(St. George, Utah – Oct. 12, 2023) - The Utah Tech volleyball team fell in four sets to Utah Valley at home on Thursday night at Burns Arena.
The Trailblazers (6-11, 2-5 WAC) dropped the opening two sets, 25-19, 25-21 before winning the third set, 25-18, with Utah Valley (6-12, 3-4 WAC) taking the fourth set, 25-22 to win the match.
Sophomore outside hitter
Kennedi Knudsen, coming off a career-high 21 kills at Abilene Christian last Saturday, led the Blazers with her fourth double-double of the season totaling 12 kills and 12 digs.
Freshman
Adee Butler tallied a season-best 10 kills, five digs and two service aces while senior
Emma Ricks added a team-high 17 digs.
The Wolverines jumped out to an 11-4 lead to start the opening set and pushed its lead to eight at 16-8 before a 5-0 run for the Trailblazers, including three kills, brought Utah Tech back within three. A kill by
Hannah Howard kept UT within three, 21-18, but four of the final five points of the set went to Utah Valley for a 1-0 set lead.
A 5-0 run for the Trailblazers midway through the second set pushed UT ahead 12-8 and a kill by Knudsen kept Utah Tech ahead by four at 15-11. A 5-0 run for UVU put the visitors in front, 16-15 and the Wolverines continued to lead by one, 22-21 after a kill by Knudsen. Three straight points for UVU closed out the set to take a two-set advantage.
The Trailblazers broke up the Wolverines' attempt at a sweep winning the third set getting out to a 14-8 lead after a 4-0 run. A 6-2 run for the Wolverines cut UT's lead to down to two at 16-14 before three straight points from Butler put the Blazers ahead five with blocks from
Sydney Reese and
Taylor Snow closing out the set to give Utah Tech a 25-18 set win.
The fourth set saw the Wolverines stay close in the early going with a service ace by Ricks bringing the Blazers within three at 12-9 before a 5-0 run for UVU pushed their lead to eight. With UVU continuing to lead 21-14, the Blazers fought back into the set with a 6-0 run and knotted the set at 22 after a kill by Snow. Unfortunately for the Trailblazers, that was the final score of the match as the Wolverines scored the final three points of the set with a kill, attack error and service ace to complete the win.
Utah Tech closes out the weekend hosting Seattle (6-12, 1-6 WAC) on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Burns Arena.
