The lady Wolverines will play two more conference matches before entering the Great West Conference championships on Nov. 19.
Utah Valley volleyball took on conference opponent Houston Baptist last Thursday night ending in a conference win, putting their conference record to 6-3 and 17-10 overall.
The match began with senior Lanni O’Reilly doing her signature move: spinning the ball on her right hand, throwing it up and serving it over the net.
The lady Wolverines took an early lead, securing them the first set, 25-12. Senior Kayli Doxey led the Wolverines with six kills and three digs, while freshman standout Brookelyn Campbell finished the first set with nine assists.
The second set saw the same story with an early lead, giving them a 2-0 advantage for the match. Doxey finished the second set adding five more kills and seven digs. Junior teammates Chelsey Heaps and Sarah Clement followed with three digs apiece, while Campbell added nine more assists.
After the break, UVU returned to the court with a winning momentum from the previous two sets, while Houston Baptist had another idea.
The Huskies and the Wolverines stayed just within points of each other until Houston Baptist took a lead after passing the Wolverines at 10. The Huskies got a five-point lead before Coach Sam Atoa called a time out.
After the time out, the Huskies scored four more consecutive points before UVU hit the scoreboard again. UVU scored five consecutive points in hopes of catching the Huskies, who were sitting at 24 points and needing just one to take the set. The Wolverines couldn’t catch Houston Baptist as they won the third set, 25-22.
In the fourth game, Utah Valley again took an early lead, but the Huskies caught up, coming within just one point of the Wolverines. UVU held the lead, but Houston Baptist trailed closely behind.
The Huskies couldn’t keep pace with the Wolverines, with UVU winning the set and taking the match, 3-1.
“That was a nice win for us,” Atoa said. “The girls really dominated in the first two sets and then kind of had a learning experience in the third and came back and did really well under both circumstances.”
The Wolverines will finish up their regular season on the road this week at NJIT on Nov. 11 and at Chicago State Nov. 13.
