No. 24 Utah Bounces Back Against Utah Valley

Friday, September 14

Salt Lake City, UT

7:00 PM

University of Utah

8-3

Utah Valley

8-5

Utah Valley

Utah

9/14/2018 9:42 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Sproule Has 8 Kills Hitting 1.000

SALT LAKE CITY – No. 24 Utah closed out its non-conference schedule by defeating Utah Valley 3-1 on Friday, September 14 in the Huntsman Center.

Lauren Sproule had a career night having eight kills and hitting 1.000 in the match. Lauga Gauta led the team with 20 kills and 12 digs.

The first set was tight early, but the Utes used a 5-1 run to take a 17-13 advantage forcing Utah Valley to take a timeout. The Utes continued to surge pushing their lead to eight and closing out the opening set 25-17. Gauta was huge finishing the set with nine kills hitting .385.

The second set was similar to the first, but this time Utah Valley went on a 5-1 run take a 16-11 lead. The Utes used a timeout, but UVU stretched their lead out a little more. Utah tried to make a late run, but the Wolverines evened the match up 1-1.

Utah's serving took the third set over as they had four aces in the set. Their big run was led by Kennedi Evans, who had two aces in three points and guided the Utes on a quick 4-1 run. In all, the Utes went on a 12-2 run to take a huge lead in the third and close it out 25-16.

The Utes built a 12-7 lead in the fourth, but UVU responded to come back and tie the match at 14. Utah settled down though and won five of the next six points to get the lead back and went on to close out the match with a 25-21 victory in the fourth set.

Dani Drews also had double-digit kills for the Utes with 11. Overall, the 66 total kills in the match were spread out as seven Utah players had at least five kills. The team hit .291.

Utah finishes its non-conference season at 8-3 and now will turn its attention to Pac-12 play. Their first match will be Wednesday, September 19 at 7 p.m. against Colorado in Boulder, Colorado.