Behind a match-high 14 kills on .542 hitting from Madison Dennison and a double-double of 11 kills and 10 digs from Lexi Thompson, the Utah Valley University volleyball team opened Western Athletic Conference play with a 3-0 sweep at Seattle University on Saturday afternoon at SU's Connolly Complex in Seattle (25-17, 25-21, 25-21).
UVU improves to 6-10 on the season and 1-0 in WAC play with the victory, while SU drops to 4-10 and 0-1 in league play.
"When you can win on the road, especially in conference play, it's great. We're thrilled that our girls came to play today and we were able to do some really good things," head UVU coach Sam Atoa said. "Seattle is a good team and this is a great accomplishment to win on their home court."
Dennison too added a match-high six blocks on the day for the Wolverines, while Sierra Starley also notched a double-double with 37 assists and 11 digs. Izzie Hinton and Alexis Davies were next for UVU offensively by recording seven and six respective kills, while Seren Merrill led the way from the back row with a team-high 15 digs.
"Sierra had a good connection going today, and both Madison and Lexi were able to do some nice things for us," Atoa said. "They had a great flow going and it was huge for us."
With SU holding to an early 3-0 advantage in the opening set, UVU responded with a 7-1 run to take a 7-4 lead. Allred led the spurt with a trio of kills. Leading 7-6, the Wolverines then managed to pound home six of the next seven points to take a 13-7 advantage. With UVU later holding an 18-10 lead, the Redhawks answered back with a 5-1 spurt to pull within four at 19-15. But the Wolverines responded down the stretch by scoring six of the final eight points to take the opener by a score of 25-17. Allred led UVU with four first-set kills.
The second set stayed close until UVU pieced together four-consecutive points to take a 12-7 lead. Thompson capped the rally for the Wolverines with a kill. With Utah Valley later leading 15-10, UVU drove home back-to-back-to-back points to extend its advantage to eight, 18-10. Ahead 19-13, Seattle U then bounced back with a 3-1 spurt to make it a 20-16 score. SU then managed to cut the deficit to three late, but back answered UVU with clutch kills from Hinton and Davies to take the second set, 25-21, and a 2-0 lead in the match.
With Seattle holding an early 10-8 lead in the third game, UVU struck back with a 6-1 run to take a 14-11 advantage. Dennison led the Utah Valley spurt with a pair of blocks and a kill. Following a kill from SU's Maja Stojanovic, the Wolverines then pounded home three-straight kills of their own to take a 17-11 lead. Dennison had two in the stretch while Thompson added one. With UVU later holding a 19-15 lead, the Redhawks struck back with a 4-1 spurt to pull within one at 20-19. The Wolverines then immediately answered, however, by scoring three of the next four points to take a 23-20 lead. Following an SU point, UVU responded with a block assist from Dennison and Davies and a final kill from Dennison to take the final set, 25-21.
As a team, UVU outhit SU, .203 to .070, on the day.
Katarina Glavanic paced the Redhawks in the contest with 10 kills.
With the victory, UVU improves to 4-1 all-time in WAC openers and 8-1 in league openers at the NCAA Division I level.
The Wolverines continue conference play on the road next week when they head to Phoenix and Bakersfield to face Grand Canyon on Sept. 28, and CSU Bakersfield on Sept. 30. UVU will then welcome the 2016 WAC Tournament Champion UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros to town on Oct. 5, for its 2017 home conference opener.
James Warnick is an assistant sports information director at Utah Valley University. For more information about Wolverine athletics, visit WolverineGreen.com.