Wolverines knotch win over Utes

UVU fought hard at the La Quinta Inn and Suites Invitational but fell short against Washington State.

UVU competed against Utah, Washington State and Missouri at the Invitational. Sept. 4 was a victorious night for the Wolverines as they beat a nationally ranked team for the first time. With UVU’s win, they took away Utah’s 13 match regular-season winning streak.

“You have to be excited. I think this is great,” said head coach Sam Atoa. “The girls executed very well. Tonight we just served and passed a lot better than they did.”

The Wolverines were on fire. During the third set, Utah started to look tired and started to struggle, but UVU remained strong and consistent. UVU also put up some big numbers during the match. Kayli Broadbent had 18 kills, Camie Manwill added 16, Allyce Jones shelled out 22 digs and Chelsea Fa’alogo gave 43 assists.

“I think you saw kids that played well together and will continue to play well together. I’m proud of them,” added Atoa.
The next day, UVU took on Missouri and Washington State but dropped both matches to come away with second in the Invitational.
Washington State finished first, Missouri followed in third and Utah in fourth for the Invitational.

Despite UVU’s losses, Manwill and Jones were named to the all-tournament team for that week.

“First of all, I think you’ve got to give credit to Washington State,” said Atoa. “They came in and played very well.”

Atoa was pleased with the Wolverines performance in the Invitational but also said, “For sure I would’ve wanted to get more wins but we accomplished our goal coming into this weekend. I thought the girls fought hard and we gave ourselves opportunities. We just fell short.”