UVU volleyball: Wolverines take down Sacramento State in straight sets
Courtesy UVU Photo
Utah Valley players celebrate a point scored during their straight set win over Sacramento State on October 24, 2026Utah Valley University swept Sacramento State, 3-0 (25-15, 25-23, 26-24), on Saturday afternoon inside Lockhart Arena. UVU (7-15, 5-5) setter Evalyn Medaris finished with 22 assists and surpassed 3,000 career assists, becoming just the fourth player in program history to reach the milestone. Sacramento State (10-11, 5-5) was led by Victoria Marthaler, who recorded a match-high 13 kills.
The Wolverines used a balanced offensive attack, with Miley Thunstrom and Chloe Hansen each recording seven kills. Olivia Gloeckner, Brielle Rueckert and Alyvia Watkins added five kills apiece. Rueckert also totaled nine blocks, while Gloeckner finished with six.
Utah Valley opened the match with an 8-0 run fueled by five Hornet attack errors and kills from Thunstrom and Rueckert. Lani Toutai added a service ace that clipped the back line during the stretch. The Wolverines later built a 14-3 advantage after a Hansen kill and capitalized on continued Sacramento State miscues to claim the opening set, 25-15. Thunstrom led the offense with five first-set kills.
Sacramento State’s All-American Marthaler helped spark the Hornets in the second set with seven kills, but Hansen countered with five as the teams battled through a tightly contested frame. Utah Valley trailed 15-13 before a block by Watkins and Gloeckner, followed by a Hansen kill, tied the score. The Wolverines later faced a 19-15 deficit but responded with a 4-0 run sparked by a Watkins kill and a block assist by Watkins and Medaris. After the teams were tied at 23-23, a block from Gloeckner and Rueckert gave Utah Valley the edge before a Thunstrom ace sealed a 25-23 set win.
Utah Valley carried its momentum into the third set, using a 6-0 run to break a 2-2 tie and take a 7-2 lead. Sacramento State responded by tying the set at 15 and later moved ahead 21-18. The Wolverines answered with an attack error by the Hornets, a Gloeckner-Rueckert block and another Sacramento State error to even the score at 22-22. Utah Valley then regained the lead after Gloeckner and Rueckert teamed up for another block on Marthaler. A block by Hansen and Rueckert brought up match point, but the Hornets fought off the first opportunity to tie the score at 24-24. Gloeckner’s kill created a second match point, and a Sacramento State attack error ended the match and completed the sweep.
The Wolverines have now recorded sweeps in two of their last three matches. Utah Valley returns to the road next weekend to face California Baptist on Friday, Oct. 30, at 7 p.m. MT before closing out the month at UC Riverside on Saturday, Oct. 31, with first serve scheduled for 2 p.m. MT.
