The Utah Valley women’s volleyball team split a pair of games this week — they defeated the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine in a five-set thriller on Sept. 2 at the Lockhart Arena, and lost to the Cal Poly Mustangs in straight sets on Sept. 3 at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City.
The Wolverines move to 1-3 on the season, following a pair of losses to the Utah Utes to begin the season.
Redshirt senior outside hitter Kristen Bell had a career night in the victory over Hawaii, logging a double-double with 18 kills and a career-high 18 digs. Kazna Tanuvasa continued her climb up the all-time kill leaderboard, adding another 12 to her tally. The senior outside hitter currently ranks fourth in UVU history for career kills with 1,238, sitting 163 behind Jessica Endres, who played for the Wolverines from 2004-2007.
The Wolverines won the first set against the Rainbow Wahine 25-23. The two teams traded runs throughout the set, before the two teams were tied at 20. UVU then scored five of the last eight points to close out the set.
Hawaii dominated the second set from the start, cruising to a 25-14 victory. The Wolverines bounced back in the third set with another 25-23 win. UVU nearly had the Rainbow Wahine down for the count in the fourth set, but Hawaii fought back from a 24-23 deficit to win 26-24.
After falling behind early in the fifth set, the Rainbow Wahine were able to bounce back to take a 10-9 lead. Junior outside hitter Tori Dorius took over from there, rattling off four straight points to force a match point for the Wolverines. Hawaii bounced back to score a couple of points, but Bell was able to finish off the match with a game-winning kill, winning the set 15-12.
In the match against Cal Poly, the Wolverines weren’t able to get things going early in each of the three sets, taking early deficits in each. Despite a late surge, UVU lost the opening set 25-21. The second set was much closer, but the Wolverines were unable to capitalize on a late run. Cal Poly had set point at 24-19, but UVU stormed back with six straight points to take the lead. The Wolverines were unable to find that winning point, ultimately losing the set 29-27.
The Wolverines seemed to have run out of gas in the third set. Another slow start set the tone for the final frame, with the Mustangs closing out the victory 25-17.
UVU will head out on the road for their next match, traveling up I-15 to take on the Weber State Wildcats on Sept. 8 in Ogden. The match is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. MDT and can be streamed on ESPN+.
