The win was the Wolverines’ first against a ranked team away from home in 10 tries, as UVU entered Friday’s match 0-7-2 all-time against United Soccer Coaches Top 25 teams and winless in their last 13 overall dating back to August 25, 2017 against Akron.

“It wasn’t pretty, but we’re happy getting the result on the road against a Top 25 team,” said head coach Michael Chesler. “It’s all about preparation for the Big West and NCAA Tournament. I don’t want to take anything away from this, it’s incredible, but it’s prepping us for those moments down the road.”

The Wolverines did it against one of the toughest teams in the country on their home turf. Entering Friday’s match, Marshall hadn’t lost a home regular season game in 1,056 days since Oct. 22, 2023 against Kentucky, and had lost just 14 times total at Hoops Family Field under 10th-year head coach Chris Grassie.

The Wolverines withstood steady pressure from the Herd all night long, as Marshall held a 20-9 advantage in total shots and an 8-3 edge on target. In addition to the five saves by Sessions, the Wolverine defense had a pair of goal line clearances from Toke Amtrup and Jeremie Kuelo.

The first of those goal line clearances came early on in the sixth minute. Francisco Guimaraes’ initial shot was parried away by Sessions but right into the path of Josh Nugent, whose follow-up went right at Amtrup in the wide-open net. Sessions made another save just moments later in the eighth minute on a more tame effort by Joao Alves.

Utah Valley struck first just inside the 11th minute on some brilliant passing. Mason Abdella fed a perfectly-weighted through ball to Jose Montealegre, whose shot was saved. The rebound came out to Naime Odeh, who volleyed a cross back into the mixer for Adem Arous, who headed it home.

The Thundering Herd answered back moments later in the 24th minute as Nugent found paydirt off a cross from Carl Romberg. Marshall had a prime opportunity to take the lead in the 30th minute, but Romberg’s shot was cleared off the line by Kuelo.

Landon Christiansen broke the deadlock just 20 seconds into the second half. Luca Wingaa Laursen won an aerial duel with Pedro Martins then broke past a pair of defenders to the end line. Wingaa Laursen’s cross was headed away but right to Christiansen, whose left-footed volley caromed off of Alves and over the diving keeper.

The Wolverine defense stood tall down the stretch, with key tackles and blocked shots all over the pitch. Sessions made a pair of saves in the final 10 minutes to secure the victory.

Utah Valley will now have just over a week off before heading to St. George on Sept. 21 for the Old Hammer Rivalry game at Utah Tech. The derby will kick off at 7 p.m. MDT, and the game will be streamed live on the Mountain West+ platform.

Wolverine Volleyball takes a 5-set thriller

KANSAS CITY – Utah Valley University defeated Radford, 3-2 (25-20, 17-25, 25-22, 19-25, 16-14), on Saturday morning in its final match of the Kansas City Klassic. Brielle Rueckert led the Wolverines with a career-high 19 kills on 25 swings, hitting .720 in the match. The performance ties for the third-best hitting percentage in a match in program history.

UVU (2-7) had four players finish with double-digit kills, with Miley Thunstrom adding a career-high 16 kills. Olivia Gloeckner added 13 kills, and Alyvia Watkins finished with 10. Lani Toutai continued her strong weekend, setting a new career high with 32 digs. Radford (2-8) was led by Taryn Roberts, who recorded 16 kills and 18 total points.

The Wolverines used their middle blockers to attack the Radford defense in the opening set, with Rueckert recording five kills and Watkins adding four. UVU hit .370 in the set. Utah Valley worked back from an early deficit and tied the score at 9-9 after two kills from Thunstrom. The Highlanders appeared poised to pull away, taking an 18-14 lead. After chipping away at the deficit, Rueckert blocked Roberts to cut the lead to 19-18 before a 7-0 UVU run propelled the Wolverines to the first-set win.

The Highlanders responded in the second set, taking an early 7-1 lead. Radford used three separate 4-0 runs throughout the set to maintain momentum and even the match.

Medaris recorded 16 of her 57 assists in the third set. The senior finished one assist shy of matching her career high of 58 and added 18 digs for a double-double. The back-and-forth battle early in the set swung to a Radford 14-11 lead before a 4-1 Wolverines run tied the score at 15. Later, trailing 17-16, Medaris and Watkins teamed up for a block on Macie Potter before Thunstrom recorded a kill and another Potter attack error made it 19-17. The Highlanders answered again and continued to keep the set close. Rueckert opened a 3-1 run to close out the set with a kill before Gloeckner added another and Myka Christensen capped the stretch with a service ace.

Roberts carried the Highlanders in the fourth set as Radford used a 4-0 run to take a 13-7 lead. Gloeckner led the UVU attack with five kills, while Rueckert, Watkins and Thunstrom each added three. The offensive-heavy set saw Utah Valley hit .467 with just two errors, but Radford hit .581 with only one attack error to force a fifth set.

In the fifth, Radford jumped out to a 4-1 lead before the Wolverines responded with a 6-2 run to regain the advantage following a Gloeckner kill. UVU later broke a 9-9 tie with a block assist from Chloe Hansen and Watkins. Watkins then extended the lead to 12-10 with a kill, but the Highlanders mounted one final push and erased match point to tie the score at 14-14. Rueckert and Gloeckner then delivered back-to-back kills to secure the match.

UP NEXT

The Wolverines will play three matches next week, all in Utah. Utah Valley begins the stretch Tuesday, Sept. 15, at No. 25 BYU before traveling to Utah State on Thursday and hosting Weber State on Saturday.