Volleyball Takes Conference Opener

Kenzie Jones

September 27, 2014

Gabi Campbell, Photographer, @angelikagabriella
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Kenzie Jones, Sports Editor, @KenzieScribbler

In their third straight victory the Utah Valley Wolverines defeat Seattle University in five sets on Saturday afternoon. The home game stood as the 2014 Western Athletic Conference opener and was decided with final scores of 26-24, 21-25, 28-26, 20-25, 15-12.

After falling behind it looked like the Wolverines were going to end the first set in a loss as Seattle held the match point at 23-24. When out of nowhere UVU took the next three points in a row and turned the tides. The score was finalized when Jen Hardman capped the rally with a perfectly placed service ace.

The Redhawks jumped out to a 2-8 lead in the second set after taking advantage of three service errors by UVU as well as three blocks. Utah Valley chased after SU and closed the gap at 11-10, but Seattle went on a 12-5 scoring run to take its biggest lead of the set at 23-15. Finding a weakness in several Redhawk errors, UVU closed the deficit to 21-24. The a kill by Matea Mamic gave SU the set and tied the match.

The Wolverines were behind in the third and it looked like they would fall to Seattle again. At the midway point UVU managed to find a 5-0 run and tie the frame up at 16-all. From there the score was bounced back and forth until the Wolverines had their backs to the wall again in extra points. UVU took full advantage of back-to-back SU attack errors to take the set.

Utah Valley looked to finish the game off in four sets as they built an 11-6 advantage. The set had a flip-flop as the Redhawks as they scored seven of the next eight points to make the score 12-13 with the lead to SU. The Redhawks then held the upper hand from there as they took the fourth frame and pushed the match into a fifth and decisive face off.

Striking back UVU opened up a quick 8-2 lead following a trio of Macky Treanor kills. The Redhawks wanted the win just as much as the home team and showed it by pulling the score to within tow at 14-12. The Wolverines wouldn’t go down that easily as they put the set away with the very next point on another kill from Treanor. As the ball hit the floor the Wolverines celebrated the win they battled so hard to get.

The lady Wolverines will continue WAC play with another home game on Thursday, October 2nd at 7:00p.m. MT. There they will face off against New Mexico State.