Photo courtesy of UVU Athletics
PROVO, Utah—The Utah Valley University women’s volleyball team came away winless from the BYU Invitational after losing both games Saturday.
The Wolverines were swept by Cal Poly in their first game of the day (25-8, 26-24, 25-21). Fueled by a 12-0 run, the Mustangs ran away with the first set. The next two sets were much closer, but in the end Cal Poly proved to be too much. Kiahna Vernon led the way for UVU with nine kills and Sierra Starley added 20 assists.
In the second game of the day, UVU lost to Rice in three sets (25-18, 25-22, 25-17). The Wolverines led early in each set, but were unable to finish. They showed flashes of being able to play at a high level, but in both games consistency was an issue.
“Our peaks and valleys are just so extreme,” said UVU head coach Sam Atoa. “We can’t afford to do that. When we make a really nice run, then we kind of give the same number of points back. That’s an area that we’ve got to be able to get better. We’ve got pieces, we’ve got some good kids and great pieces, but we’ve got to be able to figure out how to piece those things together.”
Junior Madison Dennison reflected a similar feeling after the pair of losses.
“It’s kind of shown us what we need to work on,” said Dennison. “We’re really strong in places, and we’re weak in places. We just need to figure out how to make it all strong at the same time.”
With the losses, UVU falls to 0-3 on the season. The Wolverines will take on Idaho State on Tuesday at 6 p.m. MT before hosting the Wolverine Invitational, which begins Sept. 2.
