The Utah Valley University women’s volleyball team defeated the Stephen F. Austin University Lumberjacks 3-1 (27-25, 25-23, 16-25, 25-22) on Saturday at home in the Lockhart Arena.
The win marks the Wolverines’ fourth-straight win and third-straight Western Athletic Conference win. The win moves UVU to 11-7 on the season, 5-1 in conference play, and 7-2 at home. The Wolverines now sit in second place in the WAC standings, just behind the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
Avery Shewell led way for the Wolverines with 20 kills. Kazna Tanuvasa followed with 14 kills, four blocks, and seven digs. Abbie Miller led the team in assists with 26 followed by Natalie Palmer with 17 assists as well as the team’s sole service ace. Bryton Nixon led UVU in digs with 16. Caleigh Vagana led the Wolverines in blocks with six and Makayla Broadbent followed with five blocks of her own.
After the Lumberjacks opened the first set with a 6-1 run, the Wolverines answered back with a 5-1 run to cut the deficit to 7-6. SFA then went on a 7-1 run to extend their lead 14-7.
However, starting with three-straight kills from Shewell, the Wolverines would go on a 15-8 run to tie the set 22-22. UVU proceeded to finish out the set on a 5-3 run, with Tanuvasa scoring the last two kills to put the set away with a final of 27-25.
The second set began more back-and-forth as both teams used multiple runs to eventually tie 11-11. The Lumberjacks then went on a 6-2 run to create separation from the Wolverines with a score of 17-13. The Wolverines answered with a 6-3 run to make the SFA lead one score 20-19.
UVU would then close out the set with another 6-3 run to come up with a 25-23 set victory, giving the Wolverines a 2-0 advantage in the match.
The third set began in a 9-8 favor to the Lumberjacks before they used a 9-4 run to jump to an 18-12 lead. The Wolverines would have no answers for SFA as the Lumberjacks would finish the set with a 7-4 run, making the final score 25-16 and cutting their match deficit 2-1.
After both sides traded runs to give SFA an 11-10 advantage early, the Wolverines erupted for a 10-4 run to take a 20-15 lead. The Lumberjacks promptly responded with a 6-2 run to cut the lead down to 22-21. However, the Wolverines would end with a 3-1 run, including two consecutive attack errors by SFA, to close the set with a final score of 25-22 and win the match 3-1.
The Wolverines will next compete against the Utah Tech University Trailblazers on Thursday, Oct. 20, at 6 p.m. MT at the Lockhart Arena in Orem, Utah. The match can be streamed via ESPN+.
