“I’m really proud of the effort that every single player put in today,” said Utah Valley head coach Chris Lemay. “The grit and the concentration that our players had today is what it takes to win these types of games, but when we do it, I think we can play with anyone. We had a real heart-to-heart on Tuesday, and we talked a lot about what our character is and how we were going to respond to an ugly weekend. This was the only appropriate response for a team that’s got this much talent and this much ambition to do good things this year. To say I’m proud is an understatement right now.”

The win marks the third time in program history that Utah Valley (3-3-1) has knocked off a top-25 team and it is the second straight season to defeat a top-25 team on the road. UVU defeated No. 25 Baylor in the first round of the 2020 NCAA Tournament. The team then picked up a road win over No. 13 BYU last season in Provo.

Webber’s three goals is the second hat trick of her career and just the 11th hat trick in UVU history. Webber also recorded a hat trick in a 4-3 win over California Baptist last season in Orem.

“Over the course of the last three games we just know what it takes to beat a team like this,” said Webber. “We knew we were capable of this. It’s not like we weren’t competing. The results might have swayed the other way but today we focused and did everything that we possibly could do as a team and the result showed. We know what it takes and we’ll continue to do it moving forward.

Heather Stainbrook dribbled into the box and sent a ball into the hand of a USC defender and the Wolverines were awarded a penalty kick. Webber’s PK was blocked but the she rebounded the ball and put it into the net to give the Wolverines a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute.

Webber picked up her second goal of the game in the 52nd minute as she placed a ball into the bottom left side of the goal to give Utah Valley a 2-0 lead.

Webber then secured her hat trick in the 61st minute as Stainbrook sent in a free kick from 30 yards out on the left side of the field. Webber got a foot on the ball and sent it into the goal to give the Wolverines a 3-0 advantage.

USC (3-2-0) started its comeback just a minute later in the 62nd minute as Florianne Jourde found the back of the net to cut the UVU lead to 3-1. USC’s Maribel Flores then scored in the 78th minute to cut the Utah Valley lead to just one goal, 3-2.

The Wolverine defense then fended off numerous USC attacks over the final 12 minutes to secure the 3-2 UVU win.

USC outshot UVU 13-10 on the day, including an 8-4 advantage on frame. The Trojans had six corner kicks to UVU’s three. Webber led the Wolverines with a match-high four shots, all on goal. Ruby Hladek had three shots, while Stainbrook, Haley Richardson, and Sadie Beardall each had one.

UVU’s CJ Graham picked up her first win of the season in the box for UVU and tallied six saves.

Utah Valley continues play in SoCal as the team travels to play Long Beach State on Sunday afternoon at George Allen Field. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. MT. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.

BYU women’s volleyball wins twice at Washington tournament

The No. 8 BYU women’s volleyball followed up its worst offensive performance with its best offensive performance on Thursday.

The Cougars hit a season low .176 in a 3-1 win against Towson at the Cougar Challenge in Pullman, Wash., in the first match of the tournament. Later that evening, BYU came out sizzling and hit .750 in the first set against UC Irvine, eventually finishing at a season-best .363 in a sweep (25-9, 25-21, 25-23) to move to 8-0.

Sophomore Kate Prior led the Cougars with 11 kills on 17 swings with just one error (.500) and Whitney Llarenas added nine kills on 18 swings with zero errors (.500). Whitney Bower dished out 40 assists and had 11 digs along with five kills on six swings and no errors (.833).

Brielle Kemavor, a 6-foot-5 freshman, came off the bench and contributed five block assists. Libero Kamiele Hiapo had 13 digs to lead BYU.

The Cougars took off in Set 1 with seven kills in its first nine swings, taking a quick 11-6 lead on a Eylse Stowell attack. It was 14-6 when Prior put one down and the Cougars scored 10 straight points, including a tandem block by Bower and Llarenas, to push the lead to 24-7. Eden Bower’s kill ended the set.

BYU finished with 15 kills on 20 swings with no errors (.750) with Whitney Bower piling up 12 assists. Prior had five kills and Stowell and Llarenas added three each.

BYU didn’t commit its first hitting error of the match until its 24th swing and took a 7-1 lead in Set 2. It was 10-4 when Llarenas tooled a shot off the block but UCI rallied and tied the set at 15-all on a kill from Isabella Scarlett.

Kemavor entered the match and contributed three blocks during the stretch run for BYU. Prior got a kill to get to set point at 24-21 and Kemavor ended it with a solo block.

The Cougars got themselves in a big hole in Set 3, falling behind 9-2 on a Marianna Bertolone kill. The Anteaters pushed their advantage to 20-13 and the match appeared to be headed to a a fourth set. But BYU rallied and finished the set on a 12-2 run. Erin Livington’s back row kill helped the Cougars a 22-21 lead. BYU won a video challenge, which showed UCI into the net defensively, to get to match point at 24-22. Whitney Bower’s attack from her setter spot found a hole to end a long rally and the Cougars won 25-22.

Earlier in the day, host and No. 13 Washington State (6-1) cruised past UC Irvine in a sweep (25-22, 25-11, 25-12), hitting .458 and out-digging the Anteaters 42-25. Timmer Pia led the Cougars with 11 kills on 19 swings with just two errors (.474) and Magda Jehlarova added nine kills on ten swings with zero errors (.900).

BYU will face Washington State on Friday at 8 p.m. MT.

No. 8 BYU 3, Towson 1

Despite hitting a season low .176, BYU still managed a 3-1 (25-20, 25-23, 14-25, 25-22) victory against Towson.

Livingston led BYU with 15 kills despite eight errors (.140) but Stowell added 12 kills while hitting .526. Bower had 31 assists and 10 digs for the Cougars, which also got six block assists from freshman Mia Lee and 13 digs from Hiapo.

Irbe Lazda led Towson, which has won the Coastal Athletic Association title three straight seasons and finished 29-2 last year, with 17 kills while hitting .382. Nina Cajic contributed 12 kills and hit .310 and libero Sydney Stewart led all players with 18 digs.

BYU led by as many as eight points in Set 1 and took a 23-15 lead on a Livingston kill. Towson managed to close to 24-20 on a kill from Cajic but freshman Claire Little’s swing found the floor and the Cougars took the first set.

Towson jumped out in front 6-2 in Set 2 but BYU tied it at 7 and then took a 10-9 lead on a Stowell kill. Stowell’s attack gave the Cougars a 20-17 advantage but the Tigers closed to one, 22-21, when Lazda scored. Towson fought off one set point but Livingston’s swing ended it at 25-23.

Set 3 was all Towson, which broke out on a 13-1 run to claim a 21-11 lead. Victoria Barrett’s kill was the winner in a 25-14 blowout.

Livingston scored to give BYU an 8-4 lead in Set 4 and a kill from Lee pushed the advantage to 15-10. Towson closed to 21-19 on a tandem block by Lazda and Erin Brothers. The Cougars got to match point on back-to-back kills by Livingston at 24-20 and finally won 25-22 on a swing from Livingston after a long rally.