Volleyball opens GWC play for the season with a win

Women’s volleyball extended their winning streak to four games Thursday night as they opened Great West Conference play against NJIT, taking the match 3-0.

“Our goal is to win the conference. These conference matches, every match is very, very important to us, particularly those at home. We have to be able to take care of them,” Coach Sam Atoa said. “It’s great to come and play well and to get our first conference win and hope that momentum continues to carry us forward.”

The NJIT Highlanders entered the match with a 1-8 record and the Wolverines entered with a 5-5 record after winning the Arizona State University Sheraton Invitational the previous weekend, Sept. 17-18.

“We had a very good weekend last weekend for us to win the ASU tournament and had some good momentum and I think great teams take advantage of that,” Atoa said. “I thought the girls did very well in being able to come take care of it at home.”

The first set saw senior All-Star Kayli Doxey lead the team offensively with six kills, while senior teammate Dani Robison followed with four and junior Chelsey Heaps with three. Freshman standout, Brookelyn Campbell, put 14 big assists on the board and senior Kathleen Stevens added four digs.

In set two, Heaps and freshman Lindsay Barker led the Wolverines offensively with three kills apiece, while Doxey and junior Jaicee Kuresa both added two. Campbell added 10 more assists while Stevens added five more digs.

In the final set, Doxey added four more kills while senior Dani Robison added three. Campbell and Sarah Clement added two kills apiece. Heaps, senior Lani O’Reilly and Stevens each added four digs while Doxey added three.

The team will travel to Cedar City to take on SUU on Tuesday, and then continue on the road next week to South Dakota on Sept. 30 and North Dakota on Oct. 2 for two more GWC matches.

The Wolverines will return to home court Oct. 5 when they host first in-state opponent Weber State at 7 p.m.