Kenzie Jones, Sports Editor, @KenzieScribbler
On Thursday night Utah Valley University finished off Grand Canyon in four sets after over coming a large final set deficit to win the match. The final scores being 25-23, 20-25, 25-21, 25-22.
In a tight opening set that showcased 17 ties and 11 lead changes the Wolverines broke a 22-all tie with back-to-back kills from Macky Treanor and Lauren Bakker to bring UVU to a 24-22 set-point advantage. The Lopes came back with a point but not a rally as UVU put the set away on a Treanor kill.
The second showed that GCU was there to play as they held a 13-15 lead halfway into the set. The Lopes continued their leading play as they scored six of the next eight points to take a commanding 15-21 advantage. UVU managed to cut the deficit to four a bit to late in the frame as that would be as close as they would get. The Lopes ended the set with a five point lead.
Utah Valley came into the third ready to put an end to Grand Canyon’s momentum. When the frame was all knotted up at 9-9, the Wolverines went on a 6-1 run to take a 15-10 lead. The spurt was led by Treanor with a pair of kills and a block assist. The Lopes wouldn’t give up that easily as they quickly managed to erase the deficit and tied it up at 18-all. Taking full advantage of one more run down the stretch to put the set away UVU ended frame with a four point advantage.
It looked like GCU would bring the match into five frames as they jumped out to a quick 7-14 lead in the fourth. Scoring 11 of the next 15 points the Wolverines quickly got things going and brought the score to 18-all. On the very next points UVU took their first lead of the frame all thanks to a GCU attack error. Utah Valley continued to command the upper hand by taking the score to 24-20 match-point. The Antelopes tried to battle back with a pair of points, but Treanor came in with a kill that ended the set and match in UVU’s favor.
The lady Wolverines will face off against conference foe, Bakersfield, on Saturday afternoon. The match will wrap up the three game homestand and begins at 1:00p.m. MT.
