Clean Sweep: UVU Volleyball sends Chicago State Packing

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Utah Valley Wolverines donned their pink jerseys and faced-off against Chicago State on Monday, Oct. 14, in Orem. 

Set 1

After losing at home just two days prior, the Wolverines came out with a vengeance. That vengeance was apparent in the box score of set one. The Cougars might have put the first point on the board, but UVU quickly shut that down with a four-point run, giving the Wolverines a 4-1 lead. Three of those points came from sophomore outside hitter Kazna Tarawhiti, who had three kills, each one assisted by junior libero Seren Merrill. 

Another 4-0 run would come later, but not before CSU brought their side of the scoreboard to three points. This run only came with one kill, coming from senior middle blocker Makaila Jarema. The other three points came from a service errors and two attack errors on behalf of the Cougars. Two more 3-0 runs would help the Wolverines finish off the set with a score of 25-12.

Set 2

The Cougars weren’t about to let the Wolverines walk all over them in set two. This time around, CSU would take the lead twice and tie the score four different times. A 3-0 run early in the set would even get them two points ahead of the Wolverines with the score at 4-2. The lead would bounce around up until the scoreboard read 9-9. Senior middle blocker Megan Childs brought her team a kill to start a four-point run to give UVU a four-point lead. The rest of the run would come from none other than Tarawhiti herself. 

CSU would stay close, only letting the Wolverines get up by as many as five points (17-12). In the end, an error on the Cougars would end the set, giving the Wolverines the 25-22 set win.

The Finale

The Wolverines were one set away from a clean sweep and narrowing in on the win. Again, the Cougars found themselves on the board first with an early kill and a service ace. It wouldn’t take long though, for UVU to find their stride and score five unanswered points. A kill by CSU’s junior outside hitter Kirah Williams-Shephard put a stop to the Wolverine run. However, that kill wouldn’t do anything but build a fire under UVU. A six-point run would follow, giving the Wolverines their largest lead of the set at 13-5. 

The runs would continue for both teams, another run of five for the Wolverines, immediately followed by a run of six by the Cougars. This cut the UVU lead down to four (18-14). There would be no back-and-forth the rest of the game. Seven unanswered points for the Cougars gave them a 21-19 lead over the Wolverines and a glimpse of hope. The nail in the coffin came from yet another kill by Tarawhiti, her 16th kill of the night. The sweep was completed with a set-three score of 25-21. 

The Wolverines will conclude their four-game home stint against Seattle University on Saturday, Oct. 19 at 12:00 p.m. MST.