' lead to 19-17, but Northern Iowa later held on for the set victory.
Coming off a career-high night in kills,
Evalyn Medaris finished with five kills, with three coming in the second set for the Wolverines. She added seven of her 21 assists during the second set, while Watkins and Hansen each added two kills. Hansen's kill early in the set cut the lead to 8-6 before UVU took advantage of a UNI service error to make it 9-7. The Panthers' steady offensive attack helped them break the set open, but Utah Valley responded with a six-point stretch, cutting the deficit to 19-18 late in the second frame. Following Rueckert's kill, Northern Iowa closed the set on a 5-2 run to secure the victory.
Rueckert picked up where she left off at the end of the second set and finished the third with three kills on seven swings while adding a pair of block assists. Freshman
Bree Carson entered the match and recorded two kills. UVU tried to rally late in the third set; after a kill from Watkins, assisted by Medaris, the club teammates combined for back-to-back block assists to cut the lead to 21-14 before the Panthers stopped the Wolverines' momentum and secured the match.
UP NEXT
Utah Valley will wrap up the South Dakota Classic with a 10 a.m. MT match Saturday, Sept. 5, against Air Force. The match will air on Midco Sports Plus with a paid subscription. UVU will travel next weekend to Kansas City for the Kansas City Klassic.
