Image by Diana Pratt/UVU Review

UVU women’s volleyball notched another Great West Conference win in a four-set match against New Jersey Institute of Technology Nov. 12.

“I thought the girls played well,” said UVU coach Sam Atoa. “We lost our focus in the third set, but I was real proud of them for being able to bounce back and do very well in the fourth.”

The Wolverines took a lead about halfway into the first set which eventually gave them the set win at 25-14 with an 11-point lead.

In the second set UVU took an early lead, but halfway through the set NJIT began to close the gap to within just a few points. The Wolverines kept the lead throughout the set, but NJIT trailed by just a couple points. UVU won set two at 25-21.

NJIT came out strong in the third set, putting three points up before UVU hit the board. The Wolverines trailed early in the set but closed the gap, tying it at 9-9. NJIT took another lead and UVU kept the gap small but ultimately couldn’t close it giving the set to NJIT 25-19.

The fourth set decided the match. The Wolverines took a small lead and that lead continued to rise to a 16-point advantage, giving UVU the set at 25-9.

Kayli Broadbent finished the match with a total of 16 kills and 10 digs. Camie Manwill finished with 17 kills and 13 digs. Allyce Jones had a total of 16 digs, Kathleen Stevens 11, and Chelsea Fa’alogo finished with a big 41 assists.

This match was the final home game for seniors Jones, Manwill and Marla Morin. Jones and Manwill have played their entire career for UVU while Morin has played two seasons as a transfer.

“It’s an emotional night and its always good to be able to close out at home on a good note,” said Atoa. “Each of them (seniors) have played a different role and are very significant in what we’re trying to accomplish this year. I’m real proud of them for the sacrifice and the effort that they’ve put into making this season as it has been.”

Jones, the teams libero, is currently the school’s dig leader with 562 and is ranked 16th in the nation.

“It’s been amazing. So freaking fun,” said Jones. “You make relationships that we’ve never had and that we’ll have for the rest of our lives. We have amazing coaches and it makes a big difference.”

Manwill, who battled injury last season, is the school’s current kills leader with 1,488.

“No matter winning or loosing, we’re always having fun together. We get over things together and we triumph from the things we do well together,” said Manwill.

Morin, who came to UVU as a transfer from Portland State, and has been with the Wolverines for two seasons and was limited during her junior season due to injury, said, “It’s been a lot of fun. This team is a lot of fun and the coaching staff is just great.”

The Wolverines will now head to Houston for the Great West Conference Championships on November 19-21.

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UVU women’s volleyball set out on its final road trip of the season for a match at BYU and then later to the midwest to battle South and North Dakota.

The Wolverines fought hard in a four set match against neighboring school BYU but ultimately let it slide 3-1.

“I thought it was fairly even. I think if you look at the score and everything that went on it kind of came down at the end where it was just one serve, one swing or one block that really made the difference,” said coach Sam Atoa.

BYU took the first two sets while UVU answered back winning the third set, but couldn’t wrap it up in the fourth and final set.

Kayli Broadbent finished with 23 kills and eight digs while Camie Manwill put down 14 kills and added six digs. Chelsea Fa’alogo gave 45 assists in the four set match. Allyce Jones finished with 15 digs while Kathleen Stevens added seven.

UVU then traveled to South Dakota two days later to capture another GWC win in four sets. Broadbent had 22 kills, Manwill put down 15 kills and 19 digs while Jones put up 36 digs of her own.

On Halloween the Wolverines battled North Dakota in a five set decision losing it 3-2. UVU won the first and fourth sets and battled it out in the fifth losing by only two points. Broadbent led with 22 kills and 20 digs, Manwill added 14 kills and 16 digs. Jones contributed 34 digs and Fa’alogo added 54 assists.

UVU will play their final home game on Nov. 12 against GWC opponent NJIT.

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Dave Iba/UVU Review

UVU volleyball swept Houston Baptist 3-0 on Oct. 2ac3 giving them another conference win but not without a fight from their opponent.

“They (Houston Baptist) were prepared and they knew what they were going to do, but they had a hard time doing it because I thought our serving was very tough,” said head coach Sam Atoa.

In the first set UVU took an early lead and kept their gap large winning the set 25-12. Allyce Jones had four digs, Camie Manwill had three kills and Chelsea Fa’alogo gave 7 assists in the first set.

The second set was a little more challenging for the Wolverines. Houston Baptist came out with more intensity. The score remained tight until the Wolverines broke away with the game tied 13-13, ultimately going on to win the set 25-17. In the second set Kayli Broadbent put down four kills, Fa’alogo added nine assists, and Jones and Kathleen Stevens each put up three digs.

UVU held a small lead early in the third set. However, Houston Baptist kept the gap small, but the Wolverines held on to win the set 25-16, giving them the match win 3-0.

During the Final set Broadbent added another four kills, Fa’alogo another 12 assists, and Chelsey Garfield and Jones each put up five digs.

This win over Houston Baptist put the Wolverines on a four game winning streak. “It’s good to win for sure, and I think its good to win when you’re executing and doing good things,” said Atoa. “We’re doing some really good things right now that help us to just keep getting prepared for the next match and we’re going to have to be able to keep doing that.”

