Photo courtesy of UVU Athletics
OREM, Utah—Tuesday night marked the home opener for the Utah Valley University women’s volleyball team as they faced off against the Idaho State Bengals. The game was UVU’s first game ever in the UCCU Center, where they will play the majority of this season while the PE Building undergoes renovations.
UVU (0-4) started well but couldn’t keep momentum as they fell to ISU (1-3) in three sets (26-28, 19-25, 15-25). The Wolverines got off to a hot start in the first set but failed to close it out.
The next two sets were not as close, as UVU seemed to lose their rhythm.
The game was a reunion of sorts for Idaho State’s Abby Jensen, who was named WAC freshman of the year last season while playing for the Wolverines. She contributed 22 total attacks and 12 digs to help propel the Bengals past her former team. Sierra Starley led the way for the Wolverines with 15 assists and 16 total attacks.
The loss marks the fourth straight game in which UVU has been swept.
“We’ve got to be able to find some answers and break through this early slump that we’re in right now that nobody really expected,” said UVU head coach Sam Atoa. “We just are not executing very well on offense or on defense. We’re not playing very good. We’ve got to change it and figure things out so that we can be better in practice tomorrow, and be better this weekend.”
Coming up next, UVU will face North Texas, Southern Utah and San Jose State as it hosts the Wolverine Invitational, which runs Sept. 2-3. The Wolverines’ first match comes Friday at 7 p.m. MT against North Texas.
