UVU Roundup: Women’s soccer clinches regular season WAC title
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- The Utah Valley women’s soccer team poses for a photo after winning the WAC regular season title with a 4-1 victory at Abilene Christian on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025.
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- Utah Valley women’s soccer players celebrate a 4-1 victory at Abilene Christian on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025.
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- Utah Valley women’s soccer players celebrate a 4-1 victory at Abilene Christian on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025.
ABILENE, Texas — The Utah Valley women’s soccer team secured its fourth straight Western Athletic Conference regular season championship with a 4-1 road win over Abilene Christian on Thursday night at Elmer Gray Stadium.
With the victory, Utah Valley improves to 12-4-2 overall and 8-0-1 in WAC play, extending its conference regular season unbeaten streak to 31 matches. The Wolverines’ 25 points atop the WAC standings make them mathematically unreachable with one match remaining. California Baptist sits second with 19 points.
“This group has done an extraordinary job carrying the pressure of being the reigning champs,” said Utah Valley head coach Chris Lemay. “Winning a championship is difficult–but doing it four times in a row is rare. They’ve been incredibly consistent, and I think we’re playing some of our best soccer of the year right now. It’s a great time to be in form.”
Utah Valley has dominated WAC competition this season, outscoring league opponents 40-7 while remaining unbeaten in nine matches.
Ruby Hladek opened the scoring early, capitalizing on a free kick from just outside the box in the sixth minute. The senior forward curved the ball around the ACU defensive wall and inside the near post for her 14th goal of the season to give the Wolverines a 1-0 lead.
In the 27th minute, Josie Shepherd sent a ball forward from midfield to Mia Owens, who pushed the attack and found Faith Webber in stride. Webber battled through a defender and slotted the shot past the Wildcat keeper to make it 2-0. The goal marked Webber’s 17th of the season, just two shy of breaking her own single-season record of 18 set last year.
The Wolverines extended their advantage to 3-0 in the 53rd minute when Nixan Jackson worked her way to the end line and cut a pass back to the top of the box. Freshman Tylie Miller one-timed a strike to the far post for her first career goal.
Abilene Christian got on the board in the 55th minute as Peyton Hill scored to cut the deficit to 3-1, but Utah Valley answered late when Sadie Beardall delivered a cross from the left side that found Lulie MacFarlane, who redirected it into the net in the 78th minute for the 4-1 final.
Utah Valley outshot Abilene Christian 27-5 and held a 16-4 advantage in shots on goal. Webber led all players with 10 shots (six on target), while Hladek and Jackson each tallied three. Leah Wolf made three saves in goal as UVU owned a 9-2 edge in corner kicks.
The victory also marked a personal milestone for Lemay, who earned his 100th career win as a head coach–all at Utah Valley.
“I credit the players for the wins,” Lemay said. “I didn’t win any of these games on my own. I’ve had great people beside me–coaches, staff, and players who believed in what we were building. I’m very thankful for everyone who’s been part of this journey.”
With the WAC regular season title and No. 1 seed for the upcoming WAC Tournament already secured, Utah Valley will close out the regular season on Sunday at Tarleton State in Stephenville, Texas. The Wolverines will then return home to host the 2025 WAC Tournament at UCCU Stadium. UVU opens play in the semifinals on Wednesday, Nov. 5, at 6 p.m. MT against the No. 4 seed.
Offensive power sends women’s volleyball past SUU
The Wolverines hit .493 — it’s third highest mark ever — and swept Southern Utah 3-0 (25-19, 25-12, 25-13) on Thursday night inside Lockhart Arena.
Utah Valley (11-9, 7-1) also totaling 14 blocks on defense. That strong effort limited SUU (2-17, 1-7) to just .010 hitting in the match.
Bella Wooden turned in another standout performance, finishing with a team-high nine blocks to add to her nation-leading total. She also tallied three kills and four digs. Avery Page recorded a team-high eight kills to lead a balanced offensive attack, with Sami Blackett adding seven kills and Alyvia Jaffa contributing six.
“I talked to them prior to the match about being confident in our preparation and consistency,” UVU head coach Sam Atoa said. “For us to be successful, we have to continue to do those things at a high level regardless of our opponent. We play at this high level in practice, and it carried over to the match tonight.”
The first set opened with the Thunderbirds taking an early lead, but the Wolverines quickly responded. Behind Wooden’s steady play–including a crucial kill from Evalyn Chism–Utah Valley tied the score at 8-8. A pivotal moment came as the Wolverines capitalized on SUU’s attack errors, with Page and Wooden leading the defensive front to extend the lead to 16-10. Wooden recorded her 300th career block assist during the set, moving into sixth all time in the category. The Wolverines maintained their momentum, with key kills from Olivia Gloeckner and Jaffa, closing out the set 25-19.
Utah Valley carried its energy into the second set, building a commanding 7-2 lead behind a series of blocks from Wooden and Page. The Wolverines capitalized on SUU’s errors and pushed the advantage to 19-10 after a block assist from Gloeckner and Jaffa. Senior Natalie Riggs helped seal the set from the service line, contributing two assists–including one to Alyssa Erickson–before teaming with Jaffa on a block assist to finish the frame, 25-12.
The Wolverines seized control early in the third set with a quick run sparked by an Erickson kill assisted by Chism. A series of SUU errors and strong attacks from Page and Blackett pushed the lead to 7-1. UVU’s offense was particularly sharp in the set, committing just one hitting error and hitting .714 to close out the match. As the set progressed, Utah Valley continued to dominate with strategic plays and effective blocking, highlighted by Page and Chism contributing key kills. Despite a brief surge from SUU, the Wolverines maintained control, with a decisive kill from Madi Standifird–assisted by Riggs–sealing the 25-13 win and the sweep.
Utah Valley will host California Baptist on Saturday, Nov. 1, at 1 p.m. MT in the home finale.
