Utah Valley Falls to the No. 19 ranked Utes in Four Sets

The Utah Valley volleyball team lost to Utah 3-1 on Friday, Aug. 27. 

UVU starts their season off 0-1 after their season opener against the No. 19 ranked Utes. 

The first set was back and forth early on but the Wolverines fell behind by as much as five points. UVU was able to answer with a 4-0 run, bringing the score to 24-23 but they were unable to finish the comeback as they lost the set 25-23. 

Junior outside hitter Tori Dorius and redshirt senior outside hitter Kristen Bell combined for eight of the team’s 13 kills in the set. 

In the second set UVU was able to take a 7-3 lead early and they never looked back as they won the set 25-21. The Wolverines were able to take advantage of four Utah service errors and 17 kills to the Utes’ nine.  

Bell continued to have a good game as she got up to eight kills. Senior outside hitter Kazna Tanuvasa had seven kills through the first two sets. 

In the third set the Wolverines fell behind 10-4 but responded with a 9-3 run after a timeout to tie the set up at 13. Throughout the set UVU kept falling behind and rallying back but they were unable to ever take the lead during the set as they lost 25-19.

In the fourth set the Wolverines lost 25-14, ending the match in four sets. 

For the game, UVU finished with 141 attacks and 50 kills. The Wolverines also finished with 32 attack errors and a .128 hit percentage to the Utes 17 attack errors and .261 hit percentage. 

Tanuvasa led the team with 17 kills, nine digs and two blocks. Bell finished with 10 kills, seven digs and three blocks. Sophomore setter Abbie Miller finished with 22 assists and 10 digs. 

The Wolverines next game will be a rematch on the road against the Utes on Saturday, Aug. 28, at 7 p.m. MT. The game will be aired on the Pac-12 Network.