The Wolverines now go on a long road trip before returning home for their final match against NJIT on Nov. 12. “It’s not an ideal schedule but we were also home quite a bit early on,” said Atoa. “We are just going to have to prepare for one match at a time and hope that we can just keep taking this momentum that we have and put ourselves to the test.”

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Dave Iba/UVU Review

The lady Wolverines got another three wins at home Oct. 1, 2 and 5 competing against North Dakota, South Dakota and Boise State.

“I can’t say enough as far as how the girls are playing right now. They are learning and getting better and sticking to the plan as far as our execution,” said coach Sam Atoa.
UVU began their streak with the North Dakota game, taking three of four sets to win the match 3-1. Camie Manwill put down 19 kills and nine digs as well as a career-high four services aces. Allyce Jones had a season-high 26 digs and Sarah Clement had eight kills with five blocks. Chelsea Fa’alogo kept her usual high assist numbers consistent with 43.

The next night South Dakota came to the court and the Wolverines swept an easy three sets taking the match win 3-0. Kayli Broadbent tallied up 18 kills, Manwill gave 10 kills and nine digs, and Dani Robison had a season-high six kills. Fa’alogo had another high 37 assists and Jones put up 13 digs.

Three nights later, UVU finished off the competition with Boise State. UVU beat Boise for the second time this season, sweeping the match 3-0. Jones finished with 21 digs, Manwill put down nine kills and Broadbent added seven. Robison, Faith Tusieseina and Fa’alogo each put down six kills.

The lady Wolverines will return to home court Oct. 13 and 15 for in-state rival Utah State and a GWC match against Texas-Pan American.

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Dave Iba/UVU Review

UVU played four games in less than a week taking one loss, but finishing with a three-game winning streak.

The Wolverines started off this series of games on Sept. 16 going up against Oregon, ranked 12th in the country. UVU fought hard through three sets and kept pace with Oregon, but it wasn’t enough to put them over the top, dropping the match to Oregon 3-0. 

“It’s been great that these kids have been able to give themselves opportunity after opportunity against these very good teams,” said head coach Sam Atoa.

UVU’s Camie Manwill gave 10 kills and 11 digs recording her sixth double-double of the season. Kayli Broadbent added 17 kills and Chelsea Fa’alogo finished with 35 assists against Oregon.

The next two nights UVU swept Boise State on the road and then beat Chicago State at home in the first Great West Conference match of the season. “We talked about it (the three straight matches) and the girls understood, regardless of who our competition was, we still needed to play hard and execute well,” said Atoa.

After the three consecutive matches the team had a few days off before returning home. On Sept. 22, UVU took on in-state rival SUU for both school’s first match in history.

SUU came out strong to take on the Wolverines, but UVU was able to sweep all three sets and win the match. By the third set, SUU looked tired and UVU took advantage by getting a convincing lead towards the end leaving the T-Birds in the dust. “I thought that we did some good things. SUU played hard and we expected that,” said Atoa. 

UVU put up big numbers again in this match. Manwill recorded her seventh double-double of the season with 10 kills and 16 digs, Broadbent put down 16 kills, freshman Erica Nish had eight kills in her first career start, Allyce Jones tallied 16 digs and Fa’alogo gave a big 36 assists.

UVU will be back in action on home court Oct. 1 against Great West opponent North Dakota.

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UVU fought hard at the LaQuinta Inn and Suites Invitational but fell short against Washington State.

UVU competed against Utah, Washington State and Missouri at the Invitational. September 4 was a victorious night for the Wolverines as they beat a nationally ranked team No. 17 Utah for the first time.  With UVU’s win, they took away Utah’s 13 match regular-season winning streak.

Junior Camie Manwill spikes the ball over the Utes as the Wolverines escaped with the upset win. Photo credit: Dave Iba

“You have to be excited.  I think this is great,” said head coach Sam Atoa. “The girls executed very well.  Tonight we just served and passed a lot better than they did.”

The Wolverines were really on fire. During the third set, Utah started to look tired and started to struggle, but UVU remained strong and consistent. UVU also put up some big numbers during the match. Kayli Broadbent had 18 kills, Camie Manwill added 16, Allyce Jones shelled out 22 digs and Chelsea Fa’alogo gave 43 assists.

“I think you saw kids that played well together and will continue to play well together.  I’m proud of them,” added Atoa.

The next day UVU took on Missouri and Washington State. UVU dropped both matches to Missouri and Washington State but came away with second in the Invitational. Washington State finished first, Missouri followed in third and Utah in fourth for the Invitational.

Despite UVU’s losses, Manwill and Jones were named to the all-tournament team for that week.

“First of all, I think you’ve got to give credit to Washington State,” said Atoa. “They came in and played very well.”

Atoa was pleased with the Wolverines performance in the Invitational but also said, “For sure I would’ve wanted to get more wins but we accomplished our goal coming into this weekend. I thought the girls fought hard and we gave ourselves opportunities. We just fell short.”

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