Blackett broke Deise Borghetti’s 2004 record of 30 kills in the decisive fifth set. Kali Wolf led CBU (1-19, 1-7) with 13 kills. The win snaps a three-match losing skid to the Lancers.

“I was proud of the way the team responded today,” UVU head coach Sam Atoa said. “CBU was the better team for the first two sets, but we were resilient and played our game the rest of the way. Sami and her 33 kills were key to us in coming back, but it took the contributions of the entire team to allow us to complete the reverse sweep today.”

Blackett started off hot for the Wolverines, scoring five of the first eight points in the match to help the Wolverines off to an early 10-4 lead. She totaled nine kills in the opening set. Bella Wooden had back-to-back kills later to put UVU at 19 points before the Lancers quickly scored 11 of the next 14 points to take 23-22 after a service ace from Reece Reed.

Utah Valley had three set points down the stretch thanks to an ace from Madi Standifird, a block assist from Blackett and Wooden before a kill from Evalyn Chism. The four-time WAC Setter of the Week recorded her 1,100th career assist in the first before CBU responded and took the opening set.

The momentum of the first set carried over to the second for the Lancers as they got out to a 10-2 lead before taking a 14-7 advantage later. The Wolverines responded with a 4-0 run, starting with a kill from Wooden, and then Wooden and Chism blocked Kali Wolf before Blackett tallied two kills to end the run at 14-10. CBU answered right back to take an 18-11 lead before holding on to take a 2-0 lead.

CBU took a 7-5 lead in the third set before the tides changed in UVU’s favor with a service error before Wooden stepped to the service line and dropped in her two aces in the match to help the Wolverines go up 9-7. The big run for Utah Valley came after they had gone up 13-11. It started with a kill from Steliyana Chakarova, blocks from Wooden and Blackett before Standifird and a pair of Lancer attack errors topped off the run to make it 21-11. The set went in favor of UVU.

Blackett sparked Utah Valley in the fourth set by scoring the first point and later adding two consecutive service aces to make it 6-3. The Lancers rallied and tied the match at 9-9 before the Wolverines pulled ahead with a block by Standifird and Maranda Woolf and a kill from Chakarova. Clinging to a one-point 14-13 lead before UVU went up 16-13 after a Wooden kill and an ace from Molly Cummard, who finished with a career-high 18 digs in the match, they held on to win the set 25-21.

Standifird recorded five kills in the fifth set, three of which came in the final five points, to lift UVU to the win. Blackett chipped in four kills during the fifth, including the final two kills. The Wolverines hit .455 during the race to 15. The offensive attack helped Utah Valley jump out to a 9-3 lead, and the defense limited CBU to a .130 hitting percentage to secure their third win in five set matches this season.

Chism finished with 51 assists, the third time that she has had 50 or more assists in a match. Her career-high 53 came against Weber State, and her other 51 came against Southern Miss. Wooden finished with eight kills, two aces, and nine blocks in the win.

The Wolverines will play the top of the conference with a Thursday, Oct. 24 match at Grand Canyon before returning home on Saturday, Oct. 26, for first-place UT Arlington at 1:00 p.m. MT inside Lockhart Arena.

Wolverine cross country finds successes at pre-nationals

Mo Guled added another meet championship to his 2024 resume, winning the men’s 8k “B” race at the Wisconsin Pre-Nationals on Saturday at Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course in Madison, Wisc. The Utah Valley women, who competed in the women’s 6k “A” race, finished in 24th and were led by Anna Martin.

Guled ran the 8k in 23:31.6 to outpace the field of 188 runners and win by just under seven seconds. The Wolverine men finished sixth as a team, behind Washington State and in front of Florida. Purdue’s men won the team title in the “B” race.

The women’s race featured the top five teams in the country, 19 of the teams in the most recent USTFCCCA Top 30 poll, and eight programs among those receiving votes. Utah Valley is among that group receiving votes, and on Saturday the squad finished ahead of No. 15 Tennessee and No. 22 Ole Miss.

Martin finished 79th with a time of 20:28.5 in the 6k. Julie Sumsion was the next Wolverine across the line, with her time of 20:33.9 putting her in 93rd in the 250-runner field. Caila Odekirk’s time of 20:38.9 put her in 104th, with Ari Trimble (144th, 20:58.7) and Liz Zwahlen (157th, 21:03.5) rounding out the scoring Wolverines.

The women’s race had the top three finishers all break the previous course record with New Mexico’s Pamela Kosgei winning the individual title. BYU’s women won the team title.

Austin Hone was the second Wolverine to cross the line, finishing 23rd in 24:24.8. Wyatt Mortenson (24:41.2) and Gilbert Olivas (24:42.8) were 42nd and 46th, respectively, and Tate James was 90th with a time of 25:13.9 to round out the team scoring. Eight Utah Valley men finished in the top 100, including Adam Bunker (92nd, 25:13.9) and Trey Despain (99th, 25:17.5).

Utah Valley will send a group of runners to Utah’s Scenic West Open next Thursday at Sugar House Park in Salt Lake City. Following that meet, the Wolverines will prep for the WAC Championships, which UVU is hosting, on Nov. 1 at Lakeside Park.

UVU men’s soccer shuts out Air Force

Omar Yehya netted his 11th goal of the season and Manuel Cordeiro scored a pin-point set piece to lead Utah Valley (6-5-3, 1-3-1 WAC) to a 2-0 win on the road at Air Force (1-11-1, 1-4 WAC) on Sunday afternoon.

The Utah Valley defense picked up its third shutout of the season, all of which have come on the road.

The Wolverines dominated the game offensively for the vast majority of the match and held the Falcons without a shot on goal. Utah Valley held an 11-6 advantage in total shots, with four of Air Force’s six shots coming in the final 15 minutes.

UVU struck first just seven minutes into the game on a clinical counterattack. Trevor Walk won a 50-50 ball in the defensive half to chip the ball forward to Gilles Aurelien, who took it into the penalty area down the left flank. Aurelien beat the last defender and forced the keeper to commit before teeing up Yehya who tapped it in.

The Wolverines outshot the Falcons 8-2 in the first half and 3-0 on goal, but just had just the one goal to show for it. Abel Mendoza had the last shot on goal of the half in the 44th minute, but his powerful curler near the top of the penalty area was saved.

Wind played a major factor in the game and the Falcons had it at their backs in the second half, leading to a more even game in the final 45. Air Force had its best look of the game in the 76th minute, but the Falcons were unable to get to a well-placed cross inside the six-yard box.

Yehya earned a free kick just outside the penalty area in the 85th minute to set up the final goal for the Wolverines. Cordeiro took the free kick and sent an unsavable shot into the upper 90 to double the lead and ice the game.

Utah Valley returns to Orem for its final two home games of the season. The first of those two games comes on Thursday against the UNLV Rebels, with kickoff slated for 6 p.m. MDT. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+, with live stats available at UVUStats.com